Visiting Canada

Harrow, part of Essex, in Ontario

My hubby and I have been wanting to show our Canadian brothers and sisters some love, especially in light of Trump’s belittlement of our Northern neighbor and his disrespectful suggestions that they should become our 51st state.

That’s what motivated us to take a three day trip to the little community of Harrow, part of the larger town of Essex, in Ontario, about one hour’s drive from Detroit. It is one of the southernmost parts of Canada with mild winters and warm summers.

The Airbnb we stayed in was just south of Harrow, on the shores of Lake Erie, in a tiny neighborhood called Klies Beach. Here’s the view from the outside.

With a few kilometers drive from there were ten vineyards with wineries open to the public. We are both serious wine enthusiasts so sampling wine flights was right up our alley.

The first winery we visited was called CREW: Colchester Ridge Estate Winery. I had a nice wine flight of 4 different varieties of white while hubby opted for a flight of all red wines. The food was good, too. We shared chicken, bacon and cheese egg rolls for a starter. Then we split a delicious Reuben sandwich and fries. The waitress Regan and the waiter Noah were very friendly. Here was the lovely view of part of their vineyard from their screened-in back porch.

On the second day in the area, we went to the Cooper’s Hawk winery. We both had a flight of wine there, white for me, red for hubs. I liked this selection of wine better but the food was better at CREW.

For lunch, we shared a beet salad, humus and pita bread and a sweet and sour noodle bowl. The portions were large so we took a lot home to eat the next day and didn’t do a third day of vineyard visiting. We had been planning to drive down the road a few kilometers to check out the Oxley Estate Winery which had come highly recommended by the locals.

There was also a beach within walking distance with a small boat harbor. Here’s the view from the hill overlooking the beach adjacent to Lake Erie. It's called Colchester Beach. On another historical plaque in a park by the beach, it noted that the area was known as a last stop where slaves traveled on the Underground Railroad. In Canada, Black people were free and many of them settled there. In fact, the Canadian son of two freedom seekers from that area was an inventor and engineer named Elijah McCoy. He invented an oil-drip cup system that had engine buyers asking for “The Real McCoy.” Origin of the phrase the Real McCoy.

While reading a plaque at the park next to the beach, I learned that Lake Erie has the most shipwrecks among the Great Lakes, perhaps because it is the shallowest of the five. It has over 2,000 documented shipwrecks!

I can actually see how that would be possible. We had windy and rainy weather on our last day at the Airbnb and this really whipped up the waves. The storm also came on very suddenly with little warning. I was glad to be inside and not out on the lake.

After this three day visit, I would highly recommend this area, especially if you like quiet but scenic places surrounded by lots of vineyards.

Please buy me a coffee!