Camping in the County

Last week we were away on our summer vacation!  It was a packed week of camping and we did so many activities.  It was slightly stressful at times.  Cooper was crankier than usual.  Parker had his good days and bad days.  Cooper had some sleepless nights.  But we made it through and made a lot of fun memories.  

I'm going to split this into two (or three) posts so hopefully it isn't too much picture overload!

We started the week at a little campground called Smugglers Cove in Prince Edward County.  We were there for 2 nights and it was a nice little park.  The sunset was beautiful!

While we were there, we explored the county a little bit.  We went to a few wineries and breweries, as well as Lake on the Mountain.  We even found a little petting zoo at one of the wineries, which was perfect for Parker!

We visited Lake on the Mountain.  It just looks like a regular lake in this picture, but it's at the top of a mountain and for a long time they weren't really sure where the water was coming from.  

 The day that we left that campground we stopped in at Long Dog Winery.  It was a cute little winery.  They mostly focused on red wines and chardonnay, which aren't my favourite.  But I did buy a nice sparkling Rose.

Next stop was Sandbanks Provincial Park.  This park is very well known amongst campers and very hard to get into.  We've been trying for years!  Luckily this was the year and we actually got 2 sites right across the road from each other.  

Unfortunately the bugs in both of these parks were terrible.  Poor Parker was eaten alive and completely covered in bites.  It wasn't even enjoyable to be outside half the time, which was really too bad.

 The first day that we tried to go to the beach we packed everything up (which with two kids takes a long time), and headed out around 12:30.  Well we get to the beach road and he tells us that parking is full and we should come back in a couple hours.  So we tried to go to the Dune's beach.  It was also full, but I think by being friendly they let us in.  

The beach isn't quite as nice, but the big dunes are there.  And the water is really calm so Parker had a great time playing.  It was so hot that day and we had no shade.  Cooper was miserable.  And honestly so was I. An unhappy baby in the heat is not a lot of fun.

This picture is of the trail.  They have had so much rain that it was completely flooded!  

The next day we got up and ready for the beach right away and went first thing in the morning.  Seems like an odd time to go to the beach, but we were able to get the perfect spot with some sun and some shade and it was much nicer.  I found a shady spot for Coop and he plopped down and loved playing with the sand!

 The day we left we had a relaxing drive to our next destination, Kingston.  We stopped in at Parson's Brewery in Picton for lunch.  We had some delicious tacos, Ryan had some beer.  And Parker, in typical Parker fashion, ate nothing.

So there is the first half of our trip.  Next stop, Kingston!

Hidden Gems

After camping with my parents for the first weekend of our vacation, we went to our cottage for a few days.  And it was still cold.  I didn't put on a bathing suit, or lay on the deck at all.  But once again, we tried to make the most of it and kept ourselves busy.  

On Wednesday, when the boys decided to go golfing, we figured that we needed to find something to occupy our time, so I suggested we go to Georgian Hills winery.  This is the only winery (that I know of) in the Blue Mountain area and I had been there a couple of times with bachelorette parties.  Their wines are delicious and at the end of the tasting it's always hard to decide which one to buy.  That's a sign of a good winery!

While there, they suggested that we check out the Ravenna Country Market just down the street.  They said they had lots of baked goods and also had soup and sandwiches for sale.  It was lunch time, so this seemed like a great idea.

Ravenna seemed like a very small town and basically the only thing there was this market, which we never would have stopped at had it not been suggested to us.  But we were sure glad that we did!

First thing when we got there, we were looking at the fudge and the man working there (who may have been the owner) started giving us samples.  By the time he was finished, my mom had a pound and a half of fudge purchased and we were on a sugar high.

But fudge isn't a good lunch, so my mom and I ordered a sandwich to split and my sister ordered the Cauliflower soup.  These sandwiches...I don't even know how to describe them.  You pick your meat, we went with roast beef.  Then we added caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, lettuce, roasted red pepper mayo and goat cheese.  Amazing!  Best sandwich I have ever had.  Oh and it's grilled.

Tali also bought this chocolate milk that she shared with us.  It was 3.25% milk which explains why it basically tasted like a milkshake.  But we're on vacation, why drink 1%?

Apparently since it was our first time there, we also got a free butter tart.  This guy knew the way to my heart!

They also sell Kawartha Dairy ice cream cones, and if you've never had Kawartha ice cream, you are missing out!  There's just something about it that makes it better than all other ice cream.  They had freezers full of premade meals as well, which I've heard are very delicious!

 This little hidden gem of a store made our vacation.  We are so glad that we found it and will definitely be back!  

A Review of the Best Wine in the World

Flat Rock Twisted

So as I said yesterday, at my bachelorette party, we did some wine tasting and touring.  I usually try to buy at least one bottle when I go to a winery.  Flat Rock was the most beautiful winery and had amazing wine.  I ended up purchasing the 2009 Twisted.  It's a blend of Gerwurztraminer, Riesling and Chardonnay.  Then I forgot about it until this summer.

I brought the bottle up to the cottage on the labour day weekend.  I like to have an opportunity to enjoy good wine.  OMG this wine was like a melody in my mouth.  (I don't even know what that means).  It was literally the best drink I had every drank.  The perfect blend of sweet but not too sweet. 

So this weekend, I found it at the liquor store in Toronto.  It sells for $16.95.  That is about $6.95 more than what I would usually spend on a bottle of wine, but it is worth every penny.  This is the first wine that has ever made me say that! They are out of the 2009 blend, so I had to buy the 2010.  I sure do hope it's just as tasty!