Day 19-Sandunes, Deadpeople and Wines!

Another day of exploring has arrived upon us….Tim made a yummy breeky if Thick Bacon 🥓 and eggs with a tomatoes 🍅 salsa type side dish….after which we packed Uo and headed off in our car today…

Picton was our first stop for morning tea at a Bike 🚲 Coffee Shop….Tim’s analogy was Bike shoos should serve good coffee ☕️ for all the push bikers 🚴‍♂️ and yep pretty good…

Next stop they call then Sandbanks Sand Dunes..they are located on Lake Ontario.
Info below if your interested….
(Sandbanks Provincial Park is a provincial park located on Lake Ontario in Prince Edward County near Picton, Ontario, Canada. The park is considered one of the best sandy beaches in Ontario and contains the largest bay-mouth barrier dune formation in the world. The 1,550.87-hectare (3,832.3-acre) park was established in 1970 and operates year round. Birdwatching, camping, cycling, fishing, and swimming are among the activities available in the park. ] It is noted for its picturesque sand dunes and beaches and contains the largest bay-mouth barrier dune system in the world. This formation is created by longshore currents flowing from west to east along Lake Ontario's northern shore. Some dunes can reach 25 metres (82 ft) high. The dune system stretches roughly eight kilometres (5.0 mi) long from the tip in the northwest less than 100 metres (330 ft) wide to a 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) swath in the southeast. The dunes run from Lake Ontario into West Lake. Behind the barrier dunes lies a series of foredunes that is sparsely vegetated and further back, pannes, back dunes, and reforested sand ridges. The dunes were formed by glaciers 12,500 years ago. In the 1880s, due to a combination of timber cutting and poor farming practices, the soil inland from the sand dunes had become destabilized and the sand dunes were able to drift inland, increasing in size. In 1881, the West Point Road was buried under 30 metres (98 ft) of sand and the town of Athol, Ontario was forced to relocate after facing a similar event. In the 1920s, Sandbanks was the site of an intense reforestation project. The sand dunes extended over a further 34 hectares (85 acres). To recreate the Carolinian forest that had pre-existed there, the reforestation project used poplar to prevent the sand dunes from burying roads and orchards.)

What we have to keep reminding ourselves of is that this is a fresh water lake system not the ocean…even though their are pesty seagulls around.. with everything around, sand, massive cargo ships etc…you are easIly fooled and start calling it the sea 🌊….

Next stop was lunch at a Brewery restaurant Called Matron Fine Beer 🍺 Jess had a very unusual Cheese Ball called ….as she out her fork into it kind of exploded at her it did look funny…Tim and John got a Burger and I had a little of John’s and Jess have me a taste…they presented pkt thick cut normal chippies …..only time I have been sever pkt chips with a meal was in 1979 on a cruise when I asked the waiter for some chips…he looked at me oddly and next thing I had a plate if pkt chips served with my main…The word in the games is French-fires for our hot chips and crisps for pkt chips…you need the lingo to go with the want apparently….anyway this was a mistake it was what they serve quite often in Canada with a burger….well so Tim tells me…

All feed and watered or beered for the mean and Jess had a wine…I actually shocked my site and had a Raspberry and and Lime Artisanal Soda….note the word Artisanal 😂😂😂😂 just makes it e tra special apparently and extra pricey 😩 !

Next on the list was Dead Peoples Stuff Antiques Jess wanted to buy some little glasses for their sweet desert wines…and this little very popular place delivered with great prices too…I couldn’t get over her well marked items…so many antique places are over priced to the hilt….this one was great…worth a look at a stop and of course the name says it all….

Then into Huff Estate Winery where they had a whole acre or more of unusual sculptures….some where 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔 hmmmm not sure what you are others were 😜😜😜 yep got it and others were 🥰🥰🥰 yes I really love this…especially the huge human hand and faces made from bolts and some from wire….do love this type of sculpture….Tim and Jess had gone into the winery while we looked at the sculptures they came out with a box of goodies…so I raced in to have a look and yep decided on the spurs of the moment without tasting to get so. Cans of Rose’ and Sparkling wine in little personal sized cans which are great for travel…. Hope they taste good, guess the proof with be in the opening…

Next port of call was Hinterland Wine Company really loved the ambiance of this one not modern more rustic…but decided not to try their wines they had nothing on offer I liked…but did buy a bag of mixed Carmel pop corn, chocolate coated nuts and Pretzels 🥨 my goodness all the tests together were yummy….plus the bonus was a wonderful old fence line I had been wanting to get a pic of throughout our travels I have seen these fences and they look like something out of the War between the North and South of the US….layer in a zigzag shape to keep it upright it looked great for pics….just hope the pics look great…Tim and Jess tried their wines here so we sat in the courtyard enjoying the peaceful surrounds….

Onto the Grange of Prince Edward Winery to try out Bubblies yes now your talking, this winery specialises in making Sparkling varieties both white and Rose’, Tim and I were the only triers here…Jess had, had a her fill and John was our designated driver for the day…he tried a corn beer….Tim and I had 2 different styles of tasting…mine had 3 duffer t his 2 different more dry type and different style wines…mine were ok but not enough to want to buy…Tim secured a bottle of White Sparkling….

Our self guided Tour took us next to the Traynor Family Vineyard this is Tim and Jess’s fave one and since coming here last time had green substantially…they buy this wine in line all the time…unfiltered and without preservatives and a modern twist to the taste, not traditional as they and the girl serving us would say it was shall I say very different 😵🤨 not really to my tastebuds style….all the more for Tim and Jess I tired a couple a sparkling and Rose’ but just couldn’t quite say yep I like it….so no buying here…By the time we had done here we were considering what to do for dinner…
Tim and Jess suggested we pick tonight so I found what sounded like a great little restaurant called Panda Panda serving Asian fusion food…when I looked on the map to get directions 🗺,I said to Tim gosh I didn’t know Belleville had streets marked our or designed like Paris….well on examination again 🤪🤪🤪😂😂😂 it was Belleville in Paris…so guess we aren’t going there for dinner….
So the choice was given back to Jess who picked the Midtown Brewing Company at Wellington the little town we choose last night for dinner… plus it was close and meant only a 10 minute drive, not a drive a flight and another drive flight drive to get back 😜😜😜 !

Pizzas 🍕, Chips , olives and roasted Chickpeas….too much but it went down…Another drink then off home to relax and enjoy our surrounds…Poor Jess hit the hammock after a shower, not long after getting home and was out like a light….we watched a very bad Australian made movie about Russians and the US….
All in all a big day…but we hit to experience Prince Edward County winery region….Læs mere