It's been six wonderful years!

This past weekend Richard and I celebrated our '6-year anniversary of meeting.' I surprised him with a weekend in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario, just north of Niagara Falls.

We started out on Friday by checking into the By the Courthouse B&B then headed south to have dinner over the falls at Skylon restaurant.

There was a fantastic view of the falls and of the surrounding area. We ordered a bottle of 2002 Merlot from a local winery, Southbrook, and drank every drop. It was very good and whetted our taste buds enough for us to search out that winery the next day.

After dinner we headed to the Niagara Casino where I shed my no-luck-charm and Richard showed me his magic at the craps table. He managed to turn $100 into $240! He had a super-long rolling stretch when it was his turn, the longest he's ever had. Usually he loses if I am standing next to him but not this time.

On Saturday we walked through the cute town, walked a bit by the water, and then started our wine tasting tour. Lailey vineyards was our first stop with Inniskillin next. Then we tried wines from Marynissen, organic at Frog Pond Farms, and finished at Southbrook. And we didn't even get tipsy! Well, maybe a bit hummy in the head.

Of course we had to check out one of the locks along this river. And it was our luck that there was a ship just entering the lock so we were able to watch the whole (really cool) process. Richard was in his glory!

I made dinner reservations at another winery, Strewn vineyards. The dinner was good and the wine was okay. Richard actually ordered a different vineyard's wine! One thing that Richard and I both agreed on was that the wines from this area taste watered down compared to California (or other) wines. We liked Southbrook the best and that one had the most ummpf. But I will say, I enjoyed drinking wine without heavy tannins; it was quite refreshing.

From there we headed back to downtown Niagara-On-The-Lake to laugh our way through 'The Circle,' a play written by Somerset Maugham, at the Royal George Theatre. Quite a delightful play. The actors were all very good at the tiny details that made the dialog almost continuously humorous: from injecting a rolling grumble to body and facial expressions that made you giggle. I can't wait until next season. Now that we've found this place I know we'll be back over and over.

I have to thank Veronica for suggesting Niagara-On-The-Lake to me for Richard's surprise. Her husband took her there for her birthday this year and, yes, they DID get tipsy!