In Autumn it’s the gorgeous colours in the changing trees and bright bright sunny days. Take that sun combine it with ample mist and you get perfect double rainbows!

I love the localness of her little hat and that she looks like a unicorn with the double rainbow.

So Niagara Falls is fun but it can be a little over the top.  The gorgeous falls and park are almost lost to the Capital Letters TOURISM!  The separation of the city of Niagara Falls and the surrounding “fruit basket of Ontario” has always been so strange to me. The subdivisions all have names like “Orchard Grove” yet finding a fruit or vegetable on your plate, let alone a local one is next to impossible.  So after a few helpful tweets we escaped to the surrounding wine and orchard country and had a blast. And a proper serving of vegetables.

The Good Earth Food and Wine Company in Beamsville, Ontario was recommended by Eating Niagara as a good place to run around and grab some lunch.  What a perfect suggestion.

We started with some peach orchard cuddles.

Then we had a good run.  She really wanted to pick fruit and couldn’t figure out where it had gone. I guess all that apple picking left an impression.

So she inspected ALL the leaves.

And then did a little dance.

We moved inside for lunch but didn’t get a single photo of our food. It was beautiful but clearly too delicious to photograph.  Ryan and Rebecca shared some duck, I had the best cauliflower soup I’ve ever tasted.  The salad had carrot spirals that went on for miles.  The wine was delicious.  The atmosphere was friendly and charming.  The two year was welcomed with a taste of local honey from neighbours Rosewood Estates and peach preserves.  We couldn’t have asked for anything more lovely.

After lunch we poked around.

There was lots of fun food and fork related art.

Ryan is inspired and determined that some day we’ll have a whole building to cook in.  This has got to be the most perfect set up for group canning projects or pressing cider.

Their kitchen side herb gardens are still going strong and Rebecca got into the grapes.

We picked out some wine, honey and jam to bring home and enjoyed the drive back on the back roads stopping for our groceries from road side farms stands.

Like blueberries outside your cabin door.

Your mother will find you a funny bowl with a handle. Then you get to pick all the “bears” until the aren’t any blue ones left.

There may also be some critters.

You can eat some now and also save some for later.

Your mother can take pictures of them.

Even though they are for eating.

We have picnicked through beautiful upstate New York, napped through Massachusetts and after a quick jaunt through New Hampshire (where apparently you can ride a bicycle on the highway, text while driving without a seat belt and possible do it all on a motorcycle without a helmet) we have made it to Maine. 

We’re in Portland right now but taking the scenic route to Bar Harbour tomorrow. We’ll be staying there until the end of the week then hitting the Canadian East Coast leg of our trip. So far so good.

Tonight we ate at the Portland Lobster Company in the old port area of Portland. It’s pretty cute. After putting out a general call for suggestions, we were pointed in this direction.  Thanks Derek!

They say they’re dog friendly and it’s beyond Hazel’s wildest dreams.  Here she is under our table at dinner, pretty excited for the fish Rebecca keeps throwing to her.  Then she got to eat an entire order of spilled clam chowder.

Oh my slaw!

Wiley toddler eats in style.  We ate on a pier and road tripping toddler shenanigans are not always safe or conducive to mothers eating in peace. Generally i’d say this was pretty kid friendly.  The ones who hadn’t been in a car for 8 hours were dancing to the live music.

Rebecca clapped for the fabulous live fiddling that accompanied our fish.


Here’s our view from dinner.  Rebecca’s first glimpse of the ocean. She really likes the boats.

So far so good and the hard travel days are over.  Soon we’ll break out the bikes and get to swim in the ocean.

Rebecca is really into apples so we were happy to be invited by Not Far From The Tree to participate in FoodShare‘s Great Big Crunch.  Both our great organizations that we are lucky to have in Toronto.
So take 12 seconds and watch Rebecca Crunch!