Travel Swellness: 12 Days of Wine Country Ontario GIVEAWAY

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED FOR ENTRIES. For the winner of the $150 giftcard to Norman Hardie Winery courtesy of Wine Country Ontario, scroll to the bottom of this blog post.

After too many years of few road trips, this year I feel like I got to rediscover Wine Country Ontario. A few trips to Niagara-on-the-Lake (including on taking GO Transit) and one weekend getaway to Prince Edward County reminded me what great wine is produced here and I got to discover so  many great shops and beautiful spots.

So I was super stoked that WineCountryOntario.ca asked me for a second year in a row to take part in their 12 Days of Wine Country Ontario (#12daysVQA). Still stuck for a gift idea? Check out the fun gift ideas and I think you’ll be able to happily declare your shopping done!

Today is Day 8 and I get to share my top wish! And let me tell you it was a difficult choice. I took days hemming and hawing, emailed in my wish…and then immediately emailed again changing my mind…I had to go with a giftcard to Norman Hardie Winery, though. I first became familiar with the winery at the the positively phenomenal lunch I was treated to at OK Friday (the farmer’s market at Burl’s Creek) this summer. And after obsessing for weeks over Instagrams of the winery and their pizza from their wood-burning oven that open early May to late fall, I finally got a chance to visit about four months ago.

It was our first stop when we drove into PEC and I just wanted to stay there all afternoon drinking wine and eating the incredible thin-crust pizza. But alas, we went on to discover other charms in the area (check out my story on Vitamin Daily for some of my faves). We did have the best time over lunch, though, and I immediately made plans to return next year if not sooner.

So…because sharing is caring, well, this holiday season Wine Country Ontario is providing me with one $150 giftcard to Norman Hardie Winery to give away to you, my lovely wine-drinking, pizza-eating Health & Swellness readers (remember, the resveratrol in red wine has antioxidant properties!). You can use this both to dine on pizza (and the heirloom tomato salad I drooled over on the next table) and/or to buy some bottles of wine to bring home.

Are you excited to possibly win? I’m excited for you (and a wee bit jealous, to be honest).

How to enter? You can enter in four different ways (each way counts as one entry, so go ahead and enter in all four methods!):

1. Email me at healthandswellness@gmail.com with your name and mailing address (it just makes it quicker for us to send you the prize  if you provide me with your address off the bat). Please put “Norman Hardie” in the subject line.

2. Twitter: Follow me on Twitter (@healthswellness) and  tweet:

I need to #win this @WineCountryOnt #12daysVQA $150 giftcard to @normhardie from @healthswellness. http://bit.ly/1T8Sixz

3.  Like the Health and Swellness page on Facebook and then leave a comment on the wall post about this Wine Country Ontario giveaway — tell me specifically what you would spend your giftcard on at the winery.

4. Instagram: Follow me on Instagram (@healthandswellness) and in the photo for this giveaway tag someone you would like to go with to Norman Hardie Winery.

The giftcard is valued at $150 and the giveaway will close at 11:59 p.m. EST on Saturday, December 26, 2015. Please note that this giveaway is open to Canadian residents only. The winner will be chosen at random. If I cannot reach the winner within five days, another winner will be selected. The winner’s name will be announced on the blog once confirmed with the prize winner.

Good luck and cheers!

Congratulations to Linda T., the winner of the giftcard to Norman Hardie Winery courtesy of Wine Country Ontario! (Linda, please email me if you have any questions or concerns about your prize.)

Leave a Comment December 19, 2015

Travel Swellness: GO getaway to Niagara or Barrie

As much as Toronto is lovely during the summer (well, minus the humidity), sometimes you just gotta get out of the city. But visiting Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL) or Barrie isn’t an easy option when you don’t have a car. In fact, I don’t think I’ve been on my own to either destination since that last time I had a car. Add to this that you’re probably going to be drinking on your day trip, which then forces someone to take the role of designated driver. Le sigh…

But wait, did you know that the GO train has service to NOTL and Barrie? I didn’t. Now, this opens up all sorts of day trip possibilities for the summer! And it’s affordable: round-trip to NOTL from Union Station costs $36.30 for an adult, and it’s $26.90 round-trip to Barrie.

For NOTL, you get off the train at St. Catherines, then you hop on a GO bus that’ll bring you to downtown NOTL (and from there are some wineries that offer shuttles). Or, and I love this option, there are specific cars on the GO train that are equipped with bike racks, so you can bring your bike to St. Catherines and pedal to NOTL and from winery to winery. Throw a blanket, baguette, charcuterie and cheese in your bike basket and what a charming little outdoor summer day you have in store for yourselves.

I had the chance to try this GO train service to NOTL (however, we had a private bus take our group from St. Catherines to a couple of wineries rather than bike), and we stopped into Jackson-Triggs for a tour and lunch, and then a tour at Inniskillin. We learned much about the wine process (like how ice wine is produced, and what the windmill-like towers in the fields are actually used for — to find out, get yourself out on a wine tour!) before we hopped back on a bus for our group that took us back to the 6, bottles of wine in tow. And from these pics, you can probably tell we got a lovely little day trip out of it!

This GO service made the getaway easy breezy and I’m already hoping to do it again soon.

Will you use the GO service for a getaway? What’re your fun summer plans??

Oh, and here are the details of the dates of service:

Niagara-on-the-Lake

Friday, July 3 to Monday, September 7

Friday, October 9 to Monday, October 12 (Thanksgiving weekend)

(once-daily on Fridays and three-times daily on Saturdays, Sunday and holidays)

* As a part of the summer service there is a connecting GO bus from St. Catherines to NOTL; check the GO Transit website for that schedule.

Barrie

Saturday, June 27 through Monday, September 7

(four times daily on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays)

Leave a Comment June 4, 2015

Foodie Swellness: LCBO Taste Local Wine & Pie Pop Up

On now until October 11, 2014, is Taste Local, the LCBO’s annual celebration of Ontario’s wines. And if you don’t have plans for tomorrow night (Friday, September 19, 2014) yet, you should make your way down to the Taste Local Wine & Pie Pop Up in Toronto. I had a chance to check out a similar event they held a few weeks ago and it was fun and delicious!

Here are the details:

Taste Local Wine & Pie Pop Up

Friday, September 19, 2014 from 5 PM to 9 PM

1095 Queen St.  West, Toronto

Tickets are $10 and are available at the door. With your ticket you get six 0.5 oz tastings!

(Psst…the pie makers that’ll be there include Sweet & Savoury Pie Company, Lakeside Bakery and Wanda’s Pie in the Sky.)

Leave a Comment September 18, 2014