Tag: winery
Last month, I returned to Prince Edward County (my friends joked that I’m #nevernotinPEC, haha) for a quick getaway, but can you blame me? There’s delicious food and wine, cute animals and pretty views. But yes, this was my third trip this year there: I went with my wine-loving friend early this summer and stayed at the June Motel, and then with another friend with our dogs for a pup-friendly getaway, and this time it was again with a friend and our pups in tow.
If you’re looking for a cute spot to stay, besides the June Motel and the Ferg, there’s now Pomp Outpost. This adorable tiny house, which you can book on Airbnb, is located on the property at the Grange Vineyards & Winery. When you step out onto the the small deck, you’re facing rows and rows of grapes. It’s a pretty magical setting. I love a country road like the one you take to enter the property with a canopy of trees overhead…
The Pomp Outpost is petite being a tiny house and all, but there’s plenty of room for two people, although you should probably pack light (there’s not a load of room for luggage). There is electricity, and a full washroom (although you’ll want to take showers efficiently and you might want to allow time for the hot water heater to do its thing after one of you takes a shower). The bed is in the loft space above, so you must be comfortable with taking a ladder to access where you’ll sleep. It’s quite cozy up there.
On the main level is a small table, a full kitchen (where the hosts kindly left us a bottle of wine from the Grange and some delicious maple water in the fridge and there’s coffee and tea, too) and a banquette n the living room area. There is a TV, however, we weren’t able to turn it on during our stay.
As I mentioned, I brought Billie Jean and my friend brought her morkie since the tiny house is dog friendly, Word to the wise: the bird bangers (to scare off the birds from the grapevines) go off regularly throughout daylight hours at the winery, so if your dog is noise-sensitive (as many dogs are with things like fireworks), you may have a very stressed out dog if you stay at Pomp Outpost.
The Outpost is well located on Closson Rd., so just a short drive away is Shed at Chetwyn Farms (hello, alpacas and beautiful knit things!), Hinterland Wine Company (I’m a fan of their bubbly) and we stumbled across a beautiful horse and pig just down the road, as one does in the country. But everything in PEC is always what seems like a 15-20 minute drive away. We made our way to Lake on the Mountain, the Perfect Lil Bake Shoppe, Norman Hardie Winery for pizza, and Agrarian.
I also got a chance to check out two PEC spots I hadn’t yet had a chance to visit. We had a nice breakfast at Enid Grace Cafe, where the baked goods looked incredible. I didn’t indulge as I actually had an awful cold during this road trip, which is the worst timing; having all of this incredible food around me and not being able to taste any of it because I was so congested!
The second spot is the Parlour Studio, a pretty space filled with plants and crystals right beside Enid Grace. As I have the opposite of a green thumb, I just admired the succulents and other leafy things but did not bring anything home with me.
Be sure to stop into the Grange for a tasting while you stay here; they produce wine with only with grapes from PEC. The main building where you do the tastings is quite beautiful, and besides picking up some bottles of wine, they also sell the maple water (I’m telling you it’s addictive!). The winery also prepares picnic baskets; it’d be lovely to take to enjoy by the Lake on the Mountain or you could certainly simply enjoy it on the deck at the tiny house, as we did sipping some wine.
You’ll love staying at Pomp Outpost as a couple for a quiet getaway or with one of your besties for a foodie adventure, or just on your own — solo travel has its advantages, you can do whatever you want to on a whim, after all. You’ll probably leave here contemplating if you can pull off living in a tiny house…do you think you could? I think I like “stuff” too much! Although Billie Jean seemed to quite adore tiny-house living.
October 25, 2017
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.)
December 19, 2015
The forecast for the weekend: hot and humid. My plans? Stay cool and refreshed–and one way I’m going to do that is to whip up a batch of this incredible cucumber ginger elixir that I discovered in Napa at Trefethen Vineyards.
Post-5k race at this lovely winery, the gracious Trefethen family hosted us runners, serving both some of their incredible wine and this delicious elixir (courtesy of chef Chris Aiken).
Making ginger syrup may seem a bit tedious, but the results are soo worth it!
CUCUMBER GINGER ELIXIR
1/2 cup cucumber juice
1 Tbsp ginger syrup
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 cup ginger ale
2 mint leaves, torn
For the cucumber juice: Peel and puree or blend 2 English cucumbers.
For the ginger syrup: Place equal parts sugar and water in a saucepan. Add 1 Tbsp of peeled and roughly cut ginger. Warm until sugar is dissolved. Let steep for 10 minutes. Remove ginger chunks. Cool
Assembly: In a mixing bowl or medium-sized pitcher, combine all of the ingredients. Whisk or stir until well incorporated. Serve over ice and garnish with a slice of cucumber, mint leaf, or lime, if desired.
Makes 4 pint-sized servings.
June 18, 2010
