The Girl suggested we hit up the Niagara region, specifically the tiny village of Niagara-On-The-Lake. This is a part of Southern Ontario known famously for its wineries, antiques, and of course the popular Shaw Festival: a theatrical festival celebrating the works of playwright George Bernard Shaw. At first I was hesitant, hearing largely that the area attracted an older crowd. Regardless, The Girl marched on making preparations for the day in spite of my fears of this generation gap. “It won't matter after going wine tasting,” I thought to myself.

It was decided that both of us would take Friday off and start on our little journey to the Niagara Region around 11 AM, life moves at a slower pace down there for the better, so why not start the day off with a relaxing little sleep in! Heading down the Q.E.W. we slowly saw the city fade into suburban bliss, developments dotted alongside the highway turned into bungalows with spacious lawns, and finally rows of grape trees neatly lined up one after the other as far as the eye could see.

Our lineup of activities consisted of grabbing a bite to eat, some wine tasting, and then taking in the matinee performance of “Mrs Warren's Profession”. The area itself is pleasing to the eye; large trees and lush lawns engulf the area as you head down winding roads into the main strip of town on Queen Street. It is here where most of the action takes place. Unique gift shops, restaurants, old historic buildings, horse drawn carriages, hotels, and two of the Shaw theatres neatly file down the large street as people leisurely stroll up and down.

After taking a short drive down the main strip, parking and paying a mere dollar for an hours worth of time (a dollar!), we headed into the “Stagecoach Family Restaurant”, a bustling diner with fast and courteous service. I ordered a BLT and The Girl opted for a very authentic Greek salad in a place that seemed like it wouldn't serve one. Our meals came and went quickly, the staff gets the throngs of people in and out in a timely fashion (with no push to rush) in order to cater to their consistently full house.

The Niagara region is well known for its numerous vineyards, providing the country and the world with award winning wines. After driving around and scoping out the scene, we settled on Pellar Estates Winery, a sprawling vineyard with a beautiful building which houses the wine tasting and event areas for those special occasions. The place literally transports you to the wine tasting centres of the world like the Nappa Valley, especially when that trip to California isn't exactly in your budget at the moment.

Our sommelier Mike greets us with a warm welcome, something that we've grown accustomed to since arriving in the area - everyone is friendly! Over the next hour he educates us on the different methods of wine tasting, all the while making us feel like he is totally not selling anything. We learn about the proper tasting techniques, how to enjoy your wine, and how the glass makes a difference when tasting. We make sure not to take in too much of the tasting; we still have to go see a play! After some recommendations from Mike, we proceed to the exit - with a couple of bottles for later on at home of course!

Finally we arrive at the last destination of our fun little day trip away from the city, a performance of Bernard Shaw's “Mrs Warren's Profession”. One of Shaw's raciest plays (the house programme tells me that it was banned practically everywhere when it was first produced) it focuses on Mrs. Kitty Warren, a hard working mother providing for her daughter Vivie. Upon learning of how her mother obtained such wealth, scandal breaks loose and mother and daughter battle each other over love, sex, money, and morality.

The play is housed in the large “Festival Theatre”, the Shaw's flagship theatre that can seat up to 856 people and is used for large-scale productions. With a café and outdoor patio, we decide to enjoy another drink before the show starts and also take in a stroll around the surrounding garden. The production is as racy as it was described to be. I will admit that Shaw's “Pygmalion” is one of my all time favourite plays, so I have nothing but glowing things to say about this playwright.

With our day at an end, we lazily made our way back to the car and headed back to the grind and noise of the city. On a whole the trip was a great change of pace, and we're thinking of going back for a weekend to try out some one of the lovely bed and breakfast's or inns around the area. For a fun, interesting, and relatively inexpensive trip, the Shaw Festival along with the village of Niagara-On-The-Lake is a great place to head to relax the soul and stimulate the mind!

The Shaw Festival is a world class performing arts company that brings the best plays of George Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries to life on three stages. This entertainment spectacle nicely compliments every antique collector's annual pilgrimage to Virgil and Jordan and the shops along Stone Rd in the old town of Niagara on the Lake.

Shopping for Antiques?

Niagara on the Lake, Virgil and Jordan are terrific places to shop for antique furniture, vintage kitchenware, stain glass windows and lamps. Although military collectibles are surprisingly scarce, there exists an extraordinary amount of sheet music, lace, dolls and of course doll houses, vintage bar supplies and nostalgia pieces from the 1920s and 30s. The area is also rich in antique toys, primitive iron tools, and collectible fruit sealer jars.

Niagara Falls History

Etienne Brûlé was the first European to see Niagara Falls in 1633. The first eyewitness account of the falls in written text was by Father Louis Hennepin in 1683 wherein he described it as, "the most beautiful and altogether the most terrifying waterfall in the universe".

The first European settlers were primarily British Loyalists fleeing America in 1778. At the end of the American Revolution, these Loyalists were given land grants, and the town of Niagara was laid out on the west bank of the Niagara River. As the first farms were being cut from the wilderness, the first orchards were planted and they included apple trees from Quebec and the Maritimes, and red cherries from the east coast of the United States. The whole settlement prospered under the leadership of John Butler, who had led a regiment of rangers during the revolution.

Handcrafted Wood Furniture

Known for good handcrafted wood furniture, the entire Niagara region is rich with handmade primitives that sometimes incorporate fruitwoods. Inside Europa-Antiques, shoppers will no doubt admire handmade wooden chests, side tables and wardrobes, pine dressers and bookshelf units all being sold for less than $350. The proprietors of this business, located at 1523 Niagara Stone Road, inside a

'dear old red brick church', have an interesting attitude toward recycling furniture as part of their contribution to reducing climate change - Josh points to the green Reduce, Reuse, Recycle triangle on his hemp shopping bags. This business is here to sell good furniture cheap, and keep the inventory moving by offering very low prices. And BEST OF ALL, if you buy over four hundred dollars worth of furniture they will deliver it for free as far away as Toronto!

Pottery, Porcelain, and Fine China

Lakeshore Antiques and Treasures is located at 855 Lakeshore Road in the center of Niagara on the Lake. This is a well stocked 7000 square foot building wherein 15 separate merchants offer up their wares. Overall there are good prices here on painted pine furniture and English china. The shop is filled with tables and chairs and early Canadian pottery, porcelain, and English fine china and American kitchenware from the 1940s and 50s. Antique chandeliers hang from the rafters over many merchant holdings.

Bakelite is a Good Buy in Niagara

The area is becoming known for unusual bakelite items like radios and picnic vessels, tableware and all manner of period Art Deco objects. These gorgeous early wood plastic luxury items were imported by retailers to accommodate Niagara Falls tourists in the booming1950's. Today vintage bakelite is very sheik, and these antiques are cool to collect and relatively inexpensive here because of their availability.

Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian Antiques

Creighton House Antiques is a family business located on the main street of Jordan since 1982, but Joe and Pauline Creighton have been in the area, selling antiques for thirty years. Their large shop is located in the carriage house next to their 1850s Georgian home. They have lots of Canadiana, Victorian, and Edwardian furniture pieces, turn-of-the-century oak wardrobes, and quality mahogany and walnut furniture of the 1920s. The antiques are in “as found condition”, and range from fair to good condition. Joe does the buying and prides himself of the selection - there's something for everyone here.

Jordan Antiques is found at 3836 Main Street in the village of Jordan and boasts 6000 square feet of shopping; there are a lot of antiques here and it's not crowded. The prices are good on pine furniture, fine china and figurines. There's an abundance of Art Deco ashtrays, cranberry coloured carnival glass, vintage Christmas decorations, antique fishing lures, wooden tackle boxes, and handmade quilts. This is the perfect place to outfit a cottage with classic furnishings.

The Shaw Festival plays punctuate the cerebral excitement of this historic destination. Look around this old town and you can see, touch and breathe in the history; the scenery includes thundering black powder cannons in the walls of Fort George, and quaint horse and buggy tours that parade under canopied streets. As most of the buildings in town have historic plaques chronicling their existence, it's quite enlightening to just saunter around town for an afternoon.