Niagara Falls to Belleville

Where is Belleville, a blog reader might ask?  It is a little Town near Prince Edward, Ontario (not to be confused with Prince Edward Island, home of Anne of Green Gables); when we were planning this trip it looked like it would be a good idea to ramble along the north shore of Lake Ontario to this place, and then back into the United States and Vermont, and Belleville marked the halfway point.  (We don't like to drive more than 250 or 300 miles a day.)  And there were some interesting sights to see, like the famed Lake on the Mountain (which alas we did not have time to see).

What we did see was Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, one of the prettiest places we have ever visited!  We couldn't remember who told us that we must see this town, but we are glad that we did remember.  So we braved the border guards again and drove the half-hour into Canada from Niagara into countryside which was filled with winery after winery along the road.  I have heard of Napa and Sonoma; why have I never heard of Ontario wine?  The town itself is a resort area situated on the shore of Lake Ontario, and we enjoyed the better part of a morning and lunch there, wandering and exploring and taking photos.  Fort George was just a little way out on a little peninsula, seen from a park that was as neat as a pin.

But the heart of the Town was a historic business district and the surrounding 19th century homes, each of them an architectural gem perfectly preserved.  I took photo after photo of these beautiful buildings.

This grant old hotel was the place to stay both then and now, a carriage present at the front door to take you to the lake.

This statue of George Bernard Shaw holds a prominent position in the heart of Town - there is a well-known Shaw Festival here every summer.

We had lunch on Queen Street, and then reluctantly headed north around the lake.  I think we could have stayed here for a week, or a month!  At least this time of year, when there is no snow on the ground.  The "ramble along the north shore of Lake Ontario" turned into our most difficult day of driving so far, taking us through Toronto.  We discovered afterward, but had not realized before-hand, that Toronto has a population of 2,731,571 and is the fourth most populous city in North America, after Mexico City, New York, and Los Angeles.  We were in eight-lanes of traffic around the city and we were glad to finally arrive in Belleville, too exhausted for much sight-seeing.

Canada is a beautiful country, though, and the highway through Toronto was very well-engineered, we soon discovered, with collector lanes and fast lanes (we finally understood this and chose the latter).  There are no junk cars in the countryside here; there is no litter; there are no boarded-up factories or abandoned houses; they have "wash rooms" instead of rest rooms; and they have decided to do away with that pesky little coin, the penny.  And they even have single-payer health care for every citizen!  There is much to admire here.  We had sushi at Dragon Roll in Belleville, where you order from an iPad on the table, and slept well that night!