Happy Anniversary

If you are of a similar "vintage" to me, you may remember the Flintstones song to Wilma. This little song always pops up in my head at the mention of an anniversary.

Yes, it is our anniversary, or was yesterday. Twenty-seven years of wedded bliss (sarcasm, I don't think there is anyone out there who can claim "wedded bliss" - it's all a series of ups and downs and a whole lot of in between).

Our "big" anniversary celebration was two years ago for our twenty-fifth when we took a trip to England. This year was much more laid back and local. We drove to Creemore, a cute little village a little more than an hour from us. Creemore has lots of cute shops with an emphasis on home décor, vintage, art, and beer. Yes, beer. The Creemore brewery takes up about a block of this village. They've done a fantastic job of making an experience for the visitor. You can taste three beers of your choice and take a tour of the facilities. Being as it was Friday, there wasn't anybody on the production line, but the inner workings were interesting nonetheless. Apparently beer is to have only four ingredients: barley, hops, yeast, and something else which I have forgotten. Guess I'm not making beer. Maybe it was water?? We were surprised at how small the facility actually was considering how much they make. Here are some captivating photographs for those of you who wish to create your own brewery some day:

Everything looked shiny and pristine. 

 

This last photo is a giant collection of kegs which would be sent out to restaurants for beer on tap. I did find out that Creemore Springs beer is not found in the U.S. because it is not pasteurized and cannot be exported to the states.
The village has done a great job of making things look pretty with signage, flower boxes and plenty of benches to sit on, complete with throw cushions. They must all take them in at night.

This is the outside of the Creemore Springs brewery building(s).  After we were all done with our beer tour (our favourite was the Premium Lager), we went for a drive up a long road which we could see from the village that just kept going up and up and up. At the top was a place to pull in. I took a picture of the beautiful valley. There are also many gorgeous homes in the area which are situated right at the tops of the "mountains" to take advantage of the beautiful views.

I didn't think it proper to take pictures of the homes, but I kept wondering, "What do these people do that they can afford these amazing homes?"

We continued our jaunt and ended up in Thornbury, another gorgeous small town on the shore of Nottawasaga Bay (the southern part of Georgian Bay) in the Blue Mountains region. We had been there earlier this summer for a car show. As recommended by our tourism daughter, we went to the cidery in Thornbury.

I've never been a fan of cider, but after a tasting (Yes, another tasting, and no, this isn't all we do) I think I could be a convert. They have not just regular apple cider (my least favourite), but they also have cranberry, blueberry, and blood orange. Husband's favourite was the blood orange cider, but I think I may prefer the blueberry.

The glasses look huge in this picture, but they aren't. They are only allowed to serve small glasses as part of the $10 tasting (called a Flight). I decided to try the four wines that were being featured. Then husband and I tried each other's selections.

Pinot Grigio, Reisling, Cabernet Merlot, and Syrah, in that order. They were all good but the Syrah is too "heavy and dark" for me. We would have purchased some blood orange cider, but they were all out at the moment.

We ended up the day at a restaurant we've already been to, The Dam Pub. We ate outside and had the steak in a peppercorn mushroom sauce (did not take a picture this time!) which was excellent. We were so full that I didn't have dessert even though they had Sticky Toffee Pudding which is one of my all time favourites. And to top off the day, we actually had RAIN, glorious rain, in the evening. We literally just sat in silence and listened to the rain. (Can you tell we needed it?) I'm pretty sure we could hear the plants sighing.