The Gables Restaurant
We decided to spend the last weekend in September in Prince Edward County. Ontario has so much to offer and to see, and with the sun shining it was a perfect little getaway from Toronto. Our first stop was a small, local restaurant The Gables Restaurant in Brighton. This restaurant has so much charm, located in an old house, with a pretty patio. Both service and food were amazing. Three of us ordered a couple of appetizers, including Escargot and Grilled octopus. Both were delicious. For the main meal, we had Risotto Funghi, Lamb Shank, and Wiener Schnitzel. All great picks. For the dessert, we had Torta Caprese, light and tasty. Local Sandbanks wine was an awesome choice. I definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone in the area.
Presqu'ile Provincial Park
After lunch, we drove to nearby Presqu'ile Provincial Park. It has some nice walking trails, where we saw deer/doe and little fawns. We were able to take some nice pictures by the lake. Enjoyable and recommended.
Accommodation in Brighton
8 of us rented an amazing farmhouse in Brighton. We rented it through Airbnb, and it was called Farmhouse with a big red barn view. This whole property is huge, with a big barn, several sitting areas, fire pits, sunbeds, volleyball net...and much more. It completely exceeded our expectations. House was big, comfortable, and had everything we needed. The beds were comfortable, and we had great 2 nights. Would love to come back to this place. The host Lisa was amazing, gave us a few directions, and on Saturday she organized a private wine tour at Karlo Estate winery.
Wineries
We were really lucky that this was organized for us. We had our wine tasting privately, in the VIP room, and it was done by the owner/partner, Saxe. Saxe was very interesting, and he made our tasting experience that much better. We tasted in a total of 14 wines, and we liked most of them. The winery offers snack boxes. Each of us ended up buying several bottles. The ground around is nice, and everyone goes and takes a few pictures by the small bridge.
We also visited another winery, Stanners Vineyard. They offered a tasting of their 5 different wines. They were pretty good wines, but our experience was much better at Karlo Estates. In general, we enjoyed our wine tasting day.
Dining
We had a couple of dinners in the area. We really enjoyed the dinner at Flame+Smith. Really nice restaurant. It is pretty busy, and having a reservation is recommended. Most of our friends had Steak and Frites, and few of us shared more veggie options. We went with Cauliflower Steak, Roasted Squash, Belgium endive, and Mushroom Salad. All of those were super delicious. The service in the restaurant was perfect. Very nice patio, and cool interior.
Lake on the Mountain
On Sunday, we wanted to explore more places and we drove to Lake on the Mountain. Even though it has a great view, we were disappointed that there were no trails for walking. The most popular is The Miller House with a very nice view. However, it was very busy and did not accept reservations so we were not able to have lunch there. We found a great hiking trail, about 10 minutes away driving. The park is called the Macaulay Mountain conservation area. When you arrive at the parking and take the trails on the left-hand side, you will find yourself enjoying pretty long but beautiful nature trails. All in all, a great weekend trip through Prince Edward County.