Our Canadian Fall Break – Apples, Niagara Falls and Poutine

We are enjoying our fall break visiting our Dubba Dubba who lives in London, Ontario, Canada.  Our previous post showed our Canadian Thanksgiving meal.  On the morning of Canadian Thanksgiving (October 10), we also went apple picking at Appleland.  We picked 27 pounds of apples!  Here are pictures of Karsen picking apples:

In the first picture, Karsen is on Dubba Dubba’s shoulders. In the second picture, Karsen is climbing the apple tree to get at the best apples.

The next day (October 11), we went to Niagara Falls.  Here is a picture of the Canadian side.

We took a boat ride called “Maid of the Mist.”  This is the same boat ride that mommy took 30 years ago – when she was a kid.  We wore blue ponchos because the water splashed in our faces.  If you ever want to see what it feels like to wear a trash bag, the blue ponchos give you a good idea.  The Canadian side is so much more spectacular-looking than the US side (and this is from the point of view of two American kids).  The Canadian side gives you a 270-degree view of waterfalls (Mr. Weaver, my math teacher, would be impressed with my ability to measure degrees). On the boat ride, we learned that a 63 year-old woman fell down the falls in a barrel and lived!!!   Niagara Falls (and the Maid of the Mist boat ride) is a must-see for anyone visiting Canada.

On Wednesday, October 12, we went to Stratford to see Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.  We got there early so that we could enjoy the town.  While getting fresh lemonade (shaken not stirred), we found out that Justin Bieber is from Stratford.  In fact, there are tourist maps with his favorite places in town.  The entire town has Bieber fever and since we were there for a Shakespeare festival, there were t-shirts that said:  To Bieber or not to Bieber:  That is the Question.   Mommy that it was hysterical.  Maybe it’s a grown-up thing.

We wanted to experience a very-Canadian lunch.  What could be more Canadian than POUTINE?  Boomers Gourmet Fries was the perfect answer to our lunch needs and wants.  That’s exactly what the sign looks like (crossed out)- here’s a picture:

This is what the menu looked like:

This side of the menu lists the different kinds of poutine offered.  We ordered the 2-cheese poutine (their most famous) and the goat cheese and basil (truly delicious)

The second side of the menu has the different burgers. Everything is made fresh and our server recommended the one with guacamole.  So that’s the one we ordered.

This is a small and cozy place with only 8 or 9 chairs.  The restaurant is managed by a nice lady named Sue.  Here is a picture of Sue:

Sue is also the only chef.  She makes EVERYTHING fresh – even the mayonnaise and other sauces.  She works very hard and the food is high quality.  It tickles my tongue and tummy (that’s alliteration if my English teacher, Miss Gale is reading this).  Here are pictures of our poutine orders:

Traditional poutine has cheese curd and gravy.  The one on the right is basically the classic poutine with cheddar.  This is Sue’s most famous poutine.  Anya adores the one on the left.  The basil oil tastes like fresh pesto.  The goat cheese, basil oil, and french fries made a nice combination of flavors.  Because we are Americans, we started eating these fries with our fingers.  This is not a good idea because you will need a lot of napkins (called serviettes in Canada).  We asked for forks and recommend that you do so also.  Everyone should try poutine!

We also had one of her burgers:

This was excellent.  Sue sliced it in two for us so that we could share.  You can see that Sue is generous with the avocado chunks.  The meat was well done but still juicy.  The bun had sesame seeds and was soft and puffy.  There were also fresh tomatoes.  Anya described this as a taco in a bun.

On a scale from 1-5 smiley faces we give this place the following rating:

Girl:     🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

Boy:   🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

Adult:  Mommy liked this place so much she wanted to come back for dinner after the play to try the fish and chips.  We are sorry Sue – we didn’t have time.  But if we’re in the area, we will most certainly be back.  Also – it’s important to note that Boomers Gourmet Fries is a cash only establishment and both US and Canadian currency are accepted!

P.S.  Twelfth Night was our first Shakespeare play.  It was hysterical!!!  Karsen’s top four favorite characters were Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew, Fabian, and of course, Feste.  Anya thought Olivia was a really good actress.

The end.. . . .