For our first wedding anniversary, we took a mini road trip and traveled about two and a half hours from Toronto to Prince Edward County (PEC). We’d been hearing so much about the area – how it’s up and coming, and how it’s the place that Torontonians are getting away to for much needed rest and relaxation. We thought it would be the perfect place for a romantic getaway celebration weekend.

We decided to drive in early, leaving the city around 9:00am on a Sunday (we took the Monday as a holiday from work). Including a stop for coffee (obviously!), we arrived at our first Prince Edward County winery right in time for lunch. We planned it this way, and stopped first at the Norman Hardie Winery. We’d read incredible things about their wood-fire pizza oven, and the delicious napoleon-style pizzas they pump out to accompany their wines.

The grounds at Norman Hardie were lovely, and we tasted quite a few of their red and white wines. I especially enjoyed their vintage Pinot Noir. After our tasting, which took place on the upper level of the winery, we ventured downstairs, and grabbed a table on their patio to enjoy wood-fire pizza, with yes, more wine.

Views of vines at the Norman Hardie winery.

The patio & tasting building at the Norman Hardie winery.

Wine, prosciutto and wood-fire pizza at the Norman Hardie winery.

After Norman Hardie, the next winery on our list was The Grange of Prince Edward County. The Norman Hardie winery was lovely, but The Grange was gorgeous! Their tasting and selling space is located inside a beautiful, old refinished barn, with huge beams spanning the inside of the space. Their wines were delicious. We enjoyed a tasting, and ended up buying a bottle of their Cabernet Franc. It was red, full, smooth and amazing. We walked the grounds and took some photos, and although we didn’t have time to partake, The Grange makes up picnic baskets for their guests and lets you take them outside to enjoy the food and wine throughout theirs grounds. Such a sweet, romantic idea (hint, hint gentlemen!). It was such a charming winery. I highly recommend stopping in on any PEC wine tour!

The Grange of Prince Edward Country Winery.

A country lane at The Grange.

A photo op among the vines at The Grange of Prince Edward County winery.

After walking through the grounds at The Grange, we stopped at one more winery before heading to our inn for check-in. The last winery on our tour was The Old Third Winery. It was the most simple winery we visited. The winery and tasting room at The Old Third is located inside an old barn, just like at the Grange, although slightly more rustic. They only serve one wine – a Pinot Noir, and they also sold a sparkling cider. But let me tell you – their Pinot Noir was by far the best red wine both of us had tasted all day! It was absolutely delicious – smooth and full-bodied. We bought a bottle without thinking twice and enjoyed great conversation with the gentleman pouring the wine for us! I’m so glad we stopped in here before heading to our inn. Visiting The Old Third winery was the best ‘surprise and delight’ moment of the afternoon!

From The Old Third, we drove to Bloomfield, Ontario, where we’d booked a room for one night at Angeline’s Inn. I had read great review’s online about Angeline’s, and it was a very affordable option for accommodations. The other places we looked to stay were The Drake Devonshire in Wellington, Ontario, and The Merrill Inn in Picton, Ontario. Unfortunately, both places were just slightly outside of our budget.

We loved our stay at Angeline’s Inn! It was a beautiful, quaint little place, but it was also bursting with character, and you could tell that the owners really took pride in their property. It was very clean, and the decor was a fabulous combination of contemporary-trendy and country-rustic elements. It suited us perfectly! All the rooms and suites are themed differently and have distinct personalities. We stayed in the Bijou Suite. It was located on the upper level of the house and had tall, charcoal-coloured doors as a headboard, which I’m definitely taking away as inspiration for my own DIY bedroom project! The Bijou Suite also looked exactly as the pictures portrayed it online.

Angeline’s Inn in Bloomfield, Ontario

After we checked in at Angeline’s, we had a quick nap (after drinking wine all afternoon in the summer sun we needed it!) and then decided to walk to the little downtown area in Bloomfield to explore a little bit before dinner. We ended up relaxing and enjoying charcuterie, cheeses, local cider and Ontario beers on the patio at Agrarian.

We walked back to Angeline’s in time to refresh ourselves and change for our anniversary dinner. We made dinner reservations at Angeline’s own restaurant – The Hubb Eatery & Lounge. The restaurant had been featured recently in an article in Travel + Leisure – so it had to be good! We went in with high expectations – and were definitely not disappointed! Since we only had to walk down the stairs and around the corner to the restaurant (how convenient is that?!) we took our bottle of Pinor Noir from The Old Third winery that we’d bought earlier that day, and paid a corking fee to enjoy it with our dinner. We enjoyed a long, leisurely dining experience at The Hubb. The service was wonderful. We started with a bowl of PEI mussels in delicious curry sauce. For entrees, Scott enjoyed the Halibut loin, and I had the 1/2 roasted bird. The food was incredible. It was all as locally-sourced or produced as is possible, and all the ingredients were fresh and delicious! I have never had a poultry dish that was so juicy and amazing in my life! For dessert, we each enjoyed a homemade peanut butter dilly bar. And holy mackerel… they were so tasty! They were not overly sweet – just sweet enough to be perfect! We loved our experience at The Hubb Eatery & Lounge at Angeline’s Inn. If you’re in the area, make certain you go – and make reservations in advance as well!

The next day, we enjoyed coffee and a fresh croissant at Angeline’s, before checking out, and driving to Wellington, Ontario for brunch at The Drake Devonshire. The Drake’s newest venture was absolutely amazing – and totally hip and trendy. There were ping pong tables out front, and funky yellow accents everywhere. Their restaurant and patio is located right on the lake, and provided stunning views of the water. We cosied up side-by-side on the back patio, and enjoyed morning lake views while sipping cappuccino’s and gorging on eggs benedict and homemade blueberry scones with clotted cream and homemade jam. It was pure bliss.

Coffee & scones at The Drake Devonshire.

The Drake Devonshire from the beach! I also feel obligated to point out the woman sitting in the chair at the bottom right of the photo. That’s one way to keep the sun off your… face I guess?

Lake views at The Drake Devonshire.

Full, caffeinated and happy, we drove to Sandbanks Provincial Park for a relaxing beach day in the sun. It cost $17.00 to access the park for the day – but it was worth it. There are three beaches in the park – we chose to set up on Sandbanks Beach. We walked away from the throngs of families near the beach entrance, and ended up having an area all to ourselves to read, nap and bake in the sun – with SPF 60 lathered all over us of course!

It was an incredible, romantic weekend away, and we saw and did so much in just two days – all at a relaxing, leisurely pace!

If you haven’t yet visited to Prince Edward County – go immediately! If you have visited, you should probably go back! We certainly will be!