This past weekend, Lauren and I had a weekend adventure to Picton, ON. We had a great time, enjoyed some amazing meals, visited some old friends, and to top it all off, I asked her to marry me. She said yes, and that made the weekend the best ever. We left on Saturday, after Lauren finished teaching yoga in Forest Hill. I picked her up in the Toyata Camry Hybrid rental car at 12:30. I had spent the morning rushing around getting all the last minute errands finished. I was pretty happy that I was on time after all that I had to do that morning, and we were both excited to be getting away. We grabbed a couple of “still hot from the oven” bagels from What-a-Bagel and started our road trip down the 401.

In Picton, we had reserved rooms at the Queen’s Inn, on the main drag. The hotel is fairly new, and the rooms were very clean, but unfortunately the AC wasn’t working, and the temperature was thirty five degrees inside. I spoke to the front desk, and they assured me that they would have someone look at the room ASAP. We decided to take a stroll through the town before getting ready for dinner.

While I was standing out front of a store, waiting for Lauren, I was approached by an elderly gentleman who, out of the blue comes up to me and asks “Where are you from?”. I introduced myself and told him that I was from Toronto. After shaking my hand, the old guy told me that his name was Joe, he was psychic, and that I would be married by September. Considering what was on my mind, I was a little surprised by this. Joe then informed me that “Your first son will be a boy, your second a girl”. I thought he was hilarious, and called Lauren out of the store to meet him. Joe then insisted that we walked him around the corner, telling us that we needed to see the house that we had to buy. The Plantation House is a beautiful bed and breakfast up for sale in Picton, and thanks to Joe, Lauren is pretty sure we should buy it!

That night, Lauren and I enjoyed a fantastic dinner at Harvest. Appetizers consisted of Charcuterie and Burnt Goat Cheese, and both were great. I had a bolke of De Koninck (one of my favourite beers – on tap!), and Lauren enjoyed the Sandbanks Estate Riesling from the region. For mains, Lauren had Lake Erie Walleye with a Jerusalem artichoke puree, and I had a rack of pork with a white bean and cabbage ragout and a pint of Stiegl. The food was fantastic, service was impeccable and I highly recommend this restaurant, but make reservations, because the place was hopping! I had hoped to find a good place to pop the question after dinner, so Lauren and I drove around Picton for a bit, but with Lauren quickly passing out (2 glasses of wine after her one month cleanse = lightweight) I decided to wait for the next day. We returned to our sweat lodge of a hotel room, and eventually fell asleep, despite the temperature and the noise of local drunks on the street below. (I should note that hotel manager admitted that there was a problem right away, and when it became apparent that they would not be able to repair the issue, immediately issued a credit to us.)

The next day we did a little shopping, then met our friends Jens and Bruno at the Waring House for brunch. Jens and Bruno moved from Toronto to Picton just over three years ago to begin their own winery, and they haven’t looked back since. They told us how much they loved the people and the slower pace of life that “The County” offered. Lauren was now sold on moving there ASAP.

After brunch, Jens and Bruno had kindly offered to show us around their vineyard, so we drove out to their property. I didn’t know what to expect, and was quite surprised at the size of the plot. Bruno is doing things a little differently on his land than most other Canadian winemakers. Bruno is using a high density system, similar to those used in France. This means that the vine rows are spaced much closer than the typical 8 foot used here in Canada. This also meant that he had to import his workhorse of a vineyard tractor, who he calls “Birdie”, from France. He isn’t the first in Canada to do this, as the Blue Mountain Vineyard in BC’s Okanagan valley is also using this model. Bruno and Jens expect that this year will be their first commercial crush. Bruno is committed to producing only very high quality Pinot Noir wines, and he doesn’t plan on using the LCBO’s distribution system to sell them.

Beside their barn, Bruno and Jens have set up a little patio, and after checking out the vineyard, they suggested that we sit and relax in the beautiful sun. Jens and Bruno left to go to the house for refreshments. I knew that this was the perfect moment. Suddenly my heart started pounding, my mouth went dry. Lauren kept telling me “We have to move here”. I asked her if she didn’t think that maybe we take it a step at a time. She repeated it again, “We have to move here”. I sat her down in a chair, took a big breath, and got down on one knee and mumbled something about taking the first step. I pulled out the ring that I had been keeping in my pocket all weekend, looked up into her beautiful blue eyes, and asked her THE QUESTION. She smiled at me, and said yes, and then I kissed her.Bruno and Jens returned from the house with a bottle of 2004 Cremant de Bourgogne Brut and we all celebrated.

We then toured Bruno and Jen’s house, which they purchased over a year ago and sits across the street from their vineyard. When they took possession, the place was a disaster. Bruno spent last year jacking the house up and rebuilding the crumbling foundations, stone by stone. Built in the late 1790’s by Loyalist Quakers who had emigrated from the U.S. Bruno pointed out that once they ripped the cladding off the front of the house they found that there were two doors, one for the men, one for the women. One of these doors had been covered over, and sat perfectly preserved behind the walls. They remounted this door and are now using it as their front door. One thing I loved about all the work that these two guys do is their attention to architectural detail, and their desire to maintain the historical accuracy of not only their home, but their barn as well! The house is currently in a state of “constant renovation” but their kitchen is finished, and is stunning. I can’t wait to see the finished house.

We said our goodbyes to our friends, and started the drive back to Toronto, giggling at the sound of the word fiancee.

(Pictures coming soon!)

Related posts:

1. A slideshow of our visit to Picton.
2. Sometimes the gold is in the comments
3. Who’s the boss?