Someone said to me last month - "we only get 90 summers, take full advantage of them!"  90 summers, think about that for a minute.  When you put it into those terms, you really do think about whether or not we are taking advantage of this time in our lives. I do love the changing seasons here in Canada (although I can go with a much shorter winter), I really do enjoy the fall but I am a summer baby at heart!   The sun, the warm breeze, the colors, how happy everyone is, the vitamin D and of course, the long weekends!  Jason and I take full advantage of the long weekends during the summer.  We do our best to get out of town for a few days and explore the beautiful places we can visit here in Southern Ontario.  

This weekend we spent 3 nights in Gananoque & The 1000 Islands. It's been over 20 years since we last visited and the beauty of the area has not changed.  It's a quick 2.5hr drive from Toronto and definitely worth a trip if you've never been.  The town is super charming and filled with buildings dating back to the 1800's.   The old stone houses and tree lined streets are spectacular!

We filled our weekend with lots of food of course - if you know me, you know I am a foodie!  

This weekend I took a break from all the cooking and enjoyed someone else doing all the cooking for me :). I normally LOVE to cook on a long weekend, but this time we ate out everyday which was a nice little treat for me.  

There were two highlights on this trip.  First, we went to the Playhouse and saw Mama Mia.  Now, I didn't know what to expect being from Toronto and having access to basically our Canadian version of Broadway.  Wow.  I think it was better than productions I've seen here in Toronto.  We were all blown away - the production, the talent, the singing.  It was so good it brought us all to tears.  I would go back and see it over and over again.  If they come back with Mama Mia, it's worth the drive!  Just WOW.

We also jumped on the 1000 Islands 5 hour cruise where you stop midway and visit to Bolte Castle - and for this boat ride you need your passport as you cross into the US.  To get onto the Island with the castle you go through customs, who knew?  It was the perfect sunny day to cruise the islands, see all the fabulous waterfront properties, learn about the castle and spend time with our friends.  If you are in the area you cannot leave without doing one of their boat cruises.

We ended the weekend with some more food, fabulous wine and a bunch of card games.  We spent the weekend with our wonderful friends Alana, Rich and their daughter Maddy.  We've been travelling together for years and will continue to explore new adventures with them for as long as they will allow us too :)