If you’re from the GTA and you’ve just had an amazing trip somewhere within or beyond the GTA in winter, spring, summer or fall worth sharing, we’d love to hear from you!
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by: Leah Espineda

I just couldn’t believe it when Cathy Rehberg, Marketing Coordinator of Stratford Tourism www.welcometostratford.com sent me an email congratulating me for winning a fall weekend getaway package for two in Stratford, Ontario!  The prize package included two night’s accommodation for two with breakfast, dinners and theatre tickets to the Festival theatre.  If you’re like me, chances are you get to enjoy the good things in life only if you work really hard for it. So for someone who hasn’t won anything major, this was such an awesome prize.  Going on a fall weekend getaway may be too soon as I have just gone on a two-week California holiday with family last August. However, the prospect of spending a quiet weekend in a new place was certainly very appealing.  And hey, who can resist the lure of a weekend getaway, especially three days of not cooking meals, sleeping in and not making your bed?  Besides, my hubby and I have not really gone out in a while with just the two of us. So, when I got the motel’s email confirmation for a ‘queen suite’ in their renovated property and that I would be treated just like a ‘queen’, I was so there!

With our bags packed and a copy of mapquest on hand, we eagerly set off to our weekend getaway. The two-hour drive to Stratford was invigorating. I always love long drives especially to the countryside. It’s quite a break from my daily TTC commute to downtown Toronto. The simple pleasure of passing through panoramic views of refreshing green fields, trees with the beautiful colors of fall, pumpkin patches, rows of cornfields and vegetable farms, is such a welcome respite from the daily sights of city life. On reaching Stratford’s downtown area, I was amazed that in just a few minutes we were transported to a quiet hideaway, where the Forest Motel was. www.forestmotel.on.ca. It was an idyllic setting by the lakeside where you can surely let your hair down, relax and just enjoy its tranquil surroundings.  We checked in and met the very pleasant owner, Conroy Schelhaas. To my surprise, an envelope was waiting for me with a note from Cathy inviting me to visit 6 shops in the downtown area to pick up gifts. How exciting was that!  After dropping our bags into our lovely and cozy queen suite, we went to the lakeside and took pictures of the view and the two lovely swans named Mickey and Minnie who looked so serene swimming in the lake. We walked up to McCarthy house located just a few steps from the motel.  It was a relaxing walk just feeling the crackle of dried leaves under your feet and hearing the quiet murmur of the cold wind blowing against your face. You can’t help but say, ahh, this is life!  

That same evening we went for dinner at the Sapori Restaurant. www.saporipastahouse.com The restaurant owner, Daniela, welcomed us.  We had a little taste of Italian ambiance with its garden courtyard-like décor, piped-in soft Italian music and the lovely full course dinner.  The true test of how excellent the food tasted, was my husband’s obvious delight in savoring his linguini pasta with jumbo sea scallops and tiger shrimps in fresh tomato basil sauce.  For one who is quite discriminating with his pasta sauce, he enjoyed this one.  Without caring about calorie count, we finished off with mouth-watering dessert of ‘tiramisu torte’ and ‘apple caramel cheesecake’. That truly made our evening.

The next day, we set off to my ‘treasure hunt’ to pick up gifts. First, we passed by the Stratford Tourism office and met Chelsey who gave us directions and a complimentary one-day parking pass. Our first stop was at Bradshaws www.bradshawscanada.com. The friendly co-owner, Carrie Wreford, gave me a pretty basket that came with nice little gifts that I personally selected from their marvelous kitchen section. While browsing around, I thought, Bradshaws would be a dream marketplace for any homemaker with an exquisite taste for the finer things in life. My next stops were to see Tom of ‘Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory’ and Kathy of ‘Pass da Pasta’ who each gave me a gift. Then we went to “Let Them Eat Cake” www.LetThemEatCake.ca a restaurant and dessert café where the owner, Michael Enwright, gave me a box of their delicious scones and cakes to take home. Moving on, I stopped by ‘Distinctly Tea’ www.distinctlytea.com a specialty shop that offered a wide selection of teas from around the world. There, Peter gave me a nice gift as well. My last stop was at the Kitchen Connaisseur, www.kitchenconnaisseur.com a shop filled with an array of culinary products from oils to sauces, spices and a lot more.  Behind the counter were Debi Gibb, Retail Manager and Debbie Emerson who congratulated me for winning the prize and handed me their lovely gift package.  I tasted a sample of their sauces and they were just superb.  I bet you wouldn’t mind making a two-hour trip from Toronto to buy some of their specialty products. It will be worth the drive. We had to go to another dinner and to a theater show that night, so we wrapped up our shopping spree to get ready for the evening.

On our last night, we went to the SunRoom Restaurant www.sunroomstratford.com. Although it was a busy Saturday night with most diners going to the theatre, Frances, was very accommodating and gave us a table as promised. Not wanting to be late for the show, we decided on our order quickly and had the bruschetta with goat’s cheese and tomato basil concasse and fried calamari with chipotle mayo for starters.  For our main course, my husband had the grilled angus steak and I had the shrimp and scallop Szechuan noodles.  For dessert we had the yummy chilled chocolate and mango mousse cake. It was another scrumptious meal that set our mood for a lovely evening.  After dinner, we went to the Festival theatre to watch Oscar Wilde’s “An Ideal Husband”. On our way, we were debating on whether we’d really enjoy a classical theatre show knowing we were more of the contemporary musical concert-type couple.  When we got ourselves seated in the theatre, we just got hooked on the performance. The performers were brilliant and we were totally entertained.  As the night wore on, I thought I wouldn’t mind watching classical theatre again. The night proved to be a really memorable one.

The next morning which was our last day, we took some more pictures of the Forest Motel area.  As we checked out, we met Kim, Conroy’s wife, who was as charming as him.  We thanked them for our wonderful stay. To the Stratford Tourism and the shops that participated in this prize package, thank you all very much!   We really enjoyed our stay.

To our dear readers, if you ever want to go on a weekend getaway, Stratford, Ontario is the place to be.  Go right ahead and get ready to be enchanted!