Niagara Weekend Getaway | DAY 1: (Pt. 1) Revisiting COWS NOTL

Despite having personally proposed the  trip over a month in advance, my physical and mental states leading up to the weekend was far from aligning with vacation mode. Fatigued from the past weekends of cookie box prep, pilates-induced shoulder injury as of late, and overall distressing situations associated with adulthood, my mind was anywhere but prepping for a relaxing getaway. Truthfully, there would be no difference in packing efforts between an overnight stay and three-week vacation.

Laundry, photo backup, and last-minute ticketing arrangements would ensue until the late evening.
"What is the plan?"
"Pick you up when you wake up and are ready."
The response was music to my ears. After all, early morning departures were not my cup of tea.

​I had, in fact, awoke earlier than anticipated, which enabled a departure that was not only punctual, but early, albeit only a few minutes sooner.

​On the way to Niagara-on-the-Lake, I proceeded to launch my seemingly endless stack of concerns into the unassuming lap of the sleepy polar bear, who could barely follow my mad jumble of thoughts, let alone process them. The issues had primarily emerged from the past weekend, and were named off one by one for individual resolution. A consensus was achieved prior to our arrival at COWS, though it remains a mystery whether application would follow suite.

​Our arrival coincided with the sighting of a few floats (and complimentary holiday parking in the asphalt lot on Market Street), but we hadn't thought much of them

Shops within the cozy, streamer-lined district adopted European visuals in the forms of brick exteriors and architectural storefronts. It wasn't until spotting reusable totes bearing the renowned four-letter alcohol acronym that it dawned on me: NOTL had an LCBO!

"Do you want to check it out?" asked the sleepy polar bear knowingly.
I didn't even need to respond, and promptly pulled open the doors to inspect the eco bags I had spied from the glass window.

​An initial reluctance was present at seeing the spread, but a certain rare Mimosa offering changed that instantly.
Other seasonal (and store) exclusives were picked up along the way: a 4-pack of Black Sapporo, Big Rig's Broken Sled Gingerbread Stout, Grand River's Midnight on the Grand Black Lager, and Cowbell's White Mocha Coffee Chocolate Nitro White Stout.

​After relieving our hands of the my weighty purchase, we retraced our path towards COWS, chancing across a 50% off t-shirt promo in honour of the 10th day of Christmas.

​In spite of the times I've frequented the fa-moo-lous (yes, I went there) Atlantic native, this was the first visit during the holiday season, seeing as we had skipped NOTL during last year's Downtown Niagara adventure.

View the full album HERE !

Festive garlands and a Santa hat-donning cow welcomed us into the shop, while the Charlottetown-based chain's own version of Christmas sweaters - or rather, cotton long sleeves and crewnecks - were neatly hung and folded in a seasonal section in the middle of the shop.

​Thoroughly perusing the assortment, the sleepy polar bear followed closely, smirking knowingly as I approached a plush Neapolitan ice cream cone.

​​We each took to one of their holiday-exclusive tops: a vibrant red patterned crewneck for the sleepy polar bear and an oversized, baby blue gingerbread cow top for me. I was quick to expand my selection of Cows socks by slapping a navy, snowflake version on top of the pile.

​The next order of business was, obviously, to obtain ice cream. Cookie Moonster was the creamery's take on the classic choice, complete with cookie dough bits for chewiness and texture variation; the cyan-coloured Single Scoop was requested in a Peanut Rim waffle cone by the sleepy polar bear.

My pick adopted a cup format. Torn between Gooey Mooey and Caramel Moochiato, the staff behind the counter offered to combine the two flavours into a Single Scoop to combat indecisiveness, and further relieve himself of having to distinguish their individual profiles.

Gooey Mooey assumed the top half of the scoop, boasting a delectable creaminess, occasionally interrupted by crunchy bits of chocolate. The bottom half was a slick, sticky caramel-based formula; Caramel Moochiato retained minimal notes of coffee, instead contributing intense sweetness that would render me unable to entertain the thought of hot chocolate, or even the all-too-intriguing Toasted Almond Latte from Balzac's.

​I took note of the menu options and simplistic construction of the roastery's Vanilla Nanaimo Bar, then headed down to the basement level for bathroom usage.

​Returning to ground level, I found the sleepy polar bear outside, happily munching away at a Beef and Lamb Gyro.
I observed the scene with one raised eyebrow: a ravenous creature indulging in successive bites of a pita, face smothered in presumably tzatziki sauce.

Turning down a sampling opportunity, I headed into the nearby leather ottoman boutique instead. The stout, patchwork elephants were, in fact, quite sturdy - surprisingly so.

During the the previous night's planning phase, we had concluded 3 PM to be the latest acceptable arrival time at the Niagara Power Station. Weaving about several floats, we pulled out of the Market Street lot at the 2:27 PM mark. At seeing passerbys gather along the sidewalk edge, it occured to us that a street event was possibly looming. Google affirmed my suspicions: Niagara-on-the-Lake's Santa Claus Parade was to coincide with our date with our visit, though not necessarily the timing.

​However, we could not dally. Awaiting us at the other end of an approximate thirty-minute drive was the next item on the itinerary. Along the way, we passed the Rainbow Bridge, where vehicles queued to cross south over the border.

Read Part 2 HERE !