Town full of charmsin Ontario

Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins are spending their summer on the shores of Lake Ontario, in the pretty Canadian town of Niagara-on-the-Lake. The first time Eliza saw it, she must have gasped, “Owww, it’s loverly.”

I said something like that myself — minus the cockney accent — when my husband and I stumbled across it years ago during a visit to nearby (but worlds apart) Niagara Falls: “What a great place.”

Even as he snickered at us, Henry would have had to agree. Here’s why:

• Flowers everywhere — cascading from hanging baskets, fences and rails and casting vibrant color across seemingly every yard and public space.

• Beautifully maintained homes dating from the early 19th century.

• More fine restaurants, shops, art galleries and artists’ studios than can be covered in one visit.

• Small hotels, inns, bed-and-breakfasts, cottages and rental houses, but no high-rises, chain motels or traffic jams.

• Three intimate theaters within blocks of each other in which the Shaw Festival is presenting, this year, a total of 12 plays from early April through early December, including George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion” with Eliza and Henry.

• Mile upon scenic mile of vineyards, fruit orchards, lush gardens and manicured parkland.

• More than 40 wineries producing ever-better, award-winning vintages in limited quantities hard to buy outside of Ontario.

• Trails and little-traveled byways perfect for cyclists, hikers, equestrians and in-line skaters.

• Waterways dotted with kayaks, sailboats, other pleasure craft and tour boats.

• Fourteen nearby golf courses, including the lakefront, circa 1875 Niagara-on-the-Lake Golf Club, advertised as the oldest existing golf course in North America and the site of the continent’s first international tournament, in 1895.

• The rapids of the Niagara River, swirling and crashing through the deep gorge it has carved into the bedrock for eons and then finally quieting as it empties into Lake Ontario.

Now you get it: Niagara (River)-on-the-Lake (Ontario).

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