Temperance and Temptation in The Headwaters



Always on the lookout for for great things to do in and around Toronto, I was happy to attend a media preview of Temperance and Temptation, the newest joint venture between York/Durham/Headwaters, Central Counties Tourism and ShortTrips.ca this past September.


Adamo Estate Winery

The Temperance and Temptation tours take you on a guided, all inclusive two day exploration of the history of prohibition in the York, Durham or Headwaters Regions. I bet you didn't even know that was a thing, right? We only hear about the adventures in bootlegging and home stills that took place in the States with shows like Boardwalk Empire but this was an important time right here in the wild and wooly Ontario frontier.

The tours take two forms - you can either download the Temperance and Temptation app that allows you to take a self guided adventure with stories to listen to between each stop (get a designated driver though because it IS all about the booze) OR you can pay to hop on a bus with a bunch of other people, sit back and relax and let yourself be squired around while actors and musicians animate the stories along the way.

I wrote about my Durham Region Tour here for Auburn Lane and I was looking forward to just doing the other two tours on my own using the app until I won a free trip for me and a guest to join the Headwaters Story. After falling in love with the Headwaters back in 2015 (read more about it here) , I have returned again and again for lazy weekend drives, stopping in little towns, exploring summer markets and visiting farms and cideries so I kind of assumed that I would be totally familiar with most of the stops on the trip.


what, more beer? Is it even noon yet? Oh, I couldn't. Okay, if you insist...
Wrong.

Except for Spirit Tree Cider, every place we went was new to me. I grabbed my friend, Nancy (half of our MVP friends-Most Valuable Peruvians) and we hopped on the bus with about 20 other booze enthusiasts. You may remember Nancy from my ridiculous Canadian Beef video with Farmer Gord at Heatherlea Farms in Caledon IN THE HEADWATERS. Nancy is clearly my official Headwaters partner in crime.




Our first stop was the Adamo Estate Winery, a lovely facility that I was completely unfamiliar with, for a tasting and a tour before having a ginormous, three course lunch at the Mono Cliffs Inn to soak up all that wine. Oh, except that we were served big old frosty mugs of beer with that lovely lunch. Madge, you're soaking in it.


Lunch and a bit of old timey music at Mono Cliffs Inn
More stops, more hop and off actor hijinks on the bus and along the way and finished our day with a vodka tasting, dinner and more music at the Grand Spirits Distillery. Every stop on this first day was new to me and have been added to my list of places to visit on my own.

Small distilleries like Grand Spirit are on the rise in Ontario

We spent the night at the Hockley Valley resort and after breakfast the next morning, it was back on the bus to visit my new favourite place, the charming Heartwood Farm & Cidery and finished with lunch at Spirit Tree Cider, the only place on the itinerary I had actually visited before.

The bus then returns to the city, drops you off at one of three pickup/drop points where you drag your bags of wine and cider off the bus - what, didn't everyone buy bags of wine and cider??


If a guided tour is not for you, and I admit, it's not my favourite way to explore, the self guided tours are great. At each stop you are given a secret phrase that will get you some sort of perk like a free tasting and the stories that prepare you for the upcoming stops are a great touch. That said,  before you balk at the $399 sticker price (that is based on sharing a double room - a quad takes it down to $349/pp and a single tops it out at $499), remember that you are getting three full meals, a whack of tastings and tours and a night at Hockely Valley would cost at least $250 or more. I thought it was actually pretty great value at the end of the day and can I just say that our room was pretty fabulous and if I could have, I would have smuggled my bed out in my bag.

I generally prefer to do things on my own time, staying longer at the places I am loving and ditching the places that aren't all that interesting to me. For people like us, there are three self guided tours that include the places featured on the Experience tours and more. The upside to the guided tour is that you don't have to worry about driving, you can drink along the way, you don't have to give any thought to where you will eat and sleep and the actors and musicians add some fun to the experience but the downside is that you are on someone else's timetable. It's great that the two options mean there is something for everyone.


Let your trusty guide take care of the all of the details
If you missed out on the guided tours this year, fret not because this is going to be a five year project so the tours will be back and you can hop on the booze bus during the next round. Sign up here for their mailing list to be kept in the loop.

Heartwood Farm & Cidery was my favourite stop and will be the first that I revisit

I am such a sucker for a tuba solo

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