Niagara Falls, Canada
NIAGARA FALLS, ONTARIO, CANADA
Friday, June 28, 2019
76 degrees, Sunny
****I have been journalling almost all of my travels since graduating college in 2003. In 2019, I decided to make them digital! I'm happy to share our adventures with you, but keep in mind they are actually for me and my family!****
One of the new seven wonders of the world, Niagara doesn't disappoint. We knew this would be a great stop on our journey to Quebec to explore this natural beauty after 5 hours of driving from Columbus, Ohio. My mom, Betty, accompanied us on this trip to get her passport stamped for the first time!
Mom and Dylan had never been to see this glorious, powerful wonder while Paris and I were here in 2005 (when I was SURE he would propose marriage, but never did). One day is PLENTY of time in Niagara for us, as the carnival atmosphere on Clifton hill doesn't appeal to our travel style.
There is plenty more to see if we go back again though. The Ferris wheel, observatory and I remember a really fun museum about all of the daredevils who have attempted to go over the falls.
We much prefer Niagara on the lake for their laid back, wineries, food pairings and atmosphere (with ice wine for dessert!)
CLIFTON VICTORIA INN AT THE FALLS
Free parking (it's at a premium here), a pool and free breakfast, what more could you ask for? A LOT! Our room had the oldest A/C unit that clicked all night long. There was no thermostat so we couldn't regulate the A/C but it actually was freezing cold in our room so it could have been worse since it was so hot outside. Seriously, none of us slept a straight hour except Dylan. We were directly beside the stairs and also heard the door slam at all hours, along with children above us practicing for Cirque du Soleil. The beds were comfortable and maybe the experience would have been different, had we not been in room 201. Or 301, or 401, 501 for that matter. <-----Note!!!The location was perfect for walking to the falls and super close to the freeway since we were getting an early start tomorrow.
NIAGARA FALLS
Coming down Clifton Hill for the first time, you aren't expecting this beautiful, majestic, powerful waterfall to be right in front of you! The long boardwalk with ornate ironwork and lamp posts along the cliff allowed for numerous photo ops on our way to the "Journey behind the falls". The temperature really drops about 10 degrees down by the falls and you get a beautiful mist the closer you get to Horseshoe Falls (the Canadian falls). Glad we brought rain jackets.....I get so cold!JOURNEY BEHIND THE FALLS
Our journey begins as packed sardines in a long weaving line to receive our rain jackets. I am quite claustrophobic so I was pretty fearful of the elevator and small tunnels but I am SO HAPPY I didn't back out (because my mind told me several times not to do it). An elevator takes you down 125 meters into the tunnels that were carved out around the early 1900s. Half of the people returning from the falls were SOAKED and half weren't. This made us wonder- why? And will we be totally soaked too?
After a quick introduction from the elevator attendant, we walked through to the deck first and experienced the loud, thundering power of the falls (and shrieks of people getting soaked)! We experienced both the upper and lower deck knowing it was freezing cold and this moment will last in our memories forever! The tunnels had several opportunities for information about Niagara Falls- all interesting and useful although Dylan was happy to speed by them!
We were truly being blessed with the rainbows we saw. Double rainbows and rainbows where you could see the beginning AND the end inside the falls! After we surfaced, we needed another peek of these beautiful falls and the rainbows overtop of them!
The Army Corps of Engineers has been able to slow the erosion of the falls from 10 feet of erosion per year to only 1 foot of erosion every 10 years! This means that my own grandchildren will be able to enjoy this journey as well!
QUEEN VICTORIA RESTAURANT
We were able to have a view of the falls from our table on the railing. A concert stage was set up beside the falls so we were also able to enjoy the music and the breeze too! We started with cocktails of course to cheers our first day of vaca!
Dinner was yummy for everyone - even Dylan's dino nuggets (clearly the only frozen thing on the menu) I had the Prix Fix menu - Ceasar, Fish platter with salmon and pickerel sourced in the Ontario waters, strawberry rhubarb cake with buttercream icing, fresh berries and homemade whipped creme (to which Dylan devoured). Mom loved her salmon and we all loved her Marilyn Monroe martini with Raspberry vodka, Cointreau, cranberry and lime juice! We tried to replicate this in Quebec Day 3 - see how that turned out! If I didn't like my fish platter so much, I would have had entree envy with Paris's Queen Victoria burger served with Canadian beef, goat cheese, roasted red peppers, lettuce, tomato and a side of kale salad.
We were all tired and decided to walk back to the hotel and maybe get in the pool. On our way back, the police were setting up metal and chain barriers along the boardwalk for the fireworks that evening.
There was a park along the water that had a tall tree of purple leaves standing by itself. I saw someone walk out of the bottom and we decided to explore it a little bit! Dylan wasn't too excited at first but he was also having a fit because we couldn't teleport back to the hotel and we needed to walk up Clifton Hill. The tree was the perfect deterrent for all of us as we walked inside to a tall "ceiling" above us. It looked so lush and thick on the outside! You can see me welcoming everyone into the tree after I checked it out! There was so much room inside and a super cool little hideout. Check out this video inside the tree!
BEAVERTAILS
We almost forgot about this gem that I marked as a "place to go" for our trip. I was expecting a donut shop for breakfast but we were greeted by a streetside stand with one window and a picture of a flat pastry spread with ingredients on the top. Dylan was the only one interested in this sweet treat, naturally! Each beavertail was $6-7 dollars. MawMaw bought him a Strawberry cheesecake beavertail.While we were waiting for ours, I noticed the gentleman beside me stacking his one by one on the counter as the girl was making them fresh. When he started his second stack of beavertails, I knew he must have an addiction or he was smoking the street-legal marijuana that you could smell everywhere. When I asked his opinion of the, he said that he is taking them back to his family in the U.S. He isn't allowed to come home unless he has 10 of them!
His favorite and the most popular is the Hazelnut.
CASINO
This is the BEST place to exchange money. Walk into the cashier. Hand over your money. Walk out with cash. No fees. Boom. Winner.NIAGARA AT NIGHT
Paris and I went to the Casino while mom and Dylan got ready for bed. With the time being WAY past my bedtime at 9pm, I thought "let's get crazy and go down to the falls". I am so glad we walked down there together. The falls were pretty with all of the colors lighting them up and we noticed the Oakes Garden Theatre to the left of the falls. How did we pass this so many times before?OAKES GARDEN THEATRE
This beautiful outdoor theater and gardens are quite a gem. I think this is the perfect spot to watch the fireworks (if you aren't in a hotel facing it from your room in your pajamas <--- my pick!). There is a stone stage, majestic English Gardens (see me on the left side of the photo) and some hidden gardens with a path and sitting rocks under shade. This is would be a perfect quiet place for a special occasion like and ENGAGEMENT! As we passed through the paths, Paris got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. In Niagara Falls. It finally happened! I knew it this whole time :)Tomorrow is an 11 hour travel day to Quebec City, Quebec, Canada!
When we come back to Niagara this is the to-do list:
- Hazelnut Beavertail
- Niagara on the Lake
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