Fall for Niagara Falls

Back in April 2009, we had a planned a trip to Niagara Falls over the 4-day Easter weekend. Plans changed and we ended up moving it to the August long weekend. I'm happy about that since we probably had nicer weather in August than we would have had in April, just a shot in the dark.

Friday was a half day at work and we drove the 6 hours to the Falls. It was a relatively easy drive, but one that contributed to our trafficky-noisy outlook on Toronto as we were driving right through. We got there around 8 at night, checked into our hotel (another Choicehotels.com jewel, the Days Inn), and went for a walk to orient ourselves. NOTE: To all those that go to the Falls, there are only about 2 places where you can walk all the way down. So if your hotel is inbetween those two places, there's quite a long walk. We suggest the route right beside the Skylon Tower. Since it was already dark, they had a light show pointed towards the water. Amazing colours that looked really neat because all the water was moving.

The funny thing was, after about half an hour of strolling by the water, fireworks started going off! We immediately thought it was the city of Niagara Falls welcoming us, but then realized that they have fireworks about 3 times a week. Lucky us that we got to see them since in Ottawa they only have fireworks once a year.

After a nice sleep in our hotel and a breakfast at the adjoining Perkins, we drove to MARINELAND!

I love, love, love parks like this. Of course, they are full of tourists, but it's just so much fun to see the animals (and from what I hear, they are not mal-treated). The first stop for us was the deer. I remember coming to Marineland with my parents as a kid and there is one picture of me floating around, looking scared because one of the deer nibbled on my finger and I was convinced they were going to gobble me up. Age has changed my view on these cute creatures, and I promptly bought an ice-cream cone filled with deer-feed. Those deer have learned to recognize these ice-cream cones and start to follow you when they see you holding one. I immediately had about 10 deer following me.

After the deer, we lined up for the marine-animal show. There were so many crying kids, and everyone was trying to sneak in front of everyone else. Word to the wise, it's best to sit on the edges anyways, since you'll get out quicker after the show. There's plenty of room for everyone.

There were seals, walrus', and dolphins. Lots of jumps and tricks and good ol' entertainment.

We also saw the killer whales doing some jumps in another section of the park. They had to warn us to stay a few feet from the edge of the pool as one of the whales was being agressive. People just thought the announcer was joking....until the whale acually lunged at someone. Then they started to listen.

We were exhausted after a full day on our feet, so we found a nice place for dinner, and fell asleep around 9pm.

The next day, after another hardy breakfast at Perkins, we made our way to Journey Behind the Falls (JBTF). JBTF is an underground attraction where you can walk through caves behind the falls. You can look out of those caves and see the huge amount of water falling everyday. It's loud, it vibrates, it's amazing. It's also pretty wet, so make sure you put on your free poncho hood! Depending on where you are in the caves, you could be right behind the falls, or just off to the side.

Next up was Clifton Hill, the main touristy part of Niagara Falls. Mini-golf, FX Theatres, The Skylon Tower, The Skywheel.....all things you should do. Yes, you can mini-golf anywhere, but can you mini-golf among dinosaurs anywhere? No, I don't think so.

There was a Ripley's Believe It Or Not and a Movieland Wax Museum. At the Wax Museum, I was lucky enough to meet celebrities such as Clark Gable, Tom Hanks, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Simpsons. When I met Homer, I was telling him about the deer we saw, and he was like "Doh? A Deer?" and I replied "A female deer". True story.

Our last night in Niagara Falls, we decided to have a nice dinner. There was a place across the street from the Days Inn called Vinny's that had some great music. We dressed up a bit, got a table, some food, and some pitchers of beer. Guess who showed up! James Brown. Ok, it wasn't James Brown (JB), but he sang JB songs, sounded like JB, and looked like JB. We spent a good 3 hours there listening to this guy sing, and when he took a break, the main band was excellent too. A great final night.

We went back to work needing a vacation since we were tired from our vacation, but that's just one of those things you have to deal with. If you want to do these short trips, expect to be tired after you get back!

Another weekend excursion successfully accomplished!