Ontario Canada - the way home

We woke up early and decided to walk to a nearby IHOP for breakfast.  They are usually reasonably priced and who doesn't like pancakes?  The IHOP was attached to another hotel about half a mile from ours.  We were seated and started looking at the menu.  I almost had a stroke.  They wanted $18 for an omelet... and that is Canadian dollars.  Add about 2% to that for the currency exchange.  I should have gone with my instinct and walked out but Big Boy had such a great memory of his recent IHOP breakfast with his father and, I don't know, I wasn't thinking straight.  We ordered breakfast and endured sub par service.  Someone had switched the caps on two of the four flavors of pancake syrup so Big Boy accidentally smothered his pancakes with blueberry syrup - which he hates.  We waited a ridiculously long time for our waitress to come by but in her credit she did quickly agree to bring him a new serving of pancakes.

When the bill came, I was sick to my stomach.  I could have fed my kids for three days in DisneyWorld for what I paid for breakfast.

And that was before tip!

We walked back to the hotel with a smile pasted on my face, determined to make sure that the kids continued to have a good time.  Along the way a cat jumped out from behind a shrub and immediately introduced himself.  He ended up following us for a few blocks while the kids made ridiculous pleas to take him home with us.

Although it was a gorgeous sunny day.. and so far, we had only seen the falls when it was overcast, my kids seemed to feel that they had seen enough of the falls.  The wanted to spend the morning in the pool.  It was still early and the pool was not due to open until 10:00.  We were originally scheduled for an evening flight so that we could spend some more time exploring the area but that expensive breakfast was still in my head and the kids had seen enough water so we decide to head back home early.  There was a noon flight that was wide open so we decided to try for that.

Crossing back over the border was as uneventful as entering Canada.  A quick glance at our passports and a few routine questions and we were back in the USA. 

Suddenly and unexpectedly, Lil's Bit mentioned that she was hungry and then immediately segued into a full uncharacteristic meltdown.  I don't know where she thought I was going to find food on the middle of the highway.  But, we survived the meltdown and went to our rental car return.  While returning the car, I mentioned that the cigarette lighter was not working which caused me much angst as I was using my phone for the GPS and was watching my battery slowly dwindle.  Now, this is why I am loving Enterprise.  Without hesitation, the employee noted that I only had the car for a couple of hours on my second day and he agreed to waive the second day altogether, cutting my bill in half.  That is good customer service.

We easily got onto the early flight.

And, it is a good thing we did.  Storms later in the day caused delays to our original flight.  We would have made it home but is would have been late.

Ontario, Canada - October 18 & 19

After our Maid of the Mist ride, we spent a few minutes on the observation tower and bought a couple of trinkets in the souvenir shop.  While waiting for our purchases to be rung up, Lil' Bit played with and subsequently dropped a small glass souvenir.  She was so upset that she quickly made a grab for the broken glass in an attempt to pick it up.  She cut her thumb on the glass and, after receiving a band aid, posed with her injury.

We caught the trolley back to our car and headed out of the park.  This trip, we had brought donuts but had not packed a lunch.  We quickly found a cheap Chinese Buffet in the area.  It was cheap, very cheap, and not very good.  But we are on a budget and it was food so we made do.

Lil' Bit had to go to the bathroom and since the bathrooms were very close and the place was deserted, she set off by herself.  After a while, I thought I should go check on her as she was talking a wee bit too long.  As I got closer tot he ladies room, I could hear her cries and her desperate pounding on the bathroom door.  She had gotten herself stuck in the restroom.  Not one to miss an opportunity to laugh at one of my children;'s misfortune, I totally cracked up.  But she was none the worse for wear.  We finished our meal and set off for Canada.

We quickly found the border crossing at Rainbow Bridge and upon showing our passports and answering a few cursory questions, we were allowed to cross the border.  Our first stop was the Holiday Inn where we had made reservations.  It was straight up the hill from the American Falls,  The hotel did not have a view of the falls but was within walking distance.

The room was nice and clean

 

The room did not have much of a view though.

What the hotel did have was a pool and a hot tub.  On the list of favorite things, a hotel pool and hot tub rank 1 & 2 on my kids' most favorite things.

 

After a quick swim, we headed out on foot in search of inexpensive souvenirs (we struck out)  and then off to see the falls from the Canadian side (where the view is best)

 

The walk was a comfortable downhill walk a little less than a mile.  It started getting chilly and drizziling during the walk down but the view was worth it.

 

 

Attached to our hotel was a Margaritaville.  The neon and music caught the kids' eyes so we decided that this was the spot for dinner.

 

By the time we finished dinner, the kid were tired, we were all just now drying off from our walk in the drizzle, and it had gotten even more chilly out.  Despite the fact that everyone says you just haaave to see the falls at night... we headed back to our room and straight to bed.

Here are a couple of pictures of what we missed (stolen from the Internet)

Buffalo, NY The Maid of the Mist

I do have one regret from my childhood trip to Niagara Falls.  I remember looking at the passengers of the Maid of the Mist boat tour with envy.  I wanted to go on the boat ride so badly but my parents told me that it was too expensive.  Traveling with four kids and having to multiply every expense by four did rule out cool things like the boat trip so I do not begrudge my parents for not taking us on it but I was determined to give my kids hat experience.

The Maid of the Mist departs from just off Goat Island but a distance from the lot we had parked in.  For $2 for adults and $1 per child, we boarded the trolley on an all day wristband.  The trolley runs around Goat Island and to the Maid of the Mist and the observation tower.

The boat cost us $18 and included a second set of decks and stairs at the other side of the American falls and free run of hte observation tower which extends over the river.

We received a second rain poncho and boarded the boat. There is no way to describe the sound of hte falls and give it justice.  It was such an impressive roar of water.  As we approached the falls, it was like being in the middle of a torrential rainstorm.  The water came in gusts and as soon as I got the confidence to pull out my camera, another big gust of water would envelope us.  Here are the few pictures I could manage.

 

I cannot describe how impressed I was with the falls and I strongly recommend that anyone traveling to Niagara falls budget the money for the Maid of the Mist boat trip.

Buffalo, NY - October 18 &19

One of my vivid childhood memories was our family trip to Niagara Falls.  I remember taking a tour where you walk through a cave and actually come out behind the falls themselves.  I remember being impressed at the amount of water rushing over horseshoe falls.  I wanted to share this memory with my children.

The kids were out of school on a Thursday and Friday due to teacher conferences and I took off of work rather than find a sitter.  We were flying our usual standby and managed to get on a flight that was empty enough that we didn't have to worry about getting on it.  Of course, this meant our usual pre dawn departure but the kids and I are getting used to that.  We got on our first choice flight with seats to spare.

We picked up our rental car and headed straight for Goat Island which is a New York State Park.  We had a comfortable half hour ride to get there.  Upon arrival, we paid $8 to park in the first lot we came upon.  I later leaned that the other two lots are $10 apiece so we got lucky on that one.  Our first mission was to go beneath the falls.  Now, my childhood memory was of walking through a tunnel and coming out behind the waterfall.  And, with a name like "Cave of the Winds"  I full expected that this was what we were about to do.  We paid our $27 and received three thin rain ponchos and three pair of sandals and a plastic bag for our shoes.  We took an elevator down to the baste of the falls but instead of a tunnel behind the falls, we came out next to the falls.  There were a series of stairs, decks and catwalks running alongside the base of the falls and up along the side of the rushing water.  It didn't take long to figure out why we needed sandals and ponchos.  There was water everywhere splashing around us and spraying as it hit the rocks.  I should mention that Lil's Bit has this thing about getting wet.  She adores the pool and swims for hours but the idea of getting the tiniest little bit wet in any other circumstances makes her insane.  She took one look and refused to go any further than the very first platform.  I had no choice but to wait at the bottom and send Big Boy up on his own.

We were directed by one of the guides to walk the wrong way through the area so that we could meet Big Boy as he came down but also get a little closer without Lil' Bit getting too wet. 

from this vantage, we could easily watch Big Boy and he looked like he was having a blast.  I told Lil' Bit to stay where I could see her so that I could walk part way up.  After watching us for a few minutes, Lil' Bit decided that a little water would probably not kill her after all.

Rain ponchos or not, we got wet.  Especially the bottoms of our pants.   Big boy was so enthralled with the falls and he declared me the best Mom ever for bringing them. 

And the fun was just beginning.