Get ready for a lot of pictures!
First things first, we had to get Buffalo wings in Buffalo. They were pretty good, but this menu (on left) clued to the fact that this region is not known for its culinary crafts. In addition to hot wings and being the birthplace of Cool Whip, local foods include Beef on Weck, Fried Bologna sandwich and Loganberry juice (tastes like really really sweet cranberry juice).
The next morning we hopped in our rented PT cruiser (like that, Amanda?) and drove the 30 minutes to Niagara Falls, NY.
The American side is pretty much a ghost town. Had we known this, we would have headed into Canada sooner. But we had a fun time doing the American park tours anyway. If you go, don't bother walking through town like we did. There's literally nothing there but empty malls, overpriced bad Indian buffets, and a Denny's.
But the Falls are amazing.
The observation tower behind Ben, and the American and Bridal Veil Falls.
The Maid of the Mist tour was really fun. I wished I had gotten a picture of the dock assistant, but it was too wet. Once we set off on the river he sat in a glass room (in green on the top deck) and did word search puzzles with headphones on, while we tourists ooo-ed and gawked at the majesty. I imagine it got boring after his first day working there. It was hilarious watching the falls dump buckets on deck, soaking the tourists who screamed and squealed, while he calmly did his puzzles :-)
I took the above shot from the Skylon so you can see how wet we get, without even getting that close to the mist in Horseshoe Falls. It was amazing!
Since we were already a little wet, we hiked up Crow's Nest to get up close and personal with the fall. Then we were REALLY wet.
Waiting for the educational and corny IMAX movie
Niagara: Miracles, Myths, and Magic, we tried to keep our legs warm by rolling up the wet pants. How corny? Annie, the first to go over the falls, took a kitten with her. In the movie it's a black kitten going in, and a scared white kitten coming out. Lots of footage of dummies and barrels going over the falls. I'd like to know how many takes they had to do because the objects weren't visible enough.
The Cave if the Winds is a bit misleading, as there is no cave. It collapsed some years ago. You go down an elevator, through a hall with (lots of condensation on the ceiling) and then walk along wooden platforms (rebuilt every year after the ice melts) and get really close to Bridal Veil.
You can see people on the platforms in the pictures I took from the Maid of the Mist boat above.
Nearby is a monument to Nikola Tesla. Ben got an urgent call from his work he had to take. Luckily he got it fixed via phone.
Onto Canada!
Does anyone know what this animal is? Besides this rodent and a few squirrels, there were surprisingly few wild animals. I figured there'd at least be raccoons eating trash, but none to be seen.
There were fireworks Friday night.
Saturday morning we had a buffet on top of the Skylon. Spectacular views.
On the observation deck. It took a lot of willpower to pass by these red stairs leading to a "Danger" marked door. They made it so tempting!
Our hotel is the shorter building across the street from the casino, with red/pink glass on the upper floors.
Guess which plate belonged to me and Ben.
Jay Cochrane about to do his walk. Me enjoying the gardens.
I love that this sign felt it needed to include (Tourist Area), just so people aren't confused.
After getting Slush Puppies we went back to the hotel for our car. To get away from the tourists and rest our legs we drove into town to see the Simpsons movie. Meh. But it was nice to see some real local stuff. I love the name of the coffee shop in the theater.
We drove further into Canada to St. Catherine's. Malls in Canada look the same as the US.
We tried
poutine at the food court. Truly gross.
The grocery store had a few different things, but mostly it's the same conglomerate brands like Kraft and Pillsbury, selling similar products under different names than in the US.
Still, they had four kinds of eggplant! And their milk comes in bags!
Back to the falls for food and some final wandering.
I LOVED this picture in our hotel bathroom, but never found it, or any other historical reprints for sale.
The one really great meal I had is above. A delicious burger with bourbon carmelized onions, bacon, and sweet potato fries. The falls at night were crazy crowded.
And that's pretty much it! Again, thank you to my parents for helping us stay here, and thanks to Brian for looking up things online as needed, and even though we had a tough time getting home, it was a great way to celebrate our 5 years together.
Ben left a pillow in her crate. When I took her out she was wobbly and bloated, but very happy. What a nut. Ever since they she has been really sneezy. It seemed worse this morning, and yesterday she was kind of lethargic. Overall she's seems like her happy normal self with a good appetite. From what I gleaned on the internet, the most likely causes are:
