It was a wonderful trip and both of us had a very good time. Dale was a little nervous about flying (I think the last time he flew was when we went to K.C. for Trudy's wedding in 1981 and he was recovering from major surgery, so it really wasn't a well-remembered experience for him.) But, he did fine and the flights were good, albeit a bit bumpy on the landings. I was just glad we got to fly WestJet and not AC Jazz. Those planes are horrid!!!
We were there from September 7th to the 11th, but the 7th and 11th were actually flying days and the 10th we spent in Toronto, so we were in Niagara Falls for 2 whole days. We packed a lot of stuff into those days, but we saw all we had planned on seeing. We'd like to go back some day with a car or someone who knows the area, as we'd like to take in the Welland Canal and some other stuff that we would have had to drive to see.
Now that I know I have diabetes, I realize I was pretty sick on our trip, but I was determined to be there and sightsee, so I "sucked it up".
Our first day we did one of the new attractions called "Fury of the Niagara". It was so cool! It was indoors and we were handed rain ponchos as we went in. Hmmm...then we watched an animated movie about how Niagara Falls was formed. On to the next room - circular, with handrails in rows. We were told to hold on to the rails and stand still. Ok.....it got really dark and a movie appeared above our heads (all the way around the room), showing pictures of glaciers - it started to snow and blow - then, thunder, lightening and rain - the rushing waters of the glaciers melting and the tipping back and forth of the floor as well! It was really neat and we would gladly go see it again!
We did the Walk Behind the Falls. There were a lot of stairs and I got to the middle deck via the elevator - with tons of stairs to get to that! - so, Dale went down to the lower deck by himself, which was much closer to the falls. He said it was very cold and wet down there. I did get a picture of him, but with my waterproof camera, so it's hard to tell it's him.
We walked behind the falls and looked through the portals. It was neat to see the history of how it all came about. I wish we could have been close enough to touch the water, but the railings were pretty far back. We could feel the spray if the wind blew just right.
We had lunch and then did the Maid of the Mist. Now there's a ride that will soak you - if you are dumb enough not to put the hood of your poncho up! Because of my high blood sugar, I was sweating constantly, so anytime I could feel a cool breeze, I took it. Plus, the walk down to the boat was quite long and I was pretty tired by the time we got there. I sat on a box until we got to the falls and as I stood up and put up my hood, a huge spray came over the side and hit me right in the face! My hood went back and I was drenched. So, I just left the dumb hood off! Yep, I was soaked, all the way down my front under the poncho. I wished I had asked Dale to take a picture of me, I'm sure I looked like a drowned rat! (one of my mom's sayings)
After that - and the very long uphill climb back to catch the bus - we were about done in. So, we headed back up to the hotel. Oh, I forgot about our hotel. When I was booking all this, I figured, if I'm going to go see Niagara Falls (my dream, all my life), I'm going to be able to see it from our hotel room!! We stayed at the Fallsview Hotel Overlooking the Falls. We got a fallside room on the 12th floor and the view was spectacular!! I was in awe and could just stand or sit and gaze at the falls for hours! (well, not literally, I guess; but a long time anyway).
I had to take Dale to the Outback for supper. I had eaten at the one in K.C. and it is so good. We had a bloomin' onion, too - they are SO good!
After a good night's sleep, we tackled day 2. We had reservations at the Elements of the Falls restaurant in the Welcome Center which boasted a view of the Falls from every table - and they were right! That was at 11:30, so we just putzed around the Welcome Center and the Falls until then. The food there was marvelous - we had prime rib and all the trimmings!
We went to the White Water Walk after that, which is down at the rapids part of the river below the falls. It was really neat, but more stairs and walking, so I stayed on the observation deck and Dale went out on the long walkway to see more of the rapids. He had done that when we were in Calgary at the Bow River, as well. He is better at the hiking than I am and he thoroughly enjoyed it.
Then we went up to the Butterfly Conservatory. It was hot and humid inside (not good for old sweating me), but they did have vents with coolish air blowing in, so I took advantage of them whenever I came to one. The butterflies were amazing and they were everywhere. You couldn't touch them, but you could take all the pictures you wanted. One landed on a woman and crawled up her arm and sat on her eye!! It was so funny. An attendant came and offered the butterfly sugar water on a sponge and off he went! I saw a gorgeous blue one that I tried to get a picture of, but he was too fast for me. Then, when I was watching some brown butterflies at the sugar water feeding bowl, one opened his wings and lo and behold, it was my elusive blue one!! So, I stood there and kept taking pictures until I got one of him with his wings open!! Thank goodness for digital cameras!!
That was about it for that day. We were both tired and had seen all we really wanted to see. We had a good Italian supper and went to bed early. We were off to Toronto in the morning to stay overnight, as our flight on Saturday was early.
That's really about all. We didn't do any sightseeing in Toronto, as we had a suite with a jacuzzi and we took turns soaking. It felt good. The next day was home and we were tired!
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| This was by the side of the Falls at the Walk Behind the Falls. We really were close and it was so very awesome! |
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| These were the rapids on Dale's white water walk. The were awesome, too! |
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| This was our first view of the falls from our hotel room! I was awestruck (again) and just stood and looked and looked! |
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| We managed to get a shot of the rainbow over the Falls the first day. No sun all day, but it did peek out just as it was setting! Thank you, Lord! |
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| Yes, we were there together! For someone with a very high forehead and thin hair, it isn't the place to be if you want to look good for pictures! Ha! |
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| The "Butterfly-On-My-Eye" lady! |
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| "Ladies and Gentlemen, THIS is Niagara Falls!!" the base of the Falls on the Maid of the Mist. |
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| My sweet hubby on the deck of the boat |
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| My gorgeous, elusive butterfly - it was so worth the effort! |
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| In the morning, a cup of coffee and sitting and contemplating the Falls! Could it get any better?? |
I love the butterfly lady pic! Those are some lovely photos of the falls, too!
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