Road Trip to Niagara Falls

Get an idea. Make a plan. Organize. Execute.


That's how we did our trip to Niagara Falls. One day we figured we should go, and a week and half later we did. We did the research, we planned it out, and then we went and did it. It's amazing how difficult putting together a trip can seem, but in actuality it's very easy to do. You just need to have the right frame of mind to do it.

Tim, Char and I left for Niagara Falls on Thursday afternoon after my class. I did the driving since I'm the only one with a legal driving license. We made a few stops along the way to rest and stretch our legs, picking up coffee and snacks at several service stops. Around 10pm, we rolled through Toronto, which I hope I never have to do at night ever again on account of the massive highways with over 6 lanes of traffic!! There was a near-miss as we did a lane-change at almost the same time as someone else, but I managed to evade enough to keep us safe.


A short while later we pulled into Niagara Falls proper. Wasn't much to see until we got onto Clifton Hill, the big flashy street that leads to the Falls. It's like Vegas, but worse (and I've never even been to Las Vegas!). There's an MGM studio attraction/ride, a Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum and ride, a Lego attraction, mini-golf, several arcades, plenty of fast-food joints, and a huge ferris wheel. After we checked into our room (which had a teeny-tiny view of the Falls), and put our stuff down, we took a short stroll down Clifton Hill to the promenade that runs along the Falls. The sheer power of the water cascading over the rock face was overpowering.

Following a late start on Friday morning, we prepared for a day of walking and being tourists. We checked the weather, had a look out the window (it was cloudy, but with sunlight breaking through here and there) and then headed out the door. Disappointment sank in as we watched helplessly from the hotel as rain turned the parking lot into a lake of its own. The rain was coming down so fast and hard that we would have been soaked just running over to the car to get the umbrellas! So we walked back to the room completely disappointed that our little vacation was ruined by so much rain.


Half an hour later, the rain lightened up enough for us to walk around and we began taking photos of everything. I have some choice photos posted on my Flickr page (search People and my alias, DMChewie) for y'all to see. Eventually the sun came out and made all the rain seem like a bad dream. After filling our memory cards to near capacity, we purchased tickets for the Maid of the Mist and boarded the boat. Adorned in our hideous blue parkas, we marveled at the power and force of Nature that is the Niagara Falls. From the bottom of the river, both sets of falls are amazing! Even the American Falls were impressive to witness. As we approached the interior of the Horseshoe Falls, the wind from the water pouring over the ledge whipped our parkas around with such ferocity that it's a wonder we all managed to keep them on.

Once we were safely back on land, we did a little more walking around and tried some of the more eccentric treats. Char bought some Mini-Melts, which are basically small balls of ice cream. Tim bought a Bear's Paw, which is like a Beaver's Tail but worse. And I got a cup of frozen yogurt from Yogen Fruz. A quick shower, and some time in front of the TV later, we headed over to TGI Friday's for dinner. Most meals were reasonably expensive until you had a look at the steak menu. Steaks were priced at around $35 a piece, so we settled on fish & chips.


Soon thereafter, we headed down the Tram to the promenade to catch the fireworks show over the Falls. We managed to get some more pictures of the lights on the water (which is hard to do because exposure time must be significantly increased), and then the show started. After the fireworks, we sauntered back over to Clifton Hill and entered one of the arcades. We watched a pair of guys (very un-stereotypical guys, ie: white, non-geeky types) do some cool routines on Dance Dance Revolution and then bought tickets to play some mini-golf since Char had never played before. Final score was 57 for Char (pretty good for a first time), 52 for Tim, and 51 for me (yay). Then it was back to the hotel room for some snacks and bedtime.


Saturday morning we packed up our stuff and drove over to Niagara-On-The-Lake, with a stop at the Niagara Whirlpool and Aero Car. The Niagara Whirlpool is a giant eddy on the Niagara river over which the Aero Car is suspended (just a cable car that travels over the whirlpool in the center). Along the road were vineyards and orchards aplenty. At Niagara-On-The-Lake, we parked and walked over to the lakeside (past a pair of guys arguing like there was no tomorrow).


Caught some photos of the lake and the smashing waves, then walked back up to the main road. We stopped in an Ice-Wine store where Tim & Char tried some of their finer ice wines. The main road is very quaint, with storefronts that look like older buildings.


And then we were back on the road again, this time with the sun shining and the heat melting the car. We drove through Toronto again (this time without incident) and then continued along our way. Driving in the middle of the afternoon is hard, and even harder when it's hot so Tim did his best to keep the conversation moving and to stay awake. As we approached the Ontario-Quebec border, rain clouds covered up the sky and the rain began. Light at first, and then upon entering Montreal, they became torrential. I feared for our lives since the windshield wipers couldn't wipe fast enough and I couldn't see a damned thing (most of the lane line-markings are faded to the point of invisibility). Splashing through puddles (small lakes on the road, actually) we arrived in downtown where traffic was lighter and I was able to guide our car over to Chinatown for a light dinner at Keung Kee.

This morning we did a fast trip to Ikea before returning the car to Avis, and then returning to our normal pedestrian lives. All-in-all, an excellent trip with minimal costs (average per person was $189 before all extraneous meals, so that includes hotel car and gas), and no accidents.

We picked up some souvenirs, a handful of photos, and some wicked memories to boot. Thanks to Tim and Char for being such great travel buddies, I only wish we had more time (and money) to do another trip...