Blogs from Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, North America - page 5

Nicole was the first person up on Saturday morning or at least that's what she thought. Crystal was still in bed sleeping but upon closer inspection, Nicole could tell that she had been up at some point through the night. Her pyjama pants were wet and dirty up to about 3 inches above her ankles, her feet were muddy and there were little bits of leaves stuck to her hands and chin. Crystal had obviously been sick in the night and unable to access the locked bathrooms in the house, was forced to make a run for the Newfoundland Outhouse once more. Poor thing, there wasn't even anyone there to hold her hair! Free to roam about the house, Nicole decided that she would sit out on the couch with her ipad and read while she ... read more

A weekend get away that started as an exciting adventure shared by two long time friends, Crystal Jones and Nicole Smythe, quickly became a four day quest for survival in Upper Canada. My name is Chris Smythe, Nicole's husband, I noted that both ladies were smiling and laughing all the way to the Stanfield International Airport and couldn't wait to start their vacation. In retrospect, their delayed flight from Halifax to Toronto could have been considered a sign of things to come but it wasn't enough to dampen their spirits...although I'm sure the wine in the airport lounge may have also played a factor! I've spent considerable time trying to piece this together and through a combination of interviews and photographs I believe I've captured the weekend's events in their entirety below. The mission, to surprise ... read more

Confession I'm going to start this blog with a confession... I wasn't particularly bothered about visiting the Falls when Gemma first mentioned it to me. During our initial planning for our trip many places were mentioned such as Montreal and Quebec and I wouldn't have been too concerned had Niagara Falls been overlooked as the aforementioned had. My mental image of the falls prior to visiting was one of a slightly impressive waterfall surrounded by Mickey Mouse-esque mascots selling crap and trying to pry your money from your wallet, in some grotesque horror show of capitalism based eco-tourism. Now lets not be under any illusion, there is still the fanfare and such but not on half the scale I imagined. In hindsight, I'm quite ashamed of how I initially felt about visiting but in my defence ... read more

Following a good night’s sleep, we awoke for our big excursion day at Niagara Falls. We had a leisurely breakfast at the Terrapin Grille on the Mezzanine Level of our hotel, at a window with a view of Horseshoe Falls, largely obscured by the morning mist. I enjoyed my oatmeal and banana; while, Sharon had the breakfast buffet, trying some waffles, French Toast (or should it be Canadian Toast), and some bacon that looked like it should be crispier. We didn’t need to meet our tour in the lobby until 10:30AM, so we had plenty of time to get ready. We had decided to take a tour since we only had one day and thought it would be easier to get it all in this way. We remembered to put on some sun screen. And I ... read more

This was my first time visiting Niagara Falls, after having heard about it all my life and seeing the Marilyn Monroe/Joseph Cotton film "Niagara" more than once. The 2014 version of Niagara Falls is more inviting than the 1950's film version. I designed the trip so I wouldn't have to do any driving (other than to and from the local transportation center.) I took a comfortable Concord Trailways bus from Portland, ME to Boston, flew Jet Blue to Buffalo, and used the "Airbus" van service from the Buffalo airport to my hotel. Everything was on time and without a hitch. My suite at the Embassy Suites was clean, comfortable and had a view of the Falls. Having a kitchenette for a 4 night stay is more than convenient, almost essential, as I prefer eating in my ... read more