MUSHY'S MOOCHINGS: “NIAGARA FALLS!” – PART 2

Thursday, November 22, 2007

“NIAGARA FALLS!” – PART 2

Slowly we turned…and arrived in Niagara Falls, Canada about sundown Wednesday and immediately began snapping photos with all the Japanese and other tourist already there. It was almost like the Beatles movie “Hard Days Night” – a snap, snap here, and a snap, snap there. Actually, we nearly had the whole town to ourselves!

I caught the pink sunset light against the mist of Horseshoe Falls from our eleventh floor room in the Marriott. We left the small roll-out window open both nights we were there and we slept like big fat babies. It was so soothing and covered what little noise we heard. The rooms were great and looked right out over the Canadian falls, and the price included bus transportation from the hotel to the various sights around the city, both morning’s buffet breakfast, and $75 toward our last evening’s meal in the luxurious dining room.

It turned out that this was the best hotel package we got during the trip, which was so surprising due to the high cost of everything else. A 12 ounce draft beer in the hotel was $8 and a glass of house wine $12!

Thursday was spent at the falls doing the Journey Behind the Falls and experiencing the awesome spectacle of over 100,000 cubic feet of water crashing down 13 stories to the basin below every second. Elevators take you down 150 feet through bedrock to tunnels that lead and to the Cataract Portal and the Great Falls Portal which is one third of the way behind the massive sheet of water, then on to the Upper and Lower Observation Decks at the foot of the Falls. From these portals, lights change colors shine on different sections of both the American Falls and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls after sundown until about 2 AM.

Of course, the primary focus people have is getting couple or group shots with the falls as a backdrop. I have included a store bought one and one I created using three separate photos. The store bought is much simpler!

In the restroom I saw this little tub for washing feet…I assume. Does anyone have a clue why these are there? My thought is that people my go into the tunnels barefooted in the summer, but I really don’t know.

We then traveled over to the Skylon Tower. The tower stands 520 feet high and makes seeing a panoramic view of the entire falls area a cinch! I have included a few panoramic merges I created from shots I got. These shots include both The American and Horseshoe Falls. On the far side of the falls is Niagara Falls, New York.

We all had passports, so going back and forth was simple, except for the traffic jams. The Canadian Guard asked me if I had any weapons and I said “No, the website said to leave them at home.”

Oh, do you normally carry a gun?

Heck yeah,” I replied matter-of-factly. He just looked at me and handed our passports back.

After dark, the Dragons proceeded to the Hilton Fallsview Casino, and Knights held up in The Falls Frikin, also within the Hilton complex, and indulged in black and tans. To our surprise, my Dragon won $280 playing the nickel slots!

I have to mention Johnny Rockets (inside the casino complex), where we had lunch. It is an authentic retro-setting of a ‘50‘s diner. Some of us enjoyed their juicy old fashion hamburgers, while others selected the delicious hot dogs and a creamy shake!

Next, in Part 3, we're off to Pennsylvania to visit the Amish!

Be sure to click to enlarge these shots, and/or visit my Flickr page for more photos.

12 comments:

Lin said...

Have a great Thanksgiving, Mushy!

Now you're making me regret that I never stopped to see the Falls - your accommodations would have been worth the trip alone. And I presume you got to keep those snazzy glow-in-the-dark rain ponchos?

FHB said...

Just checked out a bunch of these over at FlickR. Beautiful! You do good work. Asked a question over there about the tower shots. Now that I've read this the question is answered.

Sarge Charlie said...

I have never been there, on my way to flickr

Olga, the Traveling Bra said...

"Heck yeah!" HAHAHA! Happy Thanksgiving Mushy and family!

Alex said...

Be very careful about eating cheeseburgers in Canada. The people here don't seem to care if the meat is frozen and thawed a few times before preparation, and they only cook meat one way - well, well, well, well done!

It's funny there's a firkin bar by the falls. I go to the Fox and Firkin, or the Ferret and Firkin, depending on what part of town I'm in, on a regular basis. I'm a firkin regular, because, for a chain, they have a pretty firkin good selection of beers.

Anonymous said...

Attaboy don't let that Canadian Customs guy give ya any lip..that way he can save it up for when we Canadians return home....:):):)..if there were any nasty rumours about me streaking the falls last summer I admantly deny it....:):). happy Thanksgiving Mushy and safe travels always...

BRUNO said...

I'm waitin' to hear if those really WERE foot-washers! Never heard of such a thing---but then again, there's a LOT of things I have yet to discover...!

pinknest said...

wow, looks like a spectacular trip! and amazing photos.

MYM said...

Ah yes...the Falls, I'm not too far from there. About that foot bath thing...perhaps it was a bidet? hmmm....

I'm sure the custom's guy luved ya, LOL. You crazy American, you.

fuzzbert_1999@yahoo.com said...

Nope...too low for a bidet! There was even a sign for showing a foot over it!

Jose said...

Wow, I'm trully enjoying this virtual trip. Your photos and your tales don't leave much to the imagination. You are a pretty awesome story teller/writter.

Unknown said...

I went to Niagara Falls when I was real young and I still remember that loud sound and seeing the water gushing down. I'd love to go back as an adult, where I think I'd appreciate it a lot more. Nice pictures!