Today's plan was to see Niagara Falls and some of the attractions around them. Being that we still had to purchase our tickets for the Hornblower boat ride to the falls we decided to head out as early as possible and grab breakfast around the falls. As we were pulling away I realized I didn’t have our sweatshirts. Adam convinced me we would be ok since the temperature was going to be pretty decent today. We made the short drive and found a very convenient, reasonably priced parking lot with plenty of spots to easily park the truck. The parking lot sat adjacent to one of the coolest miniature golf courses we had ever seen. It was dinosaur themed and the course was filled with enormous dinosaur replicas.
Even though Adam said the temperature was going to be on the warm side today we were all freezing. Knowing we would spend a big chunk of time by the water and on the boat we made a beeline to a souvenir shop to buy sweatshirts. As we walked the streets the girls felt compelled to stop several times to check out the cool sights.
We made our way to the ticket booth and were one of the first ones there. We picked the 12:15 cruise. With our tickets in hand we were able to take care of the next important item of business…breakfast. One thing we did not realize was everything in Niagara is ridiculously expensive for no good reason. We ended up eating at IHOP (did not order anything fancy, extra special or out of the ordinary) and it cost us over $80 US dollars?!?
Even though the price was not quite right our timing was. We finished with plenty of time to walk back to the water and get in line for our trip into the Falls.
Upon boarding the boat every passenger was given a red poncho. We promptly put them on and headed to the top level to claim a spot by the railing.
The sheer magnitude of Niagara Falls is an incredible sight. As we got closer the sound of the falls continued to amplify. We started to get a little bit wet and then we got a little more wet and so on and so on until we were as close to the Falls as you could get and downright drenched from our head to our toes. We all thought we would enjoy this adventure but I think it is safe to say it was way more fun than we anticipated.
While we waited to disembark we were equally fascinated and disgusted by the ocean foam that had built up by the dock. As we walked out of this area there was a beautiful hawk with its handler.
Lily’s absolute favorite ride is a ferris wheel (she does not get this from me-I am terrified of heights). The Sky Wheel, a really cool and exceptionally tall glass enclosed one, sat in the area near our parking lot. Lily made it abundantly clear that her heart would be broken if we left without riding. Her wish became our command and we purchased 4 tickets. She was ecstatic with anticipation as we waited for our turn. Thankfully I was comfortable during our ride since it was enclosed. The views of the Falls were incredible and the ride was a decent amount of time so everyone (especially Lily) was happy with our decision.
We all agreed we wanted to spend the rest of the day at Niagara on the Lake. As soon as we got off the ride we went to the truck and drove back to our favorite spot. We parked by Balzac’s again and made that our first stop for more of their incredible coffee. This time we sat outside at one of their bistro tables. As we strolled the beautiful streets the girls spotted a cute frozen yogurt shop named Taylor’s. They could not go past without stopping for a treat- 1) because, well, homemade, fresh fruit frozen yogurt and 2) my niece/their oldest first cousin is named Taylor so it had to be done. Ella chose peach and Lily went for the mango. They were both very pleased with their treat.
While they ate we made our way over to the park. The weather was beautiful and they were thrilled to run around and play. There was a girl who seemed to be about ten years old and they made fast friends and all played together.
Yesterday we noticed signs for the Fort George National Historic Site. We let them play for a bit and then we all made the walk to check out the fort. Sadly when we got over there the gates had just closed. We walked the portion of the grounds that were accessible and then headed back towards the park.
A Thai restaurant caught our eyes and it was approaching dinner time. We quickly looked at the menu and all agreed this would be a great way to end the night. Everything we ordered was incredible and an added bonus was Lily (who aside from chicken nuggets usually does not like chicken) absolutely loved the “yellow chicken” and kept asking for more.
Adam and I decided after dinner we should head back to the campground. We were leaving tomorrow and still had a lot to do to get ready to go. Since they didn’t get to go back to the playground at Niagara on the Lake we let them have a little more play time at the campsite playground. We relaxed together in the RV while putting our things together for the move before heading off to bed. It was very hard to believe our last destination was complete.
