Leaving the country for the Fourth of July

I don't know what we were thinking when we decided to go to Niagara Falls over Independence Day--we were probably looking at the words "office closed" covering two days on Eric's work calendar. Since Niagara was on our list of places to visit this year and within driving distance it didn't even cross our minds that, if staying on the Ontario side of the falls, we would not actually be in the good ol' U.S. of A. Not very Patriotic.

Monday of this week was wild. We got back from the beach last Friday so the trip turn around was fairly intense with laundry, packing, unpacking, teaching, etc., etc. We were mostly packed by Monday night, leaving only the packing and gassing of the car for Tuesday morning in between students from 9 to 12. I picked Eric up at work only a little late...whoops...and we were off. The drive wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Eric would probably say that was because I was asleep for half the time--which is false--I only dozed off once, maybe twice... 8 hours later we were at the border waiting to show our passports, Eric's at the ripe old age of 19 and expiring in October, and mine, brand new with my new last name but definitely looking like a cougar. I'm sure border-patrol took a second look.

Rainbow Bridge, where you cross from America to Canada

We were on the 18th floor of the DoubleTree on the Fallsview side which was awesome. As we drove to the hotel we noticed the groups of people lining the streets on blankets and in camp chairs which could only mean one thing--fireworks. We didn't know but they were set to go off 20 minutes after we checked in and the view from our room was fantastic. We flipped our couch around, put on our pjs, and settled in for a terrific firework show set off from the casino on the other side of the falls. It was one of the best finales I've seen (sorry Stadium of Fire). So many fireworks were going off at the same time it looked like a bouquet of mums or zinnias clustered together.

View before dark

Fireworks on the 4th

The next day we got up early and headed to Niagara's main attraction. The town itself was a little depressing but the Falls were breathtaking.

After extensive research I had determined we wanted to do the Journey Behind the Falls where you take an elevator down who knows how far, don a extremely flattering yellow poncho slightly reminiscent of a trash bag, and then walk the tunnels seeing the falls from the back side. The power of the water is impressive. I don't know why I assumed if you were on the back side of a waterfall it was going to look exactly like where Robin Hood and Maid Marian from Disney's Robin Hood exchange a flower engagement ring along with many bashful glances surrounded by fireflies. That's not quite exactly how it was. But it was impressive anyway...as long as you hold your own with many of the other tourists who seem to think if they don't get to the front of the opening as quickly as possible Niagara might run dry before they get there. I tell you what, I didn't push back but I was tempted, not caring if I was labeled as a "pushy American."

After the tunnels you can head out onto the observation deck and here most of the cameras were brought inside the ponchos because it was W-E-T. I should have skipped the makeup because after experiencing "Niagara's Fury" we all looked like drowned rats. Happy rats. But drowned. 

Here there are signs saying please do not jump the railing for a closer look.
Eric wisely followed their advance. 

Next on our list was the Whirlpool Aero Car where you hop in an Aero Car (which is like a gondola) set on cables that span the Niagara River over the Whirlpool Rapids. The walk there was a little longer than expected, especially when we found the almost empty free parking lot when we got there. The ride itself wasn't as long as I thought it would be but it was really cool. Our guide could have  been a little more informative (there isn't really any way he could have been less informative), he view below was awesome--but not for anyone scared of heights. You're definitely suspended in air over a lot of swirling water. 

The Aero Car

While in the air we noticed a speed boat in the river giving people a pretty close look at the rapids. Post ride we decided to look it up and see if it was possible to get on one of the tours. The only thing left on our list was to visit Niagara-on-the-Lake, home of the Shaw Festival and a darling town to wander around (which was really welcome after the nasty/seedy-ness of Niagara itself). Perfectly, the Whirlpool Jet Tour left from the marina in Niagara-on-the-Lake. We called and were put on the list for the 4:45 tour with instructions to arrive 45 minutes early, bringing a change of clothes and wearing something we were ok with getting wet. That should have been enough of a warning for how wet we were going to get but I don't think either of us were expecting to be hit with so much water in consecutive waves we were sputtering for air while laughing uncontrollably. We loved loved it. 

After leaving the marina our guide introduced the three front rows as follows:

1. The Tsunami Row

2. The Controlled Drowning Row (where we were sitting)

3. The Holy Crap Row (edited...and please excuse my language)

There were a whopping 12 people on our tour so our boat was pretty empty. This meant we all got to sit in the front three rows but it also meant the boat was a bit lighter than normal making it ride higher in the water and making the water intake ratio less than normal.

Niagara-on-the-Lake was lovely. Post drowning, we changed and went to dinner at a great restaurant called the Grill on King. Good food after a great day.

On the way back we saw an awesome house and we had to stop and take creepy person pictures of it. A neighbor walked by and gave us the worst look ever but we kept taking pictures anyway.

The night ended with some feet cleaning and more fireworks (see above).

Happy Independence Day!