Busy Both Day and Night

We’ve been trying to cram it all in so we’ve been busy during the day and at night. Here’s a look into what we’ve been up to.

See the tree stuck above the falls?

Busy During the Day………..

Costco

Anyone who knows my husband understands that he loves his Costco. When I met this single guy, he had a membership. Go figure why a single guy needs membership to a bulk warehouse. I swear it’s for the cheap pizza and endless refills of soda.

Regardless, when we found out there was a Costco about 15 minutes from our location, we had to go check it out. It was located in Ontario. When we told the border patrol where we were going, he laughed at us. I don’t think he believed us. I can’t say I blame him.

It was also a good excuse to go hang out with the locals. We always like to try and do that when we travel, especially to other countries. It’s where you get to see the real deal, the true culture of a place.

So what did we see? First we ate at the food court. They had some of the main staples our Costco does; pizza, hot dogs and sandwiches. The pizza was more on the New York style side. Soda is called pop and they offered chicken strips with fries.

But this Costco had poutine. And what is poutine you may ask? It’s the crispest french fries you’ve ever eaten with gravy and/or cheese curds on top. Let’s just say, I had the fries and they were delicious! But I’m really, really sad that I didn’t realize they were available with cheese or gravy. I dipped mine in ketchup, boo.

Bagged milk anyone?

We strolled through Costco and the thing that was the strangest was the milk. It is packaged in bags, not cartons or plastic jugs. Luckily we had a juice container to hold it in. I’m not sure why they do it this way. Another thing that was obvious is Canadians love cheddar cheese because they had it in big blocks with various levels of sharpness.

Maiden of the Mist

We draped ourselves in blue rain coats and rode on the Maiden of the Mist. The boat takes you close to both the U.S. Falls and the Canadian (Horseshoe) Falls. As we did a loop to turn around at the Horseshoe Falls, the mist was roaring and we got pretty wet. It was pretty cool to be so up close and personal.

Luna Island

Wedding veil is on the right

We followed Lake Erie and walked down to Luna Island. From this vantage point we were able to get close to the small fall called the ‘wedding veil’.

Cave of the Winds

This was definitely the most epic part of all our day trips. At Cave of the Winds, rain ponchos were not optional and we were granted strap on sandals. Everyone had to remove their shoes, put them in a bag and don special sandals. It was then a long descent down and around the catwalk to the crazy Hurricane Deck. This was insane!

Look at that catwalk!

It was impossible to get any camera footage once we were on Hurricane Deck. The waters were pounding like crazy and ponchos were blowing like flags in the wind. I have to admit that I was pretty nervous about hanging out on the catwalk. The decking looked so ridiculously insignificant compared to the water raging against it.

There were sections in the catwalk where we actually put our hands and feet directly in the falls. Click on the collage and look at the picture with the yellow poncho. The water is flowing directly in front of her! It was pretty amazing not to mention cold. I held onto the railing pretty tight until I was on solid ground again. It was a lot of climbing up and down with scary moments mixed in but wow, what a thrill. The fury of nature!

The top of the falls, going dowwwwwn! Point of no return.

Niagara Legends of Adventure Theater

This historical account of the falls was interesting. I knew some of the things they mentioned but it was neat to see some things reenacted. One such event was the woman who went over the falls in a barrel with her cat. After her plunge, she emerged unscathed.

Looking down from one of the observation platforms

Busy During the Night……

When we haven’t been taking nightly walks down to see beautiful Lake Ontario, we’ve been hanging out under the lights. We headed over to the Canadian side Wednesday night to see the falls illuminated. It was really cool to see all the buildings lit up as well. Afterwards, we headed back to duty-free for a bit more shopping. Here’s some pictures of the night scene.

Illumination of the Falls

The best I could do with the camera I had.

 Hard Rock Cafe

Other Sites

Last but not least…..our final night at Four Mile Creek State Park

We will shift our sights from Youngstown, New York to Youngstown, Ohio. I know, I know, quite a strange coincidence, isn’t it? We will point Perl towards Mosquito Lake State Park. Let’s hope this park doesn’t live up to its name. Wedding festivities will soon follow. We will miss our short stay here in Niagara but hopefully we’ll make it back to explore all the treasures this place holds. See you in Ohio!

 {HUGS} from the Crew!

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