Weekend? What Weekend?
Oy, it has been a very busy past few days.
Jon's dad and wife came in for a short trip from Chicago on Thursday afternoon. We went to dinner at a local Chinese restaurant (House of Hunan) and then called it a night. On Friday morning, we headed up to Niagara Falls. Neither of them have been there.
When we got to Niagara Falls, New York, we went to the American side first. We started with a view of the falls from one of the parks on the American side that let them see the falls right at the level where the water starts its ride over the edge. We ate lunch at the Top of the Falls Cafe on the American side, and we were less than impressed. I think they had a melt-down in the kitchen. Jon's dad ordered a burger, well-done. I ordered one medium-well done. When the waitress finally delivered our meals, we assumed she knew which burger was which.... but that was not the case. Jon's dad bit into his and me into mine before we thought to check them.... mine looked like it was dropped into the coals and left there to die for a while, whilst his gently mooed at him. He sent his back and ended up not eating, and I ate the center of my burger.
Then we headed to the Cave of the Winds tour on the American side. Jon and I hadn't done this tour before, so it was rather exciting. We got your standard yellow "souvenir" raincoat, but we also got some nifty, fashion-forward sandals! (I need to take a pic of these to share with you!) Being this close to the falls was amazing -- you could totally feel the fury of the water plummeting over the edge.
Next, we took a trip on the Maid of the Mist. Jon and I had done this before, but it was all about giving the "Falls Experience" to our companions. Once again, it was awesome to be nearly surrounded by the awesomeness of the natural wonder of the falls.
After the Maid, we headed over to the Canadian side. The guard we got at the border was rather thorough with her questions -- Jon and I have never been asked so many questions. We actually got through with no trouble, as we weren't intending to cause any trouble. We checked into our hotel and rested for a few hours before heading out again.
We walked over to Clifton Hill and then over to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. Jon's dad and I had their pulled pork sandwich, and we both decided that it was THE best pulled pork sammich we'd ever had. Jon loves their Twisted Mac & Chicken entree, and Molly had their veggie burger and decided it was THE best veggie burger she'd ever had. Jon and I also got to wear some lemonade that the girl at the table to our side spilled on the floor at our feet. After eating, we headed down to the Falls park on the Canadian side to see the Falls lit up with colored lights and to wait for the fireworks show.
All I'm going to say is that people sure are rude. It doesn't matter what nationality they are -- they're just rude. Fireworks aren't nearly as spectacular when blocked mostly by someone's head. And, I don't appreciate elbows to the chin.
Moving on... we started our Saturday with breakfast at Perkins (very tasty, I must say) and then headed down to the Canadian falls to do the Journey Behind the Falls tour. It was also very cool, but we felt that we got more for the money on the Cave of the Winds tour. After all, we did get a nifty pair of sandals to keep. Anyhow, we headed back to the US after that.
Dinner was at one of our favorite Italian places back home. And then? My very own bed!!! Here are a few pics to whet (!) your whistle...
