Niagara Falls!

At least once a year, Joe and I take a trip to Niagara Falls, Canada. It's about a 3 1/2 - 4 hour drive, which is pretty easy for an overnight trip, and we can always find a really affordable place to stay and plenty of fun things to do. We had a great time as usual this Fall Break! Although it's pretty freezing, the Falls and the foliage are gorgeous this time of year. It makes the drive up feel really quick and it sort of takes the bite off of the cold when everything's so pretty. We even saw SNOW on roofs on the way up!

View of the American Falls from the Skywheel

Anyway, we stayed at the Days Inn By the Falls. We usually stay at the Days Inn Near the Falls, but it was recently renovated and the rates went up :( Unfortunately, the room we booked wasn't so great - it was pretty small and the bathroom felt like a closet! (I'm pretty sure it was a closet at some point) But we did get a king-sized bed, a nice view, and a ton of pillows for an amazingly restful night of sleep! If you're planning on going to Niagara, I wouldn't recommend it, even for a cheap price- but if you have some extra cash, rooms at the Days Inn Near the Falls start around $65-70 CAD (less in American dollars) before taxes and fees.

The first night, we went to Wild Wings and tried such fascinating flavors as Maple Honey Mustard and Chocolate Barbeque!! Absolutely delicious, and we had a fridge so we could bring home leftovers :) We got drinks at the Rainforest Cafe, which is always fun, but I was really stunned that the waiters had no idea whether any of the proceeds of this enormous, money-pumping restaurants went to actualy help the rainforest. Apparently they do, but I was likewise stunned that there were no automatic hand dryers...?! At least their tabletops are made from sustainable materials...

Anyway, the next day, Joe put a little sports bet in for fun at the Casino Niagara (where they had those Dyson hand dryers you see on TV that "wipe" your hands dry with air!!). Then we went shopping and I picked up a cute pair of boots, went to Tim Horton's and took a trip on the SkyWheel, visited Stonechurch and Konzelmann wineries, went to the House of Frankenstein, stopped at our fave Chinese restaurant, Lotus Garden (people literally drive across the border for this cheap and delicious place!) and headed home.

At Stonechurch Vineyards

It's always a really busy time, no matter how much we've seen and how many times we've gone - there's just so much to do there! As for the rest of the weekend, we're going to see Young Frankenstein tonight at Playhouse Square and then having a dinner date at Bricco! I am a big Mel Brooks fan, so this was part of my birthday present from Joe. Plus, I had to write about an arts event for my class on Nonprofit Leadership of Arts & Cultural Organizations, and Joe gets discount tickets because CSU has a partnership with Playhouse Square - so it all worked out quite well!