Saturday, June 25
Today should should be referred to as selfie city. We took A LOT of selfies. No worries, I’ll spare you most of them. 😉
Up early, breakfast at Starbucks and straight to the falls. It was a beautiful morning, quiet and calm. We walked around the park and headed over the pedestrian bridge to Luna Island. A beautiful, easy hike. Having never been on the NY side of the falls, I had no idea that you were able to walk in and around the falls.
We continued over to Goat Island to check out the Bridal Veil. After watching from above, we decided to give the Cave of the Winds tour a shot. The wait to buy tickets was about an hour, and it was HOT. But once we secured tickets, the rest of the trip was a lot of fun. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip.
Next up – Horseshoe Falls. This is the part of Niagara that I remember from my trip as a kid. I’m still amazed at the power of the falls. I think I have more appreciation for the beauty of this place now than I did as a child. And to know that this is part of the USA is pretty darn cool.
We bought a couple of trolley tickets and took the Trolley to Three Sister’s Island. Being one of three daughters, I had to visit this place. Took a nice little stroll, saw many, many geese but otherwise, not much to experience other than a small piece of history.
Back on the Trolley to the front of the park. Next up – Canada. The very first trip that Marcus and I took together we ate at a Hard Rock Cafe (FL). The next trip we took, we also ate at a HRC (TN). Next trip (Hawaii), you guessed it – HRC again. Since that, it’s sort of become something we do. Every trip that we take, if there’s a HRC we make a point to eat a meal there. We’ve collected glasses from almost 20 HRC to date. The toughest decision we made this trip was HRC Niagara, NY or HRC Canada. So, the decision wasn’t that hard – Canada, here we come!
We made the trek across the Rainbow Bridge over to Canada and were big dorks who stopped and took a million pictures along the way. Naturally, I had to stand with my right foot in Canada and my left foot in the USA – I can officially say I’ve been two places at once.
My opinion on the “which side is better?” question that people always ask – Canada or NY… Depends on what you want. Both sides were clean and felt safe. The NY side is State Park, so there are no high rise hotels, no restaurants, souvenir shops right on the falls. You get to feel the power of the falls. However, on the Canadian side you really get to see the falls. To me, the Canadian side is more touristy. High rise hotels, with what I can only imagine are impeccable views of the falls. Tons of restaurants, casinos, shopping and other entertainment venues. Super busy and the polar opposite of the Canadian side. My vote – if you can do both, do both.
Lunch at HRC was yummy, as always, and it was nice to get into the AC for a while. We walked along the boardwalk, snapped a few pictures and debated doing the boat tour – however, after seeing the lines at 2pm, decided it really wasn’t worth it. Back across the Rainbow Bridge, through the park and to our hotel for an afternoon siesta before a night out at the Seneca Casino.
We managed a short nap before the fire alarm went off in our hotel. We did the right thing and made our way out of the hotel, waiting for the fire department to show up and clear it. At that point, it was early evening, so we opted to shower and grab some dinner at TGI Friday’s. More drink coupons and a free appetizer with the purchase of an entree, we enjoyed dinner on the patio for a very reasonable $35, with tip.
Across the street was the casino, though we aren’t huge gambler’s, we had free slot play and some cash that we had planned on spending this trip that we still had in our pockets, so we decided to try our luck. Lady luck was not with us, but we did manage a few hours of play, live music and some drinks at the casino before calling it a night around 1am. Our three card dealer was actually born and raised about 40 minutes where Marcus and I grew up. Talked about the difference between the casinos that were owned by the Indian Tribes vs. Corporate chains – actually learned a little about the governing differences between the two.
Wow, we really did a lot in one day. No wonder we were so tired!
Flip Flops & Time Off - Adventures in Travel & Every Day Life 