PrincessInOz
Thanks for my avatar, Mary Jo!
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2010
Love this update as well.
TR - Running for my Disney II: Let's Make it a Half
- Thread starter zanzibar138
- Start date
Aussie Wendy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2008
The forts look really interesting, I would love the history and views, and OMG a beaver - so exciting! I had to zoom in to get a close look. Thinking maybe late next year subject to a host of things, maybe we could swing a Chicago to Niagara Falls to Quebec trip ticking off several bucket list items, and back down through Vermont to NY. Only a 2-weekish trip so not long in N Y. See how things go in the next 6 months.
zanzibar138
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2007
zanzibar138
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2007
We finally made it to our little cabin. I was quite glad to have arrived while it was still light - there were only very rough gravel paths, and our carpark was a decent way from our cabin.
I had booked the smallest cabin for us. I'd wanted the next size up that came with a lovely view of the river from the porch, but it was already booked out. I wasn't quite sure what to make of our cabin when we arrived. It was certainly teeny tiny, and came with an equally teeny tiny ensuite. It was very *ahem* rustic. We struggled to find somewhere to put our suitcases, and there was nowhere to hang towels. We were running much later than we'd expected, so we had missed the guy who came around to check us in, and he had left a note saying he would be around again at about 7pm. That wasn't going to work for us because we wanted to go straight out for dinner. To make matters worse, there was a very large spider in the bathroom!
DH to the rescue. He sent me off to check out the views of the river. While I was out, he got rid of the spider, sent an email to the manager saying that we were going out and wouldn't be back until after 8ish, and did some research on TripAdvisor to find us a nice place for dinner.
In the meantime, I had wandered across the large mound of rock in front of our cabin, and found the beautiful river views.
On our way out, we saw someone doing some work in a servicey looking area, so stopped and asked about checking in. Turns out he had a tablet with him and was able to do it right there for us! He was a very nice man (forget his name though!), who gave us some good tips and made us feel very welcome at the cabins. By the time we were on the road, I was feeling a whole lot better about our accommodation, and looking forward to a nice relaxing couple of days.
We both thought the town of Gananoque (which we started referring to as 'Gan' as soon as we heard it from the locals) was quite charming.
The restaurant DH had picked out for us was a character-filled English pub, with an equally character-filled waitress who could discuss all the intricacies of their beer menu with DH. I forget what we ordered for mains, but we had a delicious entrée of potato skins.
When we arrived back at the cabin, we were very glad for the little torch attached to our cabin key! We found the cabin very comfortable overnight and had no trouble sleeping at all!
I had booked the smallest cabin for us. I'd wanted the next size up that came with a lovely view of the river from the porch, but it was already booked out. I wasn't quite sure what to make of our cabin when we arrived. It was certainly teeny tiny, and came with an equally teeny tiny ensuite. It was very *ahem* rustic. We struggled to find somewhere to put our suitcases, and there was nowhere to hang towels. We were running much later than we'd expected, so we had missed the guy who came around to check us in, and he had left a note saying he would be around again at about 7pm. That wasn't going to work for us because we wanted to go straight out for dinner. To make matters worse, there was a very large spider in the bathroom!
DH to the rescue. He sent me off to check out the views of the river. While I was out, he got rid of the spider, sent an email to the manager saying that we were going out and wouldn't be back until after 8ish, and did some research on TripAdvisor to find us a nice place for dinner.
In the meantime, I had wandered across the large mound of rock in front of our cabin, and found the beautiful river views.
On our way out, we saw someone doing some work in a servicey looking area, so stopped and asked about checking in. Turns out he had a tablet with him and was able to do it right there for us! He was a very nice man (forget his name though!), who gave us some good tips and made us feel very welcome at the cabins. By the time we were on the road, I was feeling a whole lot better about our accommodation, and looking forward to a nice relaxing couple of days.
We both thought the town of Gananoque (which we started referring to as 'Gan' as soon as we heard it from the locals) was quite charming.
The restaurant DH had picked out for us was a character-filled English pub, with an equally character-filled waitress who could discuss all the intricacies of their beer menu with DH. I forget what we ordered for mains, but we had a delicious entrée of potato skins.
When we arrived back at the cabin, we were very glad for the little torch attached to our cabin key! We found the cabin very comfortable overnight and had no trouble sleeping at all!
PrincessInOz
Thanks for my avatar, Mary Jo!
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2010
That is a teeny cabin! Aside from the spider, I'm glad it was comfortable to sleep in.
Looking forward to seeing more of this trip!
Looking forward to seeing more of this trip!
Aussie Wendy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2008
He's a keeper isn't he!!! I love the cabin inside - very cute and cosy. Also enjoying reading along with all the detail.
zanzibar138
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2007
It was teeny, but had everything we needed, even a small table and chairs! Once I got used to it, it was really quite charming.
Yes, he definitely looks after me when it counts
zanzibar138
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2007
Chapter 11 - The Cruisy Day
We started off the day with a short run along what appeared to be a lakeside path on Google Maps, but actually turned out to be a roadside path without even a glimpse of lake through the trees. Still, it was a pleasant start to the day, and good to get running again after a week or so off. Unfortunately I was getting some pains in my foot. I pushed through, but probably shouldn't have. I'm not sure what happened to the photos from this part of the trip. Although it wasn't a particularly scenic run in general, we did end checking out the little bridge near our accommodation, and I managed to get some decent shots from there. After a quick freshen up back at the cabin, we headed off back into Gan to a little place DH found us for breakfast.
The breakfast place was lovely - very nice gardens and friendly staff, and a random half shaved cat lol!
However, there was only pre-made sandwiches/baguettes available. I'm very fussy with my sandwiches and can't stand sauce of any description. Since none of them came without sauce, we had no choice but to move on. While we were there though, we found out about their wood-fired pizza night, and decided to make an effort to go back for that (because who doesn't like pizza!).
We ended up at the very boring café attached the Gananoque Boat Lines cruise company. It was almost cafeteria style, but we did end up having an enjoyable brunch (we were too late for the brekky menu by then). While we were there, we asked about tickets for a cruise that afternoon. Since we had decided on the cruise that departed from Ivy Lea, we had to buy our tickets from there. We did enjoy the map they had up for people to pin where they are from - it was quite interesting to see!
On our way to Ivy Lea, we decided to stop for some nibbles and drinks for that evening. By the time we found a liquor store, and then dropped everything off at the cabin on the way through, it was actually getting fairly late and was almost time for our departure. We had been considering stopping at the 1000 Islands Tower on the way through, but we decided that would have to wait until afterwards.
Ivy Lea is the next town up the river from Gan, only about a 15 minute drive. We arrived just in time to beat a couple of busloads of tourists who appeared to be on a day trip from one of the major cities (perhaps Toronto). While they were all messing around getting photos etc, we managed to snag ourselves a couple of great seats on the top deck, right at the front of the boat.
We started off the day with a short run along what appeared to be a lakeside path on Google Maps, but actually turned out to be a roadside path without even a glimpse of lake through the trees. Still, it was a pleasant start to the day, and good to get running again after a week or so off. Unfortunately I was getting some pains in my foot. I pushed through, but probably shouldn't have. I'm not sure what happened to the photos from this part of the trip. Although it wasn't a particularly scenic run in general, we did end checking out the little bridge near our accommodation, and I managed to get some decent shots from there. After a quick freshen up back at the cabin, we headed off back into Gan to a little place DH found us for breakfast.
The breakfast place was lovely - very nice gardens and friendly staff, and a random half shaved cat lol!
However, there was only pre-made sandwiches/baguettes available. I'm very fussy with my sandwiches and can't stand sauce of any description. Since none of them came without sauce, we had no choice but to move on. While we were there though, we found out about their wood-fired pizza night, and decided to make an effort to go back for that (because who doesn't like pizza!).
We ended up at the very boring café attached the Gananoque Boat Lines cruise company. It was almost cafeteria style, but we did end up having an enjoyable brunch (we were too late for the brekky menu by then). While we were there, we asked about tickets for a cruise that afternoon. Since we had decided on the cruise that departed from Ivy Lea, we had to buy our tickets from there. We did enjoy the map they had up for people to pin where they are from - it was quite interesting to see!
On our way to Ivy Lea, we decided to stop for some nibbles and drinks for that evening. By the time we found a liquor store, and then dropped everything off at the cabin on the way through, it was actually getting fairly late and was almost time for our departure. We had been considering stopping at the 1000 Islands Tower on the way through, but we decided that would have to wait until afterwards.
Ivy Lea is the next town up the river from Gan, only about a 15 minute drive. We arrived just in time to beat a couple of busloads of tourists who appeared to be on a day trip from one of the major cities (perhaps Toronto). While they were all messing around getting photos etc, we managed to snag ourselves a couple of great seats on the top deck, right at the front of the boat.
zanzibar138
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2007
It was a magnificent day, and we couldn't think of a better way to spend it than cruising around such spectacular scenery, with drinks in hand and the cool breeze created by our gentle movement. From Ivy Lea we headed out in the direction of the Thousand Islands Bridge, passing small islands with small houses, tiny lighthouses, larger islands with very large houses, all the while with the bridge and tower in the background.
Cruising under the bridge was definitely a highlight!
There were some absolutely amazing houses along the way, and we daydreamed about having a little island of our own to use as a holiday house.
The advertised highlight of the cruise was Boldt Castle. There are actually a few castles and grand residences scattered amongst the islands - this is the most well-known one. You can get another cruise which actually drops you off at the island to have a look around the castle. If we'd had a week in the area, we might have considered doing that, but with only one day there, we didn't think it was the best use of our time. This island is actually on the US side of the river, so if you're coming from Canada you need to remember your passport! As an interesting side note, on the cruise we learned that the river was split between the two countries so that each island has one nationality.
We were actually sitting on the wrong side of the boat for the best views of the castle. With everyone clambering to one side, I was briefly concerned about capsizing lol! This was the halfway point of the cruise - we did a lap around the island and then started heading back to Ivy Lea.
From here we had a better view of the US side of the river. I was glad we'd decided to stay on the Canadian side - the US side looked a bit industrial and built up.
There were still some absolutely beautiful houses on the islands though!
We passed the world's shortest international bridge. There are three flags on the bridge - Canada, France and USA.
From there it was a fairly short run back to Ivy Lea, past more amazing houses along the shore, and back under the bridge.
Nearly back at Ivy Lea, we were accosted by some of the Asian tourists on the boat, wanting to have photos taken with us! We didn't mind at first, but then others started noticing and we were going for a good 5 minutes. We should have charged lol!
Back at the dock, we all unloaded and set off on our merry way.
Cruising under the bridge was definitely a highlight!
There were some absolutely amazing houses along the way, and we daydreamed about having a little island of our own to use as a holiday house.
The advertised highlight of the cruise was Boldt Castle. There are actually a few castles and grand residences scattered amongst the islands - this is the most well-known one. You can get another cruise which actually drops you off at the island to have a look around the castle. If we'd had a week in the area, we might have considered doing that, but with only one day there, we didn't think it was the best use of our time. This island is actually on the US side of the river, so if you're coming from Canada you need to remember your passport! As an interesting side note, on the cruise we learned that the river was split between the two countries so that each island has one nationality.
We were actually sitting on the wrong side of the boat for the best views of the castle. With everyone clambering to one side, I was briefly concerned about capsizing lol! This was the halfway point of the cruise - we did a lap around the island and then started heading back to Ivy Lea.
From here we had a better view of the US side of the river. I was glad we'd decided to stay on the Canadian side - the US side looked a bit industrial and built up.
There were still some absolutely beautiful houses on the islands though!
We passed the world's shortest international bridge. There are three flags on the bridge - Canada, France and USA.
From there it was a fairly short run back to Ivy Lea, past more amazing houses along the shore, and back under the bridge.
Nearly back at Ivy Lea, we were accosted by some of the Asian tourists on the boat, wanting to have photos taken with us! We didn't mind at first, but then others started noticing and we were going for a good 5 minutes. We should have charged lol!
Back at the dock, we all unloaded and set off on our merry way.
Aussie Wendy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2008
Look a very pretty area to explore over a few days! The cruise sounds like a lovely relaxing arvo.
PrincessInOz
Thanks for my avatar, Mary Jo!
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2010
What a great cruise! Looks like a very pretty part of the world.
That's an odd looking cat.
That's an odd looking cat.
zanzibar138
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2007
It was a beautiful area Wendy. I can feel myself relaxing just thinking about being there
I assumed they had shaved the cat to stop it from getting too hot. Personally I've never seen a shaved cat before, but I suppose it makes sense that if you would shave a dog, you might shave a cat too
zanzibar138
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2007
Our next stop was the Thousand Islands Tower. I had hoped to be able to do this on the way in, but it had been too late by the time we were going past. It just meant that we had to pay the bridge toll again, but no biggie in the scheme of things. The tower is on one of the middle islands, and is technically still on the Canadian side, so at least we didn't have to leave the country lol!
The tower has seen better days. It was celebrating its 50th anniversary at the time, and didn't look like it had had any money spent on it for at least 30 years! It was great value, and I would have quite happily paid a bit more if it meant that it could get a bit of a makeover. Still, everything worked, and it's definitely the best way to get a bird's eye view of the area.
There were 3 levels at the top. The lift took us to the first level, which was enclosed with glass, and had a guide wandering around who spent quite a while with us, chatting about the history of the area and pointing things out. Eventually we climbed the stairs to the next level, which was also enclosed with glass, then to the top level, which was open air. Unfortunately the top level was kind of overrun with flying bugs not unlike hornets, so even though the view was magical from there, we headed back downstairs pretty quickly!
This is the border crossing. It was here that we learned that the actual border is over the river. They just put the formalities on the island for the sake of logistics.
We could just make out Boldt Castle. We were actually told all about another castle in the area, which you can actually rent out for the night!
When we were finished with the viewing platform, we had a browse around the shop, and were amused to find 'Australian style licorice'! I had no idea Australia had its own style of licorice lol! We both felt like an ice-cream, but unfortunately that part of the shop was closed (not sure if it was just because it was a bit late, or perhaps because it was slightly out of season, or maybe because it was a week day). The ladies in the shop were very friendly and helpful, and recommended a nice walk we could do on the way back into town.
The walk turned out to be just up the road from our accommodation, and was lovely! There were plenty of other options, but we weren't really prepared for serious hiking, so we just stuck with one of the shorter routes. It started as a nice little meandering path through the forest. There was a fair bit of wildlife around, but everything was very active and it was hard to get a good photo in the dark light of the forest.
There was a bit of a climb towards the end, to get to the hilltop.
At the top of the hill, the forest opened out onto a little rocky outcrop with lovely views. We spent a good few minutes climbing around up there exploring before settling down to take in the views for a while.
We could just make out our little cabin accommodation and the jetty there.
We were a bit too early for real autumn colour, but this far north, some of the trees were definitely starting to turn.
After our little hike, we headed back into Gan to try out pizza night at the little café from this morning.
The pizza was delicious, and it was a lovely spot to sit and eat on such a perfect evening. It actually turned out to be rather popular, and we were glad to have gotten there early. By the time we started eating, they were turning people away.
After our delicious dinner, we headed back to the cabin to finish the day with some drinks and snacks overlooking the river.
Although it had been such a perfect warm sunny day, it got cold quite quickly once the sun went down, and the bugs came out in force. We retreated back to our cabin and called it a night.
The tower has seen better days. It was celebrating its 50th anniversary at the time, and didn't look like it had had any money spent on it for at least 30 years! It was great value, and I would have quite happily paid a bit more if it meant that it could get a bit of a makeover. Still, everything worked, and it's definitely the best way to get a bird's eye view of the area.
There were 3 levels at the top. The lift took us to the first level, which was enclosed with glass, and had a guide wandering around who spent quite a while with us, chatting about the history of the area and pointing things out. Eventually we climbed the stairs to the next level, which was also enclosed with glass, then to the top level, which was open air. Unfortunately the top level was kind of overrun with flying bugs not unlike hornets, so even though the view was magical from there, we headed back downstairs pretty quickly!
This is the border crossing. It was here that we learned that the actual border is over the river. They just put the formalities on the island for the sake of logistics.
We could just make out Boldt Castle. We were actually told all about another castle in the area, which you can actually rent out for the night!
When we were finished with the viewing platform, we had a browse around the shop, and were amused to find 'Australian style licorice'! I had no idea Australia had its own style of licorice lol! We both felt like an ice-cream, but unfortunately that part of the shop was closed (not sure if it was just because it was a bit late, or perhaps because it was slightly out of season, or maybe because it was a week day). The ladies in the shop were very friendly and helpful, and recommended a nice walk we could do on the way back into town.
The walk turned out to be just up the road from our accommodation, and was lovely! There were plenty of other options, but we weren't really prepared for serious hiking, so we just stuck with one of the shorter routes. It started as a nice little meandering path through the forest. There was a fair bit of wildlife around, but everything was very active and it was hard to get a good photo in the dark light of the forest.
There was a bit of a climb towards the end, to get to the hilltop.
At the top of the hill, the forest opened out onto a little rocky outcrop with lovely views. We spent a good few minutes climbing around up there exploring before settling down to take in the views for a while.
We could just make out our little cabin accommodation and the jetty there.
We were a bit too early for real autumn colour, but this far north, some of the trees were definitely starting to turn.
After our little hike, we headed back into Gan to try out pizza night at the little café from this morning.
The pizza was delicious, and it was a lovely spot to sit and eat on such a perfect evening. It actually turned out to be rather popular, and we were glad to have gotten there early. By the time we started eating, they were turning people away.
After our delicious dinner, we headed back to the cabin to finish the day with some drinks and snacks overlooking the river.
Although it had been such a perfect warm sunny day, it got cold quite quickly once the sun went down, and the bugs came out in force. We retreated back to our cabin and called it a night.
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PrincessInOz
Thanks for my avatar, Mary Jo!
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2010
Pretty scenery! Looks like a nice day so far.
zanzibar138
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2007
Sorry I was going to spread that post out a bit more, but I ended up deciding I may as well do it all in one, so I've just updated it! Yes, it was a lovely day. Possibly my favourite of the whole trip.
zanzibar138
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2007
Chapter 12 - The Rainy Day
We were not ready to leave this beautiful area yet, but the time had come to move on. It was raining and cool outside, and we were so thankful for the amazing weather we'd had the day before, and felt a little sorry for all the weekenders who'd just arrived! We started with the short drive into town for breakfast.
DH had found us a great little place for breakfast this morning, and it was a lovely start to the day despite the rain.
As we made our way west along the northern shore of the lake (on the freeway mind you - it was hardly a scenic drive...), I noticed signs for Kingston. I knew that Kingston was kind of the regional centre in the area and remembered reading that there were some historical things to see there, so we turned off and checked it out. What did we find? Another fort of course!
This fort (Fort Henry) was my least favourite. It was a completely different style to the other forts, and is a real tourist attraction compared to the other ones we'd been to. It even had a fancy looking café. Entry was pretty expensive, and the actual fort wasn't 'pretty' like the others. The rain wasn't helping though, and itt certainly had nice aspects to it though, and DH enjoyed all the information displays.
We were not ready to leave this beautiful area yet, but the time had come to move on. It was raining and cool outside, and we were so thankful for the amazing weather we'd had the day before, and felt a little sorry for all the weekenders who'd just arrived! We started with the short drive into town for breakfast.
DH had found us a great little place for breakfast this morning, and it was a lovely start to the day despite the rain.
As we made our way west along the northern shore of the lake (on the freeway mind you - it was hardly a scenic drive...), I noticed signs for Kingston. I knew that Kingston was kind of the regional centre in the area and remembered reading that there were some historical things to see there, so we turned off and checked it out. What did we find? Another fort of course!
This fort (Fort Henry) was my least favourite. It was a completely different style to the other forts, and is a real tourist attraction compared to the other ones we'd been to. It even had a fancy looking café. Entry was pretty expensive, and the actual fort wasn't 'pretty' like the others. The rain wasn't helping though, and itt certainly had nice aspects to it though, and DH enjoyed all the information displays.
zanzibar138
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2007
When we were done at the fort, we hit the road again. We decided to drive through Kingston and right along the edge of the lake for a while, instead of going directly to the boring old freeway. While we were in a large town, we also decided to keep an eye out for a light lunch.
Terrible photo of the bridge into Kingston central.
We managed to find a little café/deli style place where we got some sandwiches and drinks for the road, before continuing past the Penitentiary Museum. On another day, we might have stopped in here for a look, but DH was feeling a bit flat we were both feeling a little uninspired with the weather how it was.
The drive was interesting anyway. It is clearly a historic area, with a lot of grand old houses and buildings that would be fun to check out on a nicer day.
And with that, it was back to the freeway. It was such an inspiring drive that we had to keep switching drivers. I was on the lookout for somewhere we could stop for a quick rest/treat along the way, but there was really nothing. That's the trouble with freeways over there - you really need to know where stuff is that you might want. I did take an exit on a whim, but that didn't really achieve much except for breaking up the journey a little bit. Eventually we did come across a petrol station. We were kind of on the outskirts of Toronto by then, and it didn't take much longer to get to our hotel. Unfortunately we missed our freeway exit, and we had to do a massive detour to get back!
This was another mystery hotel from Priceline, Park Inn by Radisson Markham/Toronto. It was definitely on the outskirts of the city, but it didn't really bother us since we were just passing through. The hotel was a little weird. Just your average kind of motel style place, but it had a big function room downstairs with some sort of fancy event on. I felt a little awkward doing my laundry down there with people enjoying a fancy dinner in the next room! The front desk staff were very nice, and the room was definitely adequate.
It seemed like it was in the middle of a business park type area when we arrived. Because we were both so tired from the drive, we decided we'd just go down to their restaurant for dinner. Big mistake. Worst dinner ever. My ribs were ok, but DH couldn't eat his fish - it had a thick layer of batter which wasn't cooked properly. Everything was pretty much cold and stale tasting, and the service was atrocious. Between us, we only really ate the ribs and a few chips. A disappointing end to a rather flat kind of day.
Terrible photo of the bridge into Kingston central.
We managed to find a little café/deli style place where we got some sandwiches and drinks for the road, before continuing past the Penitentiary Museum. On another day, we might have stopped in here for a look, but DH was feeling a bit flat we were both feeling a little uninspired with the weather how it was.
The drive was interesting anyway. It is clearly a historic area, with a lot of grand old houses and buildings that would be fun to check out on a nicer day.
And with that, it was back to the freeway. It was such an inspiring drive that we had to keep switching drivers. I was on the lookout for somewhere we could stop for a quick rest/treat along the way, but there was really nothing. That's the trouble with freeways over there - you really need to know where stuff is that you might want. I did take an exit on a whim, but that didn't really achieve much except for breaking up the journey a little bit. Eventually we did come across a petrol station. We were kind of on the outskirts of Toronto by then, and it didn't take much longer to get to our hotel. Unfortunately we missed our freeway exit, and we had to do a massive detour to get back!
This was another mystery hotel from Priceline, Park Inn by Radisson Markham/Toronto. It was definitely on the outskirts of the city, but it didn't really bother us since we were just passing through. The hotel was a little weird. Just your average kind of motel style place, but it had a big function room downstairs with some sort of fancy event on. I felt a little awkward doing my laundry down there with people enjoying a fancy dinner in the next room! The front desk staff were very nice, and the room was definitely adequate.
It seemed like it was in the middle of a business park type area when we arrived. Because we were both so tired from the drive, we decided we'd just go down to their restaurant for dinner. Big mistake. Worst dinner ever. My ribs were ok, but DH couldn't eat his fish - it had a thick layer of batter which wasn't cooked properly. Everything was pretty much cold and stale tasting, and the service was atrocious. Between us, we only really ate the ribs and a few chips. A disappointing end to a rather flat kind of day.
zanzibar138
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2007
Chapter 13: The End of the Road Tripping
After last night's efforts, there was no way we were going back to that awful restaurant for breakfast, so I looked up some alternatives on TripAdvisor. It turned out that there was a whole trove of shops and eateries just up the road! We found a great place tucked away in a little shopping strip - we would never have noticed it if we weren't looking for it. They couldn't seat us straight away, but we were happy to sit at the bar with some hot drinks while we waited (it was another cool and rainy day). Luckily DH was feeling better today, and we were both feeling much more positive. We hadn't even finished our hot beverages when we were shown to our table. I forget what DH had, but I had waffles with berries and cream - OMG it was so yum! No pictures though sorry.
After a nice leisurely breakfast, we just had one more stop to make before starting the final leg of our road trip (well, apart from the drive back to the airport). DH had spied a Home Depot on the way to breakfast. Ironically, they actually had what he'd been looking for all this time, but the prices in Canada weren't much different to Australia. Since it would be a hassle to get it home, he decided not to bother.
We continued our drive, starting off with the trip through the city. It was only a relatively short drive today, but we got stuck in a carpark of a traffic jam going through Toronto, so it ended up taking a while.
On the plus side, we had plenty of time to get a glimpse of Downtown Toronto.
We found this 'Squeeze' sign very amusing!
There wasn't much else to the trip really. Again with the rain, we decided not to bother stopping along the way. With the traffic hold ups, it was quite late in the afternoon by the time we arrived anyway. We had considered stopping off in Hamilton, but I ended up just taking photos from the bridge. There were a couple of quite cool bridges along the way.
We kept running into patches of quite heavy rain.
It was quite a relief to finally arrive at our hotel in Niagara Falls. The hotel staff were very nice, and the check in process was pleasant. However, on arrival at our room, we were pretty disappointed with the view. We thought we were getting a premium view, and this room just looked out onto the street, looking away from the falls. I went back downstairs to ask about it. Turns out they actually don't sell the actual premium view rooms through 3rd party booking sites (we'd booked through Expedia or somewhere). She said that it was usually $40 per night to upgrade, but she could do it for me for $20. We felt that it was worth the extra little splurge, so agreed to go ahead with the room change. We were pleased with our decision in the end. It meant we had a top floor room too, which I always prefer. There was still no view of the falls (which we knew going in), but we could see the mist!
We spent a while settling into the room, checking everything out, and googling good spots for a nice dinner (my birthday dinner). We were getting so confused with all the reviews, we ended up just asking for recommendations downstairs, and ended up at the Hilton on level 33, with an amazing view of both sets of falls.
Unfortunately we were not seated by the window, but we were really just lucky that they could fit us in at all at the last minute. It was a very enjoyable dinner nonetheless, with good food and great service (and yummy cocktails!).
Back at the hotel, I took some photos of our night view before closing the curtains and trying out the spa!
After last night's efforts, there was no way we were going back to that awful restaurant for breakfast, so I looked up some alternatives on TripAdvisor. It turned out that there was a whole trove of shops and eateries just up the road! We found a great place tucked away in a little shopping strip - we would never have noticed it if we weren't looking for it. They couldn't seat us straight away, but we were happy to sit at the bar with some hot drinks while we waited (it was another cool and rainy day). Luckily DH was feeling better today, and we were both feeling much more positive. We hadn't even finished our hot beverages when we were shown to our table. I forget what DH had, but I had waffles with berries and cream - OMG it was so yum! No pictures though sorry.
After a nice leisurely breakfast, we just had one more stop to make before starting the final leg of our road trip (well, apart from the drive back to the airport). DH had spied a Home Depot on the way to breakfast. Ironically, they actually had what he'd been looking for all this time, but the prices in Canada weren't much different to Australia. Since it would be a hassle to get it home, he decided not to bother.
We continued our drive, starting off with the trip through the city. It was only a relatively short drive today, but we got stuck in a carpark of a traffic jam going through Toronto, so it ended up taking a while.
On the plus side, we had plenty of time to get a glimpse of Downtown Toronto.
We found this 'Squeeze' sign very amusing!
There wasn't much else to the trip really. Again with the rain, we decided not to bother stopping along the way. With the traffic hold ups, it was quite late in the afternoon by the time we arrived anyway. We had considered stopping off in Hamilton, but I ended up just taking photos from the bridge. There were a couple of quite cool bridges along the way.
We kept running into patches of quite heavy rain.
It was quite a relief to finally arrive at our hotel in Niagara Falls. The hotel staff were very nice, and the check in process was pleasant. However, on arrival at our room, we were pretty disappointed with the view. We thought we were getting a premium view, and this room just looked out onto the street, looking away from the falls. I went back downstairs to ask about it. Turns out they actually don't sell the actual premium view rooms through 3rd party booking sites (we'd booked through Expedia or somewhere). She said that it was usually $40 per night to upgrade, but she could do it for me for $20. We felt that it was worth the extra little splurge, so agreed to go ahead with the room change. We were pleased with our decision in the end. It meant we had a top floor room too, which I always prefer. There was still no view of the falls (which we knew going in), but we could see the mist!
We spent a while settling into the room, checking everything out, and googling good spots for a nice dinner (my birthday dinner). We were getting so confused with all the reviews, we ended up just asking for recommendations downstairs, and ended up at the Hilton on level 33, with an amazing view of both sets of falls.
Unfortunately we were not seated by the window, but we were really just lucky that they could fit us in at all at the last minute. It was a very enjoyable dinner nonetheless, with good food and great service (and yummy cocktails!).
Back at the hotel, I took some photos of our night view before closing the curtains and trying out the spa!
zanzibar138
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2007
Chapter 14 - The Last Full Day Away
After 2 days of solid rain, we opened the curtains to discover a perfect sunny day outside!
We decided to try out the little café at the hotel for breakfast. After standing around for about 15 minutes wondering if anyone was actually going to show up to get us seated, we were finally led to a table with no menus. We ordered drinks and waited for our waitress to come back with the menus. And waited. And waited. Eventually we felt like we'd wasted enough time, and things weren't improving, so we left. I felt terrible because we'd already ordered drinks, but as DH pointed out, by the time we waited for the drinks to actually arrive, and managed to flag down the waitress again for the bill and to pay, we would have been there for another hour.
We wandered fairly aimlessly unknowingly towards the tacky touristy end of town at Clifton Hill. I did remember seeing a Denny's sign on our drive to the hotel the previous afternoon, and I was hoping that we'd see it again. Eventually we did, and decided that Denny's would do. The menu was less varied and more expensive than their US counterparts (or maybe it was just because it was tourist central), but we did enjoy our breakfasts, and the great service we finally received! When we were finished, we decided to do some more exploring over that side of town.
It reminded me a lot of the tacky touristy area at the Gold Coast. There were haunted houses everywhere, 'oddity' museums like Ripley's Believe it or Not, and a wax museum, a couple of weirdly themed mini golf places, and a good smattering of tacky souvenir shops. DH and I decided that with the short amount of time we had in the area, we could really only justify spending time on the ferris wheel, and decided to come back for dinosaur mini golf if we had time. Spoiler alert - we didn't.
The ferris wheel was pretty good value, with great views of the falls and the surrounding area.
After 2 days of solid rain, we opened the curtains to discover a perfect sunny day outside!
We decided to try out the little café at the hotel for breakfast. After standing around for about 15 minutes wondering if anyone was actually going to show up to get us seated, we were finally led to a table with no menus. We ordered drinks and waited for our waitress to come back with the menus. And waited. And waited. Eventually we felt like we'd wasted enough time, and things weren't improving, so we left. I felt terrible because we'd already ordered drinks, but as DH pointed out, by the time we waited for the drinks to actually arrive, and managed to flag down the waitress again for the bill and to pay, we would have been there for another hour.
We wandered fairly aimlessly unknowingly towards the tacky touristy end of town at Clifton Hill. I did remember seeing a Denny's sign on our drive to the hotel the previous afternoon, and I was hoping that we'd see it again. Eventually we did, and decided that Denny's would do. The menu was less varied and more expensive than their US counterparts (or maybe it was just because it was tourist central), but we did enjoy our breakfasts, and the great service we finally received! When we were finished, we decided to do some more exploring over that side of town.
It reminded me a lot of the tacky touristy area at the Gold Coast. There were haunted houses everywhere, 'oddity' museums like Ripley's Believe it or Not, and a wax museum, a couple of weirdly themed mini golf places, and a good smattering of tacky souvenir shops. DH and I decided that with the short amount of time we had in the area, we could really only justify spending time on the ferris wheel, and decided to come back for dinosaur mini golf if we had time. Spoiler alert - we didn't.
The ferris wheel was pretty good value, with great views of the falls and the surrounding area.
zanzibar138
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2007
Enough of viewing the falls from afar - next stop was the river for some closer viewing!
We briefly considered doing one of the cruises, but decided that we would see the falls close up enough doing the Behind the Falls tour. As we continued up the river, we decided to head back to the hotel for some more supplies. We were practically going past anyway, it was only a block up from the river. It was definitely 'up' though! We cooled off for a few minutes in the room, gathered our supplies, and set off again. We headed back down to the river to continue our walk to the Horseshoe Falls.
There was quite a bit of mist around, and I had to be careful with my camera! We found the place to buy tickets for the Behind the Falls tour and joined the masses.
We were actually slightly disappointed with this tour. The balcony area underneath the falls was amazing, and I guess we were expecting it to be more of that. It was mainly enclosed tunnels, which got quite crowded and led to a couple of peep holes behind the falls. The volume of water coming down was amazing, but really, there was nothing there that made it unique to Niagara.
We hung around the Horseshoe Falls for a bit, wandering a bit further upstream. It was beautiful there - so peaceful!
We briefly considered doing one of the cruises, but decided that we would see the falls close up enough doing the Behind the Falls tour. As we continued up the river, we decided to head back to the hotel for some more supplies. We were practically going past anyway, it was only a block up from the river. It was definitely 'up' though! We cooled off for a few minutes in the room, gathered our supplies, and set off again. We headed back down to the river to continue our walk to the Horseshoe Falls.
There was quite a bit of mist around, and I had to be careful with my camera! We found the place to buy tickets for the Behind the Falls tour and joined the masses.
We were actually slightly disappointed with this tour. The balcony area underneath the falls was amazing, and I guess we were expecting it to be more of that. It was mainly enclosed tunnels, which got quite crowded and led to a couple of peep holes behind the falls. The volume of water coming down was amazing, but really, there was nothing there that made it unique to Niagara.
We hung around the Horseshoe Falls for a bit, wandering a bit further upstream. It was beautiful there - so peaceful!
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