After a long day of driving, plus the hour that we lost moving back into the Eastern time zone, we finally rolled into our hotel at 7:30 pm. Get us out of the van!
I felt culture shock immediately. Had we accidentally driven to Las Vegas? There were flashing neon lights, live music, and bustling crowds. I said to Dave,"I think this is going to be expensive..."
Sure enough, $25 a day just to park at our hotel!
We got a room on the 15th floor of the Four Points Sheraton and quickly ventured out for dinner. It seemed smart to try one of the restaurants attached to the hotel, but after looking at a mediocre menu with highbrow prices, we moved on.
We followed our ears to the Italian restaurant with the live band playing, and were seated immediately. Once my rigatoni bolognese arrived, I was thrilled with our choice. It was fabulous and I am already having cravings for more. After we paid our check, our sweet waitress told is about the fireworks that happen over the Falls on Friday nights. This was a great tip, so we quickly made our way over to the mounting crowd that had formed. Even though it only lasted five minutes or so, it was a good experience. Music was piped in through the outdoor speakers, and the glowing lights from the surrounding restaurants/casino were so colorful.
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The next morning, we had a quick breakfast at the buffet place nearby, and then explored the Visitor Center by the Falls. We had booked a five hour bus/boat tour and needed to be back to hotel by 10:30. To kill time, we explored the Visitor Center along the Main Street. In doing so, we missed the bus back to ourhotel, and finally arrived just minutes before the tour shuttle showed up.
Once on the tour bus, we learned so much about the history of the falls. The geography, the important people behind it, the stories of daredevils, and some other information that we never would have learned about has we not gone on the tour. While wearing ponchos, we watched a 4D movie about the Falls, and we got snowed on and rained on! Next, we went into the cement tunnels behind the falls.
We continued with the tour and drove along the Niagara River...past the Butterfly Conservatory and the Arboretum, along long bike trails and finally to the Flower Clock.
Next was a stop at Whirlpool Basin and the AeroCar. To be clear, we did NOT ride in the car over the river. It was just a quick stop for photos.
Our next stop was a ride to the top of the Skylon Tower, which Amanda and I were nervous about, especially after seeing the little yellow car travel up the side of the tower.! But in he end, we did just fine.
The 360* views were amazing!
Our final part of the tour was the part I was most looking forward to: a boat ride into the Falls.
Once we put on our ponchos and got on the boat, we headed straight into the waterfall.
It felt like we were in a hurricane, right into the heart of the falling water. The boat felt like a giant party, with everyone screaming and laughing every time the water blasted us. It was so much fun that none of us minded being wet.
The tour finally ended an hour and a half after the scheduled finish time. The kids had been begging to go swimming all day long, so we promised them some pool time as soon as the tour ended. Unfortunately the pool was closed for cleaning, so we went to Plan B: dinner at Outback Steakhouse.
By the time we got back to the hotel, the pool was open so we quickly changed into our swimwear. Our eyes began to burn, but we didn't think too much about it. The kids swam while Dave and I played cribbage. We took a quick dip in the pool before going back to the room. The kids were all coughing and it seemed like it was a good idea to head out.
By the time I got back to the room, my feet were itching terribly and the kids were still coughing. Dave talked to management about the possibility of too many chemicals in the pool, and then we went to bed.
We had initially thought about spending the next morning exploring more of the walking trails, but we woke up to rain. I left all of our unused tickets in the lobby, and hoped someone else would be able to use them.
We hit the road around 8:30 and headed for home. After some small problems (a 'check engine' light and then a 90 minute traffic jam, which we quickly detoured out of), we made our way east. It felt like slow going, as the return trip always does. After eleven hours on the road, we finally made it within five miles of home...and then Eva became carsick.
At least we were near home when it happened. We unloaded the van in record time and enjoyed a meal of takeout wings and fries.
We were happy to be home, in our own beds.
It was certainly a vacation to remember, especially for Eva and Liam, who did not remember any of the previous trips to Wisconsin.
We all hope to return again before too long.
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