Another trip to Niagara Falls

Maureen and I had made a short visit to Niagara Falls in 1992 while in New York attending my cousin Debbie's wedding. After 25 years it was time for us to visit again.
We caught an early flight and arrived in Buffalo at 9AM, picked up a car and some refreshments and arrived at the State Park around 11am. The weather forecast was calling for chilly temps and some light rain. We were prepared and actually found it refreshing being out of the 90 degree heat we left at home. Everything about the park was different than I had remembered it 25 years ago. The walkways, overlooks and buildings were all updated and modern. Parking was very easy although it was $10 for the day. It was convenient to the falls, restaurant, ticketing and gift shop  They offered a package deal for the Cave of the Winds, the Maid of the Mist but we passed having done it before. We walked through a good bit of the park exploring different parts of the river and Gorge.

There were numerous trails in the Gorge with many smaller falls and rapids. We so enjoy people watching and there were plenty to see that day. The picture above  Jenna found in one of our scrapbooks and posted it to Facebook on Mother's Day.

Sunday we visited Toronto Canada. Our GPS told us it was 90 minutes away and the weather was scheduled to be nice. Our first stop in Toronto was St Michael's Cathedral. It was right downtown in the center of Toronto. We attended the 10AM Mass. It was spectacular church and the children's choir made the service nice. The organist was amazing too. I enjoyed the young priest whom said mass. He spoke from the hip and had a very calm voice. 

After that we visited 2 neighborhoods in the city the first was Parkland. We had hoped the festival from the previous day was still happening but it wasn't. We explored the neighborhood and shops. There were quite a few Vintage clothing stores. We had lunch at a little sidewalk cafe across the street from the Cadillac Lounge. On the advice of folks sitting next to us we thought best to visit the harborfront . The BlueJays had a game that afternoon at the Rogers Center. My idea of attending that game had been nixed because of Mother's Day and the fact that neither the Nats or O's were playing. Anyway the harbor front was nice. Nothing going on but you could tell it would be nice in the summer months. It was cool seeing the CN Tower. We could see folks hanging off the side at the top which is one of the tourist attractions. They also offer a glass floor room at the top that offers spectacular views of the city. $26 each to go up. We passed. Saw the game let out from the Roger's Center. Too many BlueJay fans for my liking.

On the way back to Niagra we stopped in on the Canadian side of the Falls. The view of the falls from the Canadian side is better in my opinion because you can see the river. The Canadians have really commercialized the area. Tons of eateries and tourist spots. It looks more like a boardwalk and has everything that kids would love to do. We took in the view of the Falls and then hung out at the Niagara Brewing Company and watched some of the Caps Lightening game.


We caught a 7AM flight Monday morning and was able to get my girl to work on time at 9am.