17 Aug 2023
Today, we’re going to visit Canada!!! Even though we still have a 2 hour drive back to Niagara, we didn’t bother setting an alarm, figuring we’d probably wake up early enough to be on the road by 9-ish.
HA! I rolled over around 0830; Matt was still sound asleep. We somehow managed to leave little after 9 and made time for another Tim Horton’s run:
We tried to check into our next hotel (same place as our first night in Niagara) early, but our room wasn’t ready, though we were able to stash our bags there before walking down to the Rainbow Bridge:
Here we go!
I’m officially in Canada!
(the bridge was really windy!!!)
There was a surprisingly long line and it moved quite slowly…
it took about half an hour before it was our turn to go through security, though I think they must have either brought in another officer or been having problems with someone because we spent less than a minute presenting our passports and answering questions.
The Canadian side is far more commercialized than the US side:
But, at the top of this touristy hill is another Tim Horton’s, so we, of course, had to stop by for lunch:
Hey look! it’s us at the Falls!
Horseshoe Falls (plus the Hornblower):
Horseshoe Falls (plus the Maid of the Mist):
Horseshoe Falls (plus us!):
One of the main things I wanted to do was Journey Behind the Falls, so we made that our first stop (as those tickets are timed as well). Unfortunately, we had about an hour and a half wait so we walked up to the Power Plant, another option on the list of things to do (mostly for the Tunnel, which, as the name implies, is a tunnel leading down to the foot of the falls), but the Power Plant itself is more of a museum-type attraction, and neither of us were feeling it. So, back to the Table Rock Centre (it’s Canadian) to wait for our tour time.
Fortunately, they let us in a little early:
We were loaded into an elevator, which descended about 125ft, and came out in a long tunnel:
Off this tunnel are 2 viewing windows and a platform. The two viewing areas are the same, so we picked the one with the shorter line.
Occasionally, a gust of wind would blow through and puff out our ponchos:
“I’m as big as a dirigible”
We waited 15 minutes to see this:
So not worth it!
(but proof that we were here)
The view from the platform though?
That was pretty spectacular:
I wouldn’t do this one again, and given the choice between this and Cave of the Winds, hands down Cave is much cooler.
The other thing I really wanted to do was ride the boat to the base of the Falls, so Matt and I trekked back to where we started and booked a couple tickets (no wait this time!)
Ah, how dry and innocent we were!
I had to ditch the sunglasses- too much water on them to see through:
Our boat drove hard toward the Falls, but there was a lot of force pushing us back!
Soaked, but not quite as bad as Cave of the Winds (which is right above my head):
American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls:
Rainbow Bridge:
I had originally planned on staying until dark- they light up the Falls with pretty lights, and there’s a firework show at 10pm, but honestly, we’re old. We put on over 20,000 steps today and were getting tired so we shared this giant pretzel and headed back to our hotel for the night:
Oh, but first, to get back into the US, we had to pay a $1 toll, in quarters.
No where in my research did I come across any mention of this- we just happened to see a sign on our way to Canada warning us that’d we’d have to pay on our way back. There are convenient dollar changing machines, in both US and Canadian currencies, and you can pay in either, but it’s really quite the terrible system and in desperate need of an update. Not a fan.