My sister Mushu was born in Boston, and I feel like I often hear my parents' story about how they went to Niagara Falls and how beautiful it was. They went again as a family when we were older, but I did not go on that trip. I had wanted to go for a long time now, and finally decided to do it on this weekend when Lingon and I were in between NYC and Boston. I did some research, and decided to book us a hotel on the Canada sight, where people unanimously agreed was much more beautiful.
On the way there, being a big fan of Pam and Jim and The Office, I decided that we had to take a stop in Scranton, PA, where Dunder Mifflin was set. Using the Google, I found out that the place the office was located did not really exist, but the Pennsylvania Paper & Supply Company that was in the little clip before the show was real, at 215 Vine Street. As we exited the freeway and headed towards there, I noted that Scranton seemed rather unexciting, but probably was a nice quiet place to raise kids! Like Pam and Jim! We got to our destination, I took a picture, then off we went. On the way back to the Freeway, I saw Mifflin Ave.
We continued our trip and took a detour to Ithaca. I had wanted to go to hotel school at Cornell for about a year, but ultimately got rejected by the college anyway, and that made me sad. I heard the campus was really pretty, and wanted to check it out for myself. The campus seemed pretty dead, given that it was a Saturday around finals period.
Then off to Niagara Falls itself. We stayed at Sheraton on the Falls, and I had requested for an upgrade from our basic room to the corner room with a view of the falls. Of all the upgrade requests, this must have been one I wanted the most, and I was granted my wish! Yippee!! I cared not so much for the room, but more for the view of the falls, and boy was that a great view. The town itself, in Ontario, Canada, seemed like an amusement park. It even had a ferris wheel, which we rode later that night!
After parking the car, we had decided to go to this town called Niagara-on-the-Lake. A friend had recommended the restaurant at Peller Estates Winery, and I actually had a reservation there, but at the decided to cancel it for something more spontaneous and casual. In fact, we may have eaten at the touristy downtown instead had Lingon not decided we should check out this town. On our way to Niagara-on-the-Lake, I decided we should check out the winery anyway, since there was a food cart festival, but lo and behold one needed tickets for this and tickets were sold out. So we decided to go to the town instead. The town was really really pretty, kind of reminded me of the town of Banff, just one main street, with really pretty buildings, trees, etc. all around. We walked along the lake (where there were a lot of gross bugs), headed back to town, parked the car and took a walk up and down, looking for a place to eat.
I was insistent on eating at somewhere that would give me OpenTable points, and we tried to go to the top rated restaurant but were turned away as it was full. We settled on Zee's Grill, which was also very highly rated and had availability. Turned out to be a very fabulous meal. We had a salmon salad amuse bouche, the bacon wrapped prawns for appetizer, and beef and lamb for our mains. Yum. I even did not mind the lamb - which is a good thing! The mashed potatos were so good. Yum.
The next day, because Lingon is a Starwood Platinum member, we got a free buffet breakfast which included an omelette bar. I miss those from college, and had a giant omelette made for myself. Normally, they would let you use the Sheraton Club Lounge, but probably since it was a holiday (Victoria Day), the hotel was at 98.9% occupancy (the staff told me), and the lounge was full, they had us eat at Fallsview Restaurant. Had we not such an amazing view, I would have loved the view from there, right across from the falls.
Then, we took the Hornblower cruise tour, which took us close to the falls. The falls are located both in the USA and Canada, and are made up of the American and Bridal Veil falls on the USA side, and the Horseshoe falls which is mostly on the Canada side. The boat took us close by, and especially by the Horseshoe falls we got splashed on, and would have been drenched if not for the free ponchos provided to us by the cruise company. According to Wikipedia, "the combined falls form the highest flow rate of any waterfall in the world, with a vertical drop of more than 165 feet (50 m). Horseshoe Falls is the most powerful waterfall in North America, as measured by vertical height and also by flow rate." I decided we had to take a selfie, to prove we were there, just like Pam and Jim. Yup, having my major I-love-The-Office moment. Lol.
We travel so much outside the country, without realizing there are so many beautiful things right here where we live. Hip hip hurrah for more USA travel and exploring this wonderful country.
On the way there, being a big fan of Pam and Jim and The Office, I decided that we had to take a stop in Scranton, PA, where Dunder Mifflin was set. Using the Google, I found out that the place the office was located did not really exist, but the Pennsylvania Paper & Supply Company that was in the little clip before the show was real, at 215 Vine Street. As we exited the freeway and headed towards there, I noted that Scranton seemed rather unexciting, but probably was a nice quiet place to raise kids! Like Pam and Jim! We got to our destination, I took a picture, then off we went. On the way back to the Freeway, I saw Mifflin Ave.
Then off to Niagara Falls itself. We stayed at Sheraton on the Falls, and I had requested for an upgrade from our basic room to the corner room with a view of the falls. Of all the upgrade requests, this must have been one I wanted the most, and I was granted my wish! Yippee!! I cared not so much for the room, but more for the view of the falls, and boy was that a great view. The town itself, in Ontario, Canada, seemed like an amusement park. It even had a ferris wheel, which we rode later that night!
After parking the car, we had decided to go to this town called Niagara-on-the-Lake. A friend had recommended the restaurant at Peller Estates Winery, and I actually had a reservation there, but at the decided to cancel it for something more spontaneous and casual. In fact, we may have eaten at the touristy downtown instead had Lingon not decided we should check out this town. On our way to Niagara-on-the-Lake, I decided we should check out the winery anyway, since there was a food cart festival, but lo and behold one needed tickets for this and tickets were sold out. So we decided to go to the town instead. The town was really really pretty, kind of reminded me of the town of Banff, just one main street, with really pretty buildings, trees, etc. all around. We walked along the lake (where there were a lot of gross bugs), headed back to town, parked the car and took a walk up and down, looking for a place to eat.
I was insistent on eating at somewhere that would give me OpenTable points, and we tried to go to the top rated restaurant but were turned away as it was full. We settled on Zee's Grill, which was also very highly rated and had availability. Turned out to be a very fabulous meal. We had a salmon salad amuse bouche, the bacon wrapped prawns for appetizer, and beef and lamb for our mains. Yum. I even did not mind the lamb - which is a good thing! The mashed potatos were so good. Yum.
The next day, because Lingon is a Starwood Platinum member, we got a free buffet breakfast which included an omelette bar. I miss those from college, and had a giant omelette made for myself. Normally, they would let you use the Sheraton Club Lounge, but probably since it was a holiday (Victoria Day), the hotel was at 98.9% occupancy (the staff told me), and the lounge was full, they had us eat at Fallsview Restaurant. Had we not such an amazing view, I would have loved the view from there, right across from the falls.
Then, we took the Hornblower cruise tour, which took us close to the falls. The falls are located both in the USA and Canada, and are made up of the American and Bridal Veil falls on the USA side, and the Horseshoe falls which is mostly on the Canada side. The boat took us close by, and especially by the Horseshoe falls we got splashed on, and would have been drenched if not for the free ponchos provided to us by the cruise company. According to Wikipedia, "the combined falls form the highest flow rate of any waterfall in the world, with a vertical drop of more than 165 feet (50 m). Horseshoe Falls is the most powerful waterfall in North America, as measured by vertical height and also by flow rate." I decided we had to take a selfie, to prove we were there, just like Pam and Jim. Yup, having my major I-love-The-Office moment. Lol.
We travel so much outside the country, without realizing there are so many beautiful things right here where we live. Hip hip hurrah for more USA travel and exploring this wonderful country.
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