I start back awake and grab my phone. 5:41. Damn! I sit up and swing my feet out onto the floor. The plan for today is to drive straight from our hotel in Livonia (Detroit, basically) to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, spend the day there and then head to Toronto. The Falls are about five hours away, Toronto a little over an hour from there. I get the wife awake and we get ourselves together and head out into the dark, wet pre-dawn Michigan morning to begin the journey. It's still completely dark outside and the frigid rain that has been drizzling down for the last two days is still making its presence known. We get in, head to the gas station, fill up, grab a coffee for me and a tea for her, a couple of waters for the road and we're off. We get through Detroit and to the border crossing in just under thirty minutes. The crossing itself takes no more than a minute or two. We are officially on the road, in Canada. Who'd a thunk it?
All my friends know how much I detest Daylight Saving Time because I whine like a little girl at, and in the general vicinity of, anyone foolish enough to stop moving near me at the two times a year when this little stroke of evil genius is enacted. Thanks to this mindless stratagem of misery and pain, I find myself driving across the prairie at the southern end of Ontario in the rain, in total darkness. We mark the time as we cross the border at 6:34 and head east. It's a straight shot across the southern end of Ontario to the little gap between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, where thousands of years ago giant glaciers moving through the area massaged the landscape into what we now call Niagara Falls.
As I'm driving, it's still dark at 7:00. It's still dark at 7:30. At 8:00 it's still dark. At 8:30 the sky is starting to turn gray and I can actually relax a little as I drive through this landscape devoid of man-made light, and as if that didn't make things difficult enough, there are none of those little raised reflective devices marking the lanes. The lanes are merely painted on the asphalt, so the sheet of water on the road renders them invisible. The dark, the rain and the invisible lanes are making the first part of today's adventure a little more stressful than it needs to be, if you ask me. We press on in the dim, but growing, gray of dawn.
American Falls on the left, Bridal Veil Falls (small) on the right. |
We park and get out, and not only is it still raining but the temperature is hovering just under 40-degrees fahrenheit. It seems that cold and wet are going to be the constants during my trip. The first stop is the visitor's center so we can grab a couple of ponchos to keep the rain that is falling and the mist that is rising from the bottom of the falls from soaking us completely. We get some general directions from the lady in the shop and head out the back door to see up close and personal what honeymooners and daredevils in barrels have been enjoying for the last hundred and fifty years or so.
Panorama of entire Niagara Falls. That is American Falls in the distance. |
Niagara Falls is comprised of three separate waterfalls, from east to west they are American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and Horseshoe Falls. When you walk out of the visitor's center on the Canadian side you are right next to Horseshoe Falls. When you stand there, six feet or so above the lip of the falls and see the mass of water surging over the edge and into thin air you can feel the power. It's a little disorienting to stand there and watch from that close.
Horseshoe Falls from the edge |
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Horseshoe Falls |
Even in the bad weather the turning leaves were beautiful |
Erie River downstream from the falls |
Floral Clock located in Niagara Parks |
That night we headed out for a late dinner about 8:30. By now it had stopped raining, but with clearing skies it got a little colder. After a quick stop for some gloves we got busy walking the streets. The plan was a total no-plan. We were just gonna walk until we saw something that struck our fancy or we got so hungry that we wouldn't be picky. It worked out fine.
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Saturday night in Toronto, out and about |
We were tired after being on the road since before dawn and spending the majority of the day outside in the near-freezing weather. After a long stroll, we decided we were in the mood for Italian and walked into one of the many malls here that holds dozens of bars and restaurants and not much else. I've never seen anything like it, but it sure was convenient. We had no idea what restaurants would be inside, but the first thing we saw was an Italian Trattoria, and after a quick perusal of the menu we decide it would do just fine.
The dinner was excellent as was the service. Our server Nick had spent eight years in San Diego working at Legoland as a performer, so we had an instant rapport. We had a very relaxed, leisurely dinner before heading back to the hotel. Without even realizing it, we had walked into a building that was so big that it emptied out on to a couple of different streets. Luckily, one of the exits led us out onto the sidewalk right outside our hotel. After a very short stroll back to our room, we indulged ourselves with a little room service dessert and called it a night.
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More Saturday night in Toronto |
After traveling about twenty feet outside the hotel we came to the sudden and shocking realization that it was ungodly cold out here. No, you don't understand, it was REALLY cold! Like, we used to ski Brianhead in Utah every year, and it was THAT kind of cold. Brianhead is ten-thousand feet above sea lever, just so you know. This morning in lake-side Toronto it was life threateningly cold. We got about half a block and decided to ask someone on the street if they knew where Fran's was. We got a third answer. Okay, keep walking before you die. Ask another person, get another answer. Now we've got three possible locations. And you have to understand, every person we asked was dead certain. They weren't waffling with their answers. It was like, "Oh yeah, you go three blocks down to Shuter Street, take a left and it's right there on the right. Can't miss it." Next guy points in the complete opposite direction and says, "Go up two blocks to Central and it'll be right across the street. I work right across the street from there." Okay, we decide to just get indoors as quickly as possible and hope we can get a breakfast out of the deal. Survival was starting to become a real concern. We were standing at the corner the concierge had told us to turn at. We turned, crossed the street and there was Fran's. We had been within 300-feet of the place the whole time we were taking our impromptu poll on where the man-on-the-street in downtown Toronto thought Fran's might be. By the time we got inside the shivering was just beginning. Just for the record, it was 28-degrees out. Look it up.
Upon hearing our story, the waitress and one of the other regulars laughed and said oh yeah, that happens all the time. Turns out they have multiple locations and people show up to meet their friends at the wrong one all the time.
"Hahahaha can I get a cup of hot coffee, stat please?" It wasn't that funny.
We ate our (very good) breakfast, went back to the hotel, checked out and started wending our way back to the greater Detroit area. A little over four hours later we were back in Livonia watching the Chargers choke a game away to the team from Washington. Some things never change.
I could finally take a picture of the trees with sunlight. So beautiful. |
Detroit is out there somewhere. |
Detroit. Hey, it's hard to take pictures out of a moving car! |
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Your truly. Thanks for visiting. |
Thanks for following along, hope you had a good read. I've got one more day here in the great state of Michigan, and hopefully the weather will be good enough for me to get out and dig in a little bit. See you around.
Until next time...
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