Toronto & Niagara Falls
This year we would be away for our traditional Seattle trip to go see the Toronto Blue Jays play the Mariners, so I decided to do something special for Norine's birthday and take her to Toronto to see the Blue Jays play at Skydome (oops, Rogers Centre). Her birthday wish was to take our niece and nephew with us, as we try to do something special with them each summer. So flights were booked, game tickets were bought, and accommodation was arranged, or so we thought.
We arranged the flights to leave from Abbotsford instead of Vancouver for convenience and price. It worked out mostly fine, a slight delay meant we missed our connection in Winnipeg, but Westjet had already booked us on the next flight in 1 hour, and new boarding passes were waiting for us. We arrived in Toronto at 11:00pm, got our luggage and headed into the city by taxi to our condo.
It was all pre-arranged through VRBO/Toronto Escape Property Mgmt, stop at their office near the place, and there will be a lockbox with the keys, then go to the place we had rented. our taxi stopped there, I dialed in the code, and the box opens with NO KEYS INSIDE. No problem, we had a number to call if there was any troubles. All I get is a "We're sorry, our office is closed." message. It is now past midnight, I can't reach anyone via phone or email, and it's a Saturday night. Our driver took us to a nearby hotel, and it's full with people staying there to see the MacGregor-Mayweather fight. We tried going directly to the condo, and security wouldn't even try to help us.
Right now with 2 kids with us we are in Toronto after midnight and are basically homeless. I used the Google map feature, and just started calling hotel after hotel... "sorry we have no rooms, sorry we are full up, sorry no vacancies". I guess the 10th time is lucky, and the Downtown InterContinental has a room, 2 adults and 2 teenagers crammed into a small room with 2 double beds. At least we had a p[lace to stay for the night, and it did have a view of the CN Tower. Special kudos to our Cab driver who wasn't going to leave us until we were safe.
I had already pre-arranged a special small group day tour to Niagara Falls for the morning, so without knowing where we would be when we came back, we left our bags with the hotel, and headed off for the day. It was short walk passed the CN Tower and Rogers Centre to where the mini-bus would pick us up, he was right on time and exactly where he said he would meet us.
Niagara Falls
It's a lovely hour and a half drive around Lake Ontario and through Hamilton to get to Niagara Falls. The falls are 17 miles (27 km) north-northwest of Buffalo, New York, and 75 miles (121 km) south-southeast of Toronto, between the twin cities of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Niagara Falls, New York. Niagara Falls is the collective name for the waterfalls that straddle the international border between the province of Ontario and the state of New York.
Halfway to Niagara and I get a message from the condo company...
Good Morning Dave,
I can't believe this happened and sincerely apologize for this. I am so sorry that you had to go to another hotel crammed with 4 people. I'm investigating where and why the keys were not in the lockbox for your arrival. I will be in touch within the next hour.
1 hour later...
Hi Dave,
We sincerely apologize again and after further investigation there was a miscommunication among the cleaning staff.
The keys will be returned to the lockbox where you can retrieve the keys upon your return to Toronto.
We will compensate you for one night and also the cab ride from Intercontinental Hotel.
Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience this has caused and hope you enjoy the rest of your stay here in Toronto.
Well, at least we shouldn't be homeless when we get back to Toronto, so we can enjoy our day in Niagara Falls. Sam, our driver, asks if anyone is interested in doing a helicopter tour over the falls. Because we are with him we each save $30, and how many times will we have an opportunity to see the falls from this perspective... plus Nathan and Heather had never been in a helicopter before, so...
The perspective flying over the falls was amazing, so glad we took this unique opportunity. With just 4 of us plus 1 other person on our bus, we all had spectacular views.
The Niagara Whirlpool
Niagara Falls, Canada
With the flight over, our driver picked us up and dropped us off in the center of Niagara Falls, Canada. Right across the street from where we could catch the historic boat tour into and past the falls. The Maid of the Mist is now owned by the US for tours from Niagara Falls, USA, and we would be taking the Hornblower ship from the Canadian side of the river.
We covered up with our lovely red ponchos, and headed up the river towards the falls, and proceeded to get completely drenched.
Located on the Niagara River, which drains Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, the combined falls form the highest flow rate of any waterfall in the world that has a vertical drop of more than 165 feet (50 m). Horseshoe Falls is the most powerful waterfall in North America. The Horseshoe Falls are mostly on the Canadian side, with the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls (smaller waterfall on the right) on the US side.
The first falls you pass are the American falls and Bridal Veil falls. The ship gets close enough so that you get a nice refreshing spray of water. Happy to have the poncho on, but it's just a teaser for what's about to come.
Then the ship heads into the center of the Horseshoe falls...
To say we got wet would be an understatement, water and wind was blowing in every direction. It was like being in one of those modern showers with 8 different shower heads. The poncho did keep a small part of me dry.
Just like that, we were safely heading back to the port, as we watched the next boat head into the spray.
Back on dry ground where we could walk in the sunshine and dry off.
There's a really nice boulevard that takes you along the river side with great views of the falls, so we walked down past the American falls towards the Horseshoe falls for a very different view.
Through a gift shop, down a hidden elevator, and along a slimy tunnel you gain access to 2 portals and a small deck behind the waterfalls. It sounds very exciting, and it gives you another chance to get wet, but it's a long process, and the view is rather anti-climatic.
Three hours goes by very quickly, and it's almost time to meet our driver, so we head back up to the main part of town. Some people say it's very touristy, hmmm, I have no idea what they are talking about. 
Back on our mini-bus, and a couple of stops along the Niagara Parkway. A chance to see the Hydro-Electric plant, the giant floral clock, and stunning views over the lake.
One of the other highlights of our day was a stop at Niagara on the Lake. It sits on the shores of Lake Ontario, at the mouth of the Niagara River. It's known for its wineries and the summer Shaw Festival, a series of theatre productions. The flower-filled, tree-lined old town features 19th-century buildings. Near the river, 19th-century Fort George was built by the British to defend against American attacks.
A great place to explore, have lunch from a local deli, and just enjoy the cute little shops and ambiance.
As we are wandering through the town, it's like there is a car show driving past, as classic cars head down the strip every few minutes.
Niagara on the Lake was a cute little village, and I would enjoy staying there a few days if we ever went back. Our final stop on the way back to Toronto is for the adults in the group, Lakeview Cellars, a local winery. free samples of table wines and several ice wines are shared, except for Nathan & Heather who forgot to bring their fake ID.
Overall a pretty spectacular day, we got to tick Niagara Falls as a travel destination off our bucket list, we had a ton of fun exploring the falls, and we weren't going to be homeless when we got back to Toronto.
