Niagara Falls

This was our last weekend in Upstate New York, so John and I decided to go out with a bang and visit Niagara Falls in Canada. O.k. and maybe we’ll do a little bit of shopping along the way at the Fashion Outlet Niagara USA . Once again, Erica and Megan from Enterprise Car Rentals were so kind to provide us with a limited edition Ford Escape for the weekend. It has all the bells and whistles a man’s heart would desire including heated leather seats. Which by the way we’ll need...brrr.

After scraping the frost off the widescreen we left Oswego around 6.00 am heading West through Rochester and Buffalo. To past the time we participated in some friendly Father and Son banter with the satellite radio being the primary point of entertainment. Eventually we had an appreciation for each other’s music...not! You just can’t beat someone who has the entertainment controls mounted in the steering column. Sorry matey. As we neared Buffalo, we were lucky enough to drive through a snow flurry. This was a first for both of us to see falling snow flakes, albeit for a short time it was still impressive.

On cue we had timed our journey to perfection arriving at the Fashion Outlet a minute before opening. With one hundred and fifty retail stores offering discounts up to 75% off the recommended retail price, I knew we were going to be in trouble. Sorry I forgot to mention earlier that John has already purchased four pairs of sneakers...like Father like Son. Two and half hours later you could say that John and I have played an important role in stimulating the American economy.

Early afternoon we arrived at the United States and Canada border crossing. As we played twenty questions with the border control officer she advised us that she had forgotten her visa stamp today and we would need to drive to the administrative building located to the left of the control booths to be processed. About fifteen minutes later we were officially in Canada...yippee!

We pulled into the Embassy Suites Hotel and were provided with a Falls view room, complimentary drinks, nibbles and breakfast, and a $50 Casino voucher.

Sorry to disappoint but words fail me when trying to describe Niagara. Worse, maybe my photographs fail too! I let you be the judge on that one. Niagara really is one of the great natural wonders of the world. Nonetheless, I hope that I have been able to capture some of its beauty, splendour and power.

Dinner (all you can eat buffet) and drinks at the Casino were scrumptious and the $50 voucher was paid back in to the slot machine. Unfortunately John was still a bit jet lagged so it was an early night for him and I decided to kick on to experience the Falls at night which also included a Disney light display.

Hoping you enjoyed the pics.

Talk soon.
Mark