2024 Summer Trip - A birthday trip to Cananda - Pt 2 2024/07/29

Continuing on with the 2nd half of my birthday trip where we all visited Canada! 

We've seen the American Falls, but now it's time to get a closer look at Horseshoe Falls! 

There's a huge mist rising up from it. 

And it certainly gets more crowded the closer you get. 

Ian remembers our previous trip here where we rode the Maid of the Mist boat up close to the falls. 

Looking back towards Rainbow Bridge, we could see a rainbow developing. 

And then a full rainbow! 

It's beautiful!

That's a good reason to get a family picture. 

And one with just Theresa and I. Thanks Alli. 

Over at the top of the Horseshoe Falls where all the water comes from. 

Then right by the falls, feeling the power. 

All that mist, and the wind direction has made it quite wet over on this side. 

Who is up for some dinner? 

Theresa found a pizza place that offered something called Butter Chicken Pizza. I was certainly intrigued. 

I placed an order, then saw they even have a Breakfast Pizza! Haven't you craved a pizza "With the Richness of Eggs"?

Have you admit, I was a little disappointed when I got the butter chicken pizza. I had expected an exotic Indian style pizza with different sauces and flavors. Instead what I got was a regular marinara sauce pizza with mozzarella cheese and chicken on top. No interesting spices. You couldn't even tell if the chicken was supposed to be something special. It just tasted like chicken. Oh well, they can't all be winners. 

I did like the giant mural that the pizza shop had on their wall though.

The kids didn't love the pizza either and really wanted to go back to get more of those Tornado style flautas. 

And I'm seeing even more things to get for my taste tests!

Frozen treats, giant drinks, and Tornados. What more could they want? 

With our meal and snacks in hand, we all headed back down to the falls to find a place on the grass to set up for this evening's festivities.  

The blanket comes in handy again. 

Little black squirrels were interested in us and our treats. 

Well, we thought we'd picked out a good spot, but around 8:45pm, local police came by and started setting up signs and roping the area off. What do those signs say? 

Ah. Yeah, guessing we're not going to get to stay here. 

Gonna have to move a bit.

And so, by 9pm, we had moved down a little bit and found a spot right in front of the rope. The blanket was great yet again. 

From here, we could see the American Falls quite well. Love the lights they have. The police were making sure no one walked into the roped off areas. We witnessed a few people being chased off. 

Ooh, a rainbow! Very pretty! 

It won't be too long now! 

Well, I spoke a little too soon. That giant soda went through him a little too quickly. Just 10 minutes before showtime Ian announced he had to use the restroom and couldn't wait until it was over. Lovely! I was fortunate enough to find a park nearby, just across the street, where we could get to quickly, then get back to our seats. 

Just in time to watch the nightly fireworks! Every night during the summer, the Niagara Falls Tourism Board sponsors fireworks! I couldn't tell where they were launched from ahead of time, and had just hoped that we'd get a good view. I was really happy with our spot. 

By 10:15pm, the police were already taking up the ropes. 

While everyone was hustling and bustling around, we moved back into grass a little further and enjoyed the atmosphere. 

Those lights are wild. Seeing the red lights makes the falls spooky. 

And the Horseshoe Falls too. 

One more visit to the Horseshoe Falls. 

Theresa - I have dozens of pictures like this of them holding hands and walking. 

Walking to the Horseshoe Falls, the lights that illuminate the falls are shining through the mist. We thought it looked a lot like we'd imagine the Northern Lights looking like. We've still never seen the Northern Lights, but we'll have to remedy that sooner than later. 

Pretty. 

It's 11:30pm and it's time to start getting all those taste tests snacks and heading back over to the USA. 

Stopping by a few of the convenience stores we visited earlier. 

Wow Alli, you're making good use of that birthday watch. You've got over 20000 steps today! 

Good thing we saved all these to the end. I'm coming back with a few things. It is my birthday after all! 

Our walk back to the rainbow bridge took us back through the craziness on the Canadian side. A 2 level go-kart track. 

A roller coaster on top of a building.

That ferris wheel. I'm glad we could find a quieter patch to enjoy the beauty of the falls from. 

Leaving Canada via the Rainbow Bridge. 

Leaving Canada was pretty easy. No one checking anything. Just an un-manned turnstile where you have to pay $1 to get through.

Luckily they have change machines to get quarters. I knew about it ahead of time so I brought a pocketfull with me. 

Once through the turnstile, we were outside and back on the bridge. Here we are at the International Boundary Line. 

Halfway in Canada and halfway in the United States. 

Getting through Immigration was super simple. Walking up from the bridge, we appeared to be in a different line than anyone who was driving across. I didn't take any photos inside because I've seen signs elsewhere forbidding it, but after just a couple questions, we were welcomed back into the USA. 

And at 12:30am, the Beast was yet again, the last vehicle in the parking lot. 

It's been a really fun birthday visit to Canada today! Lots of fun memories and a bunch of fun taste tests coming up!