Monday, February 23, 2009

One of our favorite vacation spots--Niagara Falls, Ontario
















Having never been to Niagara Falls, I always thought that it was one of those tourist trap destinations with tacky souvenier shops. But, since it was a relatively short drive (six hours from Columbus) and I had never seen the Falls (Aaron went when he was a kid), we thought we would give it a try as an extended weekend visit to celebrate of sixth wedding anniversary (Drew stayed home with Grandma Randolph--and this was a year before Claire arrived). After doing my research for the trip (which I love to do in preparation for any trip we go on) I discovered the Canadian side was filled with different wineries and a cute little town down just north of the Falls called Niagara on the Lake. Needless to say, it was one of the best mini-vacations that we have ever gone on. The wonderful thing about it is that you feel like you really traveled far to get there--which made it even more fun. Canada knows how to show its American tourists a good time! We kept quite busy in the short weekend visit that we had. We arrived on Friday afternoon and left on Sunday morning. The Falls are amazing to view and it was a blast going on the famed Maid of the Mist steamboat. We got soaked as the boat got relatively close the actual Falls--normally, I would hate getting wet, but it was completely worth it. We visited three wineries--Chateau des Charmes, Peller Estates and Jackson-Triggs--which is a very small fraction of the wineries in the area. We were pleasantly surprised by how expansive and elegant the wineries were that we visited. They were comparable to the wineries and vineyards in Napa Valley (not that we are any wine connisseurs or anything--but we had a couple brief visits there on our visits to see my brother and his family). Finally, we spent a few hours in the cute little town, Niagara on the Lake (I just like the sound of it). It is filled with cute shops, pubs and little inns, etc. Unfortunately, we did not get to see the lake, despite its obvious location. The road between Niagara on the Lake and Niagara Falls is beautiful too--probably one of the prettiest drives that we have ever been on. Needless to say, that I cannot say enough about this place. In fact, we are going to visit the area again in May. Plans are already underway for this visit. This time around, we plan on staying Thursday through Sunday--so we will have one more day to enjoy. Niagara here we come! :)

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