Last weekend K and I took a short anniversary trip to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada! Our Midwestern town is exactly five hours from the Falls and neither of us had ever been, so I booked us a trip!

We left home Saturday morning and made it across the border and into Niagara Falls by noon. I made reservations for a 1 p.m. brewery tour but we were early, so we decided to walk around the corner and check out a small Parisian cafe. It was SUCH a cool little find! We were bummed that we already had lunch plans because their crepes belonged in the Louvre- they were so masterful and decadent. We settled on some coffee and people-watching.

We paid our bill (after some currency anxiety- more on that later) and headed back across the street for our tour & lunch. I will say this right now: We did not have one bad meal in Canada. Everything was so delicious, everywhere we went!

We checked into the Oakes Hotel [Overlooking the Falls] at 3 p.m. The view from our room was spectacular!

Over the years I’ve learned that K vacations differently than I do… He likes to take time to lounge or nap or watch a show. I like to go go go because there’s so much to see and do! That being said, marriage is about compromise, so we relaxed in the room for a bit before I dragged him out again.

That afternoon we headed down the Falls Incline Railway (a vertical cable car) and browsed the gift shop, watched Niagara’s Fury, and walked along the falls, snapping a million pictures.

(Niagara’s Fury is a short movie and moving platform with sounds, water, lights, etc. that explains how the falls were carved out by glaciers.)

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To appease my husband, we headed back to the room to relax before dinner. I actually fell asleep and he browsed the internet for facts about Niagara Falls. We topped off the night with some dinner at My Cousin Vinny’s and the illuminated falls.

Some interesting facts from K about the falls:
– Collectively, the falls dump 750,000 gallons of water per second
– There are actually three waterfalls- the Bridal Veil Falls is a smaller waterfall next to the American Falls
– The American Falls were stopped in 1969 for several months
– The only person to survive an unintentional trip down the falls was a 7-year-old boy (his boat had overturned)
– 2% of the world’s freshwater can be found in the Great Lakes and MOST of it goes over the falls

Check out Part 2!

Have you ever been to Niagara Falls? (Which side?) Don’t you love it when you accidentally discover the perfect little cafe or restaurant??

-Aud