I was home from California for about a week before I set out on another adventure. I drove down to my sister's house in Virginia because we were planning a trip to Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Toronto over Julia's Labor Day holiday from school.
I went to school with her to "volunteer" on Thursday (I helped make copies and staple them), and then we started our trek. Our first real stop was in Buffalo, NY to visit Julia's lovely friend Ann, but it's a 7 hour drive if we went straight through. We instead drove to Bradford, PA to spend the night, and continued the last 90 minutes in the morning.
We spent Friday exploring Buffalo with Ann and her two boys, and she took us to a great restaurant where we had both buffalo wings and Beef on Weck, so she really made sure we got the Buffalo experience!
In the morning, Ann intended to come to Niagara Falls with us, but she woke up not feeling well so sadly she didn't end up joining us.
Our first stop was Niagara Falls State Park on Goat Island on the American side, which was my dad's recommendation, and a good one! We set out really early because we thought (correctly) that Niagara would be really crowded for Labor Day weekend. We were so early to the state park that we actually got to park for free.
Rainbow over the falls!
We then crossed over to the Canadian side and went on the Hornblower Cruise. Maid of the Mist is on the American side but both boats take exactly the same route. Here we are posing with Horseshoe Falls!
Posing with the American Falls
Horseshoe Falls from back up above
We also went to Journey Behind the Falls, where you take an elevator down into the tunnels that connect to the old hydroelectric power station built by Nikola Tesla. The tunnels literally go behind the Horseshoe Falls itself, and you can access this terrace directly next to the falls.
Inside the tunnel (The falls are the whitewashed area behind us)
Having gotten such an early start intentionally, we were done with the Niagara Falls tourist attractions before lunchtime. We left just as day trip crowds were descending and people were desperately looking for parking. We headed over to Niagara-on-the-Lake to explore the quaint little town, and to have lunch at a winery.
We had lunch at Two Sisters Vineyards in Niagara-on-the-Lake
Walking through the vineyard
Exploring adorable Niagara-on-the-Lake
Memorial Clock Tower on Queen Street in Niagara-on-the-Lake
We spent the afternoon strolling around the cute little town and I tried my first butter tart, a Canadian delicacy that I became obsessed with.
We were staying back in Niagara Falls on the Canadian side, so we stopped on our way back to admire the Niagara Whirlpool (although we didn't take the cable car across)
We also made a pit stop at the Maple Leaf Place, a one-stop-shop for all things maple flavored. Julia loves everything maple and somehow managed to only buy some candy!
We attempted to go back to the falls after dark to see the falls lit up at night, but the traffic was truly indescribable and we didn't end up getting close enough to actually see them before we gave up and went back to our hotel. We just wanted to drive by and see the lights but all the roads closest to the falls were closed for pedestrians only, and we couldn't find anywhere to park. Oh, well!
In the morning, we got another early start and zipped up to Toronto. Our first stop (after getting coffee from Tim Horton's, of course) was to go up in the CN Tower.
Posing with the CN Tower
View from the CN Tower
Another angle from the CN Tower. The white stadium right at the bottom of the photo is Rogers Centre where the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team plays.
We then joined a history walking tour of Toronto that started at beautiful city hall. The tour guide took us around downtown, showing us a lot of beautiful old buildings and telling us the history behind them.
The Toronto Sign in Nathan Phillips Square
The tour ended at the St. Lawrence Market, where we immediately had to reign in our impulses to buy one of everything but ended up with some fancy cheese and a couple more butter tarts. We then headed down to the Harbourfront to have a little walk around before we had an early dinner at a waterfront pub.
We ended our first day in Toronto with a harbor cruise.
Posing with the CN Tower in the distance!
On Monday, we went to explore Casa Loma, "a Gothic Revival castle-style mansion and garden in midtown Toronto." It's absolutely beautiful, and we really enjoyed the audio tour.
Library inside Casa Loma
Casa Loma's conservatory (Obsessed with the stained glass dome!)
I had intended for us to take a ferry over Toronto Island Park and maybe have a picnic over there and enjoy the nice weather, but the weather didn't cooperate. The high on Labor Day in Toronto was 85° and the sun felt like it was blazing, when normally the average is in the 70s, so it wasn't really picnic weather. We stayed inside for most of the afternoon before going to explore the Distillery District.
We strolled around in the late afternoon and had an early dinner at a pub in the Distillery District, which we both really enjoyed.
We spent the rest of the evening in our hostel, and I drove Julia to the airport in the morning so she could fly back to Virginia. I drove the rest of the way back home by myself and I was back in Scranton that evening. It was a quick trip but a nice one!
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