Niagara Falls 2022

 So. It seems like it has been forever since I’ve had any sort of holiday ✈✈, and I feel like I don’t know how to write anymore! 

Niagara Falls (to be henceforth known as NF) has always been somewhere that I thought I’d like to see if I was in the area, but it was never high on the list of places I wanted to really see. It was, however, high on Steven’s bucket list and we always figured we’d probably go “eventually”. Of course Covid came along and kicked everyone’s plans to the garbage so as soon as we were able to get organized and travel again, we booked it. And now I realize it should have been on my list of places I want to see….talk about spectacular!

I always get my travel journals printed out into a photo book, so excuse all the mundane details….I need to document them for when I am old and feeble and forget things. 

Day 1. 

We drove to Calgary on Sept 6th and stayed at the Wyndham Garden Airport. I wanted to stay as close to the airport as possible, at a place that offered a dedicated airport shuttle….I’m too old for getting up at 4 or 5 AM and having to sit in a shuttle as it stops at 17 other hotels. I will pay a bit more to have a hotel that takes me directly from Point A to Point B with no other stops, and the closer you are, the later you can leave your hotel bed. That’s the same as flights. I like an early-ish flight, and by that I mean maybe late morning or early afternoon. I am not a morning person. Our flight was originally supposed to leave at 11 AM, but it ended up being changed to 9:40 which is still a decent hour, but then I knew I’d have to get up “early”. Nuts.

Anyhow, the Wyndham is a great place, with a pub as well as a very decent restaurant. All the other hotels in that area have no place to eat at all, and the only place close by is a particularly grubby Tim Horton’s. That struck me as really strange, you’d think a restaurant or even a little coffee spot would make a ton of money when there is nowhere else to go. 

We hit the pub for Happy Hour, then went for a walk (what a windy part of the country! My hair looked like a tangled haystack by the time we returned) to check out the other hotels, which is how I knew there was nowhere to eat, went back to ours and had dinner, he had a seafood pasta and I had chicken tenders. After that we hit the hot tub to relax a bit and then early to bed.

Day 2. 

Our flight was to leave at 9:40 and they suggest being there 3 hours early, but since we only travel with carry-ons and I checked in online, I knew we could go straight to security, so I figured 2 hours would be plenty. Although, the shape that the airports are in right now, maybe I should be there 3 hours early. Although, it is Calgary, and it’s only a flight to Toronto so 2 hours should be fine. Although, Calgary is one of busiest hubs in Canada, so maybe 3 hours is a better choice. But, Flair is a smaller airline so 2 hours should be good. Although, maybe everyone else in the hotel is going to be checking out at the same time as me, so maybe I should get up earlier just in case there is a line-up. I personally know people who have missed their flights because the line-ups at security are so horrendous (since we can travel again) maybe I should get there 4 hours early? The stress. I eventually decided to book the 7 AM shuttle, meaning I got up at 6 AM, husband at 6:30. Waaaaay to early for me. 

The shuttle left at 7:00, got to the airport at 7:03, no line ups, we were through security and at our gate at 7:23.  I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Now we sit for two and half hours, but to be honest, I didn’t mind, now I could relax and not worry. The plane was 1/2 hr late, which in this season of disaster, is nothing. I’ve never been one of those people who come skidding in, breathless and with mere minutes to spare! The thought terrifies me! 

We landed in Toronto at 4:30 (their time) and walked for what seemed like 8 or 10 miles to get to ground transportation to meet our shuttle that was taking us to our hotel at the Falls. I know that Pearson is a huge airport, but my God, we went up and down more escalators in one hour than I have in the past 3 years. I’m not saying that we were lost, but anyone who knows me also knows that yes, we were lost. But we eventually found our spot. The wait was minimal, 15 or so minutes.

The drive was just over 3 hours. It should have been just less than 2 hours, but I think our driver was either brand new, or terrified of the traffic, or didn’t know where he was going….or all three. He drove so slow. The saving grace was that it was a beautiful day and since neither of us had ever been here before, we enjoyed seeing the countryside (so to speak, the cities sort of all blended in with each other). A great deal of the drive was alongside Lake Ontario and even though I know it’s a huge lake, I didn’t realize it was that huge. It was like seeing the ocean.  The other side of the highway was filled with vineyards, it was quite a scenic drive, but we were impatient to get to our hotel. We finally rolled in at 8:30-ish (after having dropped off a few other people at their mansion-size homes…when the shuttle company says “door-to-door” service, they literally meant “door-to-door”. There was a small group of folks who had been to the Oberammergau  Passion Play in Germany and they were being shuttled home. The Play is performed only once every 10 years, and it missed  the last 2 (thanks again Covid) It was actually quite interesting to talk to them, one fellow was a priest and it had been his life’s dream to see the play. He looked to be about a hundred or so, so I imagine that the last 12 years of waiting were worrying for him! 

Anyhow. We finally arrived! Check-in was quick and we were hungry and since the casino was directly across the street from our hotel, well, what can you do but go over there? It was pretty dark by now, and we didn’t feel like exploring, so we grabbed a burger, checked out the casino for a little bit and then went back to the hotel and hit the sack. Slept like a log after a long day of travel. I don’t know why air travel is so exhausting when all you do it sit there.