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Just Rambling on
Tuesday, July 6, 2004
Hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend. I had a fantastic weekend. Oh, you want to know why? OK, here it goes:
It started last week when my sister, Kim, asked me if I would like to go to Niagara Falls with her. I, of course, said I would like to go, but wouldn't be able to because of my financial situation. She didn't want to go alone, and finally persuaded me. She insisted she wanted to pay for all the expenses. So Friday morning we took off for a stress free "Sister's Day".
(Side note: There is officially Mother's Days, Father's Days, and Grandparent's Day. Why isn't there an official Sister or Brother's Day?)
First stop in Niagara Falls was The Niagara Outlet Mall. Kim shopped for clothes while I resisted the urge to purchase bargains. (I had $20 in me so I could pay for some of the trips expenses.)
The picture above is the main entrance to the mall. Some of the stores were outdoors in a plaza and some were in the mall. As you can see, it was a beautiful, cloudless day.
From there, we drove to the Canadian side of the Falls. First stop was Casino Niagara. I hadn't been there in a long time. John and I went a few times while camping on Ontario Lake. We would take a little money and spend a couple of hours playing slot machines and usually wind up ahead. Kim lost money, but I took $10 and turned it into $42.
While we were on the Canadian side, we walked around Clifton Hill, had dinner at The Rainforest Cafe, and watched the Maid of the Mist Boats.
Clifton Hill has hotels, shops, attractions and restaurants. It's a major tourist spot, and you can walk all the way down the hill to see the falls.
The Rainforest Cafe is another major tourist attraction, with great food and an environment like being in the tropics, with aquariums and hand carved animal shaped bar stools.
We decided to not take a ride on the Maid of the Mist boat since people were being packed in like sardines in a can. Not our idea of fun!
We drove back to the American side of the falls and went through customs w/o any problems. Although some cars were pulled over, we didn't have any issues crossing the border.
First stop was Seneca Niagara Casino. Here I turned $10 into $17. I was on a roll! ( I wish I could do this all the time, but I know it's only because I know when to quit while I'm ahead.) With my winnings from both Casinos I paid for some of our expenses, and for a ride on the hot air balloon later, which was something Kim has always wanted to do and had on her "lifetime to-do list".
We walked around for a while and ended our day taking a ride in a hot air balloon at night while the fireworks were going off.
Have you ever seen fireworks over Niagara Falls? This picture doesn't do them justice. If you've never seen the fireworks over Niagara Falls, you have to put it on your to do list. From any vantage point on Niagara Falls, they are unbelievable. It's something you have to see. (Jeez...I sound like a Niagara Falls commercial!)
We didn't get home until early in the morning, but it had been a perfect sister's day!
Saturday was fairly uneventful for me since John was on call at work all day. He went back into work twice and the second time, I went and hung out at Sherry and Bruce's while he worked for a couple of hours. But, uneventful can be good. I'd rather have "boring" than "nasty surprises"!
After John got out work Sunday, we went to Bruce and Sherry's for a bonfire.
It started to rain shortly after we set up camp, but fortunately we brought our screenhouse with us. We had a late dinner of clams. I had one clam and said forget it. Fortunately, there was other food also, including chicken and pork steaks, which were delicious and unbelievably tender.
We sat around and talked and listened to music until early in the morning. John and I spent the night in the camper and spent all day Monday at the campsite. John and Bruce built benches to put around the campire, which I called "Flinstone's couches".
The weekend went by too fast, and before we knew it it was time to pack up camp and go home. But, there was still time to get in a couple games of euchre. What a perfect weekend, and a great time was had by all.
Thanks for reading!
©-ann marie-
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