We had so much fun! Drove up Monday morning, stopping at a hole-in-the-wall pizza/gyro joint for lunch...best gyro I've ever had made by the sweetest chef ever. The girls agreed that for our big road trip in May, we should try to stop at as many hole-in-the-wall joints as possible.
We arrived in Niagara that afternoon, after a disappointing trip over the border: who knew they don't stamp passports anymore?!?
Our hotel was not the nicest, but we made it work. We were surprised by how tourist-y the town was...sort of a cross between Coney Island, Sunset Blvd, and Las Vegas. The falls were amazing. We were there during the "off-season" so our Journey Behind the Falls didn't take us out into the falls, but we did get to go underground and view the falls from behind...very cool. We also had dinner one night at the Skylon Tower's revolving restaurant...775 feet above the falls! The visit to Bird Kingdom was very cool, even if I did get attacked by one of the birds during feeding time. On Wednesday morning, we left for Toronto, but at the last minute I decided to take the girls on the boat tour of the falls. I had thought the Journey Behind the Falls would be enough, but I just couldn't leave without taking the boat tour. So glad we did...it was incredible! We got soaked but it was worth it. The only sad part was a moment when Noelle went inside and started crying; I asked what was wrong, thinking she must be cold and/or scared, but she said, "I just wish Daddy was here. He would be having so much fun." Such a sweetheart!!!
After the boat tour, we drove to Toronto to have lunch with Franca and meet her new son, Elijah. Such a cutie!!! We had a lovely, long lunch and then headed to Montreal. We got to our Montreal hotel (which was an adorably chic boutique hotel) around 7pm, and decided to just order pizza and watch TV...we were exhausted!
Early the next morning we got up and headed to the archaeology museum. Well, I thought we were heading to the archaeology museum. Turned out I had us going in the wrong direction, so we wasted 20 minutes walking the wrong way. The girls were beginning to lose their good spirits, so once we were headed in the right direction, we stopped at a chocolate shop. Chocolate covered ice cream before lunch...happiness returns!
The archaeology museum was incredible; they actually built it around an excavation site, so there were real ruins to see in the basement. The girls learned about Montreal's history, and had a blast exploring the pirate ship exhibit.
We grabbed a late lunch and were planning to start the drive home, when Delilah asked if we could please go to the Montreal Science Center that we had walked past. By the time we got there, there was only about 90 minutes before closing time, but it was worth it. Great hands-on exhibits...wish we had more time to explore.
We got home around 9pm, exhausted and happy. And I managed to bring home the flu...was knocked out for the next three days, but grateful that I hadn't been sick in Canada!
It was great to take a small road trip before our big one next month. The girls are fantastic travelers...easy going, adventurous, and happy doing just about anything. Can't wait to explore more with them!!
