Niagara Falls / Toronto 3 day weekend Getaway 6/29 - 7/1 '07

Left Northern VA about 6:30 pm on Thursday. I had mapped out the route using Mapqust, AAA, Mapsonus and Yahoo travel. Yahoo gave me the shortest distance and time (7 hrs 23 mins) cutting the distance by about 100 miles compared to the Mapquest route.  Going this route was a bit nerve racking because we hit some one lane roads (mainly rte 219) along the way when it got dark, and I was nervous of approaching trucks.

We drove for about 5 hours and got to the Royal Inn hotel we had reserved in Ridgway PA, around 11:30pm. The hotel was okay for just a resting place for the night. We set of at 9 am the next morning for the remaining 3 hour drive to Niagara Falls .

We stayed at the Comfort Inn on Clifton Hill on the Canadian side. It wa a great central location within walking distance of the falls and all the other activities in the area. It was located directly beind the Sky Wheel (Ferris Wheel). We had to change rooms from 541 (which was at the end of a long hallway on the 5th floor at the end of the hotel with no elevators) to room 231 whcih overlooked the pool and which was also around the corner from the lobby. After we unpacked, we took a ride on the Ferris Wheel and the view of the Falls was spectacular!!!!!

After the ride, we walked down the hill to take pictures of the falls and then took a ride on the Maid of the Mist..which was very cool getting so close to the Falls. On the way back we ate at the Rain Forest Restaurant which was ridiculously expensive ($80 for 2 adults and a kid). We went back to the hotel to allow our son to take a nap since we would be out late later on that evening. When we woke up, we took a stroll up the hill and made a left onto Victoria Road looking for some batteries for my camera, and a grocery store to buy some bread to make sandwiches. We ended up making a left onto Stanley Avenue and walked for about 3/4 of a mile and made a left on Murray street where the casinos were and where we could see the Horshoe part of the Falls in the distance below us. Since it was getting late (about 9:45pm) and we didn't want to miss the fireworks display, we took a ride on a cable car ($2.00 / person)which took us to the Niagara Parkway street below. We then found a place to sit and wait for the fireworks display. You pretty much have a clear view from anywhere on the Canada side since you are on a hill, and the fireworks were great. On the walk back to our hotel, we stopped to get some ice cream and stopped to watch a guy making chocolate fudge in one of the many shops on Clifton Hill road. The night lights of the different shops, museums and restaurants were enough for me not to want to go back to the hotel but we had to retire for our drive to Toronto the following day.

After breakfast (continental, supplied by the hotel), we got directions from the front desk and drove about and hour and fifteen minutes to Toronto . What a day that turned out to be! After turning down 2 different companies that offered us a tour of the city after we parked our car ($9.00) in one of the many parking lots downtown, and we went with a company with red double decker tour buses (I can't remember the name of the company) and I think it was money well spent. For $24.00 each (it was free for our son who is 3 1/2) we got an hour and a half tour of the city on a double decker bus and a 30 minute ferry ride around the Toronto Islands from Harbor Front (we were lucky to get the very front seat on the top of the bus). The guide was informative and the city of Toronto is BEAUTIFUL and very culturally diverse which we loved. When we got to Casa Paloma, the driver waited for 10 minutes as the guide took a few of us into the castle to use the bathrooms. Well since we were with the guide, we didn't have to pay the usual $17.00 to get in, since he told them that we were with him. So while the others used the bathroom, I was able to get a quick ten minute tour for free of the castle. What a neat experience. At the end of the tour, we were dropped of at Harbor Front to take the ferry ride. When we got back, we drove to Chinatown on Spadina Avenue . While walking around looking for a place to eat, we stumbled on Kensington Marketplace. What a cultural mixing pot of people from all over the world selling their wares. We stopped at Patty King to try a Jamaican patty. Boy it was hot, but good! After checking out everything, we ate at Restaurant 88 (Thai and Vietnamese cuisine (right on Spadina Ave) in Chinatown. The place had been recently renovated into a chic modern restaurant. I would recommend it. Waitresses name was Lisa and she was very friendly as was with most people we talked to in Toronto.

After we ate, we drove to the CN tower to take pictures of the water fountain in front of it and then drove back to the Harborfront to park ($9.00). There were a couple of bands playing and they had all kinds of food, plus it was great walking along Lake Ontario and people watching. Because of the large mixture of people from different ethnic backgrounds, there is an effort to promote diversity and that could be seen with the different activities, foods, people from all over the world on display. WE LOVED IT ALL! Unfortunately we had to drive an hour and 15 minutes back to Clifton Hill for our long drive back to Virginia the next day.

We left at 9am on Sunday morning and made it back to Northern virginia by 5pm.

Boy, what a trip! I plan on coming back every year!

The only downside is that we were not able to do everything we wanted like visit the Butterfly Conservatory, amusement rides for our son and also spend more days in Toronto .Next time, we will stay longer than 3 days. There is just too much to do.