October 20, 2014 – The Last Hurrah!

After trying to go to bed early, and failing at going to sleep, I’m up before seven and have time to write yesterday’s blog post and export the photos before people start hitting the network.  Connie sleeps peacefully through my endeavors, which is a great thing because she has been doing all the driving, and that’s exhausting, at least I think so!  Finally I get all the photos imported and the darn thing won’t publish!  I check my mail and we decide our plan for the day and, voila, there it goes!  Excellent!

Our first stop is the Mount Carmel Spiritual Center.  We enter through the gift shop and the nice lady says mass with start at 11:15 if we want to attend.  What that means is that if we want to go and see the chapel we need to hot foot it inside.  The priest is already setting everything up, so I just snatch a couple of quick shots so as not to endanger my immortal soul!  It is a beautiful chapel with a glorious rose window over the altar and equally beautiful windows down each side.

Back to the gift shop and we both find presents!  One of the ladies tells us that her parents have a trailer in Florida and her dad has driven down there four times in the past six months to fix it up, building a porch and adding other niceties.  They are leaving soon to spend the winter in the sun and are driving down with their cat!

Now we are heading back to Niagara-on-the-Lake to finish up our sightseeing and to visit Inniskillin Winery. This time we are driving up the Niagara Parkway which runs beside the Niagara River all the way from Niagara Falls to NOTL.  

We pass a Buddhist temple right across the street from the White Water Walk!  There is a tour-bus driver waiting for his people and he tells me that it is a working monastery with 10,000 Buddhas and many monks.  And he says that half of them are kung fu masters but that all of them are very nice!

The trees are more spectacular each day and I have to remind myself that there is a limit to how many Fall photos anyone needs!

We arrive at Inniskillin in no time and after touring the perimeter of the tasting room get serious about the purpose for our trip!  They have a separate tasting bar for their Icewines and the “regular” stuff!  After our splurge at Peller, we opt for the more traditional varieties.  Instead of a flight, they simply charge one dollar for each ounce that you sample.  That’s plenty of wine for us to share, so we start with three whites, which are very nice, but a bit dry for our palates, even the Riesling.  Connie doesn’t generally like reds and the two I select are no exceptions.  We’ve been having our Icewine every night before bed and I think our taste buds are not sweet sensitive!

Our pourer is a perfectly delightful young Asian lady and she giggles like a school girl when I ask to take her photo!  She makes our morning!

It’s really time for lunch since I haven’t had anything and Connie only had a protein bar and a bit of coffee!  The folks at Lakeside Pottery had recommended two restaurants that they say the locals favor and we select the one that has “pastries” as part of its name!  Willow Cakes and Pastries.  What a charming little place!  There are shelves of coffee cups with people’s names on them!  Must be regulars!  There are only about ten tiny little tables but the display cases are filled to bursting with delights for the eye and palate!  Connie chooses the loaded baked-potato soup and I have a sandwich of prosciutto, brie and apples on pumpkin chili bread!  Wowzer is that ever delicious!  And of course we can’t leave without a little bag of shortbread cookies for the plane!

It time for elections in Canada, too, and there are campaign signs everywhere.  Some people are running for Councillor or Trustee and I even see one sign for Lord Mayor!

We drive along the shore of Lake Ontario so I can get some photos and then head south for the NEOB Lavender store.  

The houses are all beautiful and each is so different from its neighbors!

That’s Natural Essential Oils and Blends.  It is owned by a personable young couple who eloped to Clearwater!  They’ve been in business six years and grow their own lavender!  Again we both are able to find gifts and made one or two things for ourselves!  I just love lavender!  Unbeknownst to me Connie buys a two-pack of Lavender shortbread cookies and presents them after dinner.  What a treat!  I’ve never eaten lavender before and it’s marvelous!

These are just two of the stunning stained-glass windows at NEOB.

As we’re leaving the man suggests that we stop by Chocolate F/X and even points it out on the map.  It’s pretty close and kind of on our way home and, anyway, it’s CHOCOLATE!  Yep, a few more gifts and now we’re starting to wonder how we will pack everything!  We’ll worry about that when we get home, which is where we’re headed now.

We schlep everything in from the car so we can pack and wouldn’t you know it, neither key card works, again.  Connie goes to the desk because he’s already been surly to me when I asked if we could print our boarding passes!  She comes back with working keys and we drop everything and begin the packing travail.  Believe it or not, everything fits!  We can even get all the liquids in our stupid little liquid bags!

That out of the way, we head back to Vinny’s for our farewell dinner.  We split the eggplant Parmesan and even though I only had a quarter of the salad and half a piece of bread, I can’t finish my half of the eggplant!  These portions are gigantic! But dinner sure is good.

After we settle our bill we stop by the bar to say good-bye to Luis.  He gives us each a big hug and wishes a safe journey.

We stop by the hotel lobby but there are some people there, so we set out for the mini-mart where Connie has a couple of gifts to buy.  When we get back no one is in the lobby and we are able to use the front desk’s computer to print our boarding passes!  And because I went back and added my frequent-flier number, I’m not TSA pre-checked too!  Now if they will only take our bags away at the gate everything will be perfect!

Just time for the last minute things – like this blog post – and we’ll be ready for bed.  Tomorrow will be here too soon!  It’s been a terrific trip and we’ve seen some amazing sights, met some enchanting people and sampled some wonderful foods and drinks!  Life is good!

October 19, 2014 – Look! There’s some blue sky!

October 19, 2014 – Look!  There’s some blue sky!

After yesterday’s exertions Connie deserves a day to sleep in!  I tried to do that, too, but I’m not very good at it!  Instead I have some time to clean out my inbox and catch up on Facebook.  Once we’re dressed we decide to check out the IHOP which appears to be just across the street, since we’ve missed breakfast here at the hotel.

Turns out that’s just the sign – the actual restaurant is all the way down by the Tower;  but we’re dressed for the weather and wanted to go that way anyway!  Our waitress is adorable!  She tells us she’s tired because she worked yesterday, then moved!  And she’s back at work today!  Mostly we love her because she lets us order from the kids’ menu! We keep forgetting how large the portions are and how much more expensive everything is in Canada!  The kids’ serving is just right and half the price!

Always something pretty to see!  These remind me of  fireworks!

After breakfast we go to the Nat Geo store for a little shopping and then into the Tower building to see what’s there.  I’m still looking for a charm for my necklace and a Christmas ornament that wasn’t made in China.  So far there have been no charms!  I did see one gold one of the Falls;  but it wasn’t really available!  There was one on display but it wasn’t “real” and there weren’t any in the safe.  Just as well when I saw the price!  I expected a tiny Maid of the Mist or something similar.  Nothing!

We continue check out the other little shops and discover a world-famous glass blower, Angelo Rossi!  His wife is totally personable and he is about do make a vase while we watch.  If we came back tomorrow we could watch him make a piece containing someone’s cremains!  Who knew!  He is best known for his cranberry glass and his proud wife rattles off a list of famous people who have purchased his work, like Carol Burnett!  She also tells us a story about a Buddhist lady who purchased a Virgin Mary because she always answers the lady’s prayers!

When she returns home she send Mrs. Rossi a tiny Buddha which she carries to the Casino.  She wins!  A lot!  Once it was four thousand dollars!  Not only that, but the tourist tells her friends and the next day three more Buddhist ladies come in and buy Virgin Marys, and his work is not cheap!

Maestro blowing a vase

Into the glory hole

His signature cranberry, made with 22 caret gold!

Happily he does have some little things.  I buy a gorgeous ball that is the colors of the Falls for my tree.  Actually it will probably live in my kitchen window most of the year. That takes care of my not-made-in-China ornament.  And there are tiny tubular beads.  That are actually made in Morano and sent over by Mrs. Rossi’s brother, but one is perfect in color to be reminiscent of the Falls and now I’ve got my charm!  And we get to watch the artist at work!  Perfect!

The sky is actually starting to be blue!  I really thought it was permanently gray here in the fall! 

Of course we have to walk along the river to see all the Falls with the blue backdrop!  

I guess that's why it's called the Rainbow Bridge!  I thought they were just being fanciful!

And at the other end is the Welcome Center where we had seen a few gifts that needed purchasing.  Connie is the one who remembered where they were!  Thank you, my dear!

Can you see the rainbow?  It goes way over the bridge!

 We take the Inclined Railway back up the hill, retrieve our car, and head to the American side for Niagara State Park and Goat Island.  Everyone seems to have had the same idea, or perhaps they are heading home.  At any rate, it takes most of an hour to clean Customs.  The park wants ten dollars to park;  but the lot across the street in only five!  Not a hard choice!

Look who is waiting in line in front of us!

 In the park we get to walk right along the edge of the river and see the amazing rush of water even before it gets to American and Bridal Veil Falls!  And we can go all the way to the Falls! Incredible!  There is a bridge to Goat Island where we can actually stand at the side of the Falls as the water plunges over the precipice.  Now this really is awesome!  And we can get to the other side of Bridal Veil on one side and one side of Horseshoe, too!  Of course the mist is so heavy that Connie, who is pretty cold but still willing to let me continue being a fool, just waits for me to go get soaked by myself!  What a trouper!

Look who is taking someone else's photo!

Check out the heavy mist and the water droplets on my lens!  If you wait five seconds after
wiping you've waited too long!

It's a memorial to Nikolai Tesla!  One of my favorites!

Pink!  What a treat after all the gorgeous yellow and oranges!

It’s getting late and we need FOOD!  

Giggle!

Buffalo Wings!!

There’s a Denny’s that we can spot from our parking lot and at this point even the Indian food truck sounds good, so we set off  and quite soon are warm and seated!  Connie has a pumpkin decaf and she shares a sip with me.  Now I need one of my own!  I opt for regular which I’ll regret come bedtime;  but it sure is delicious!

Our tummies are happy and we are now willing to sit in another line to get home.  This one is just as long!  But now we know how long to allow on Tuesday when we head for the airport and sitting in a warm car without growling stomachs is not a bad deal!

Across the bridge and down Stanley Avenue – and past our Comfort Inn!  We’re going to find Mount Carmel tonight so that we know where we’re going in the morning!  Google said it was a ten-minute walk and that would probably be about right.  Except we’ll see what the weather is like before we set off.  It’s easy to find and part of the campus has a Chapel of the Little Flower.  Connie is thrilled because the Little Flower is St. Theresa, for whom Joyce is named!  (You have to know that Joyce’s middle name is Theresa before that makes sense!)

Now we can head home and to bed nice and early, well, early for us!  Tomorrow is another day and, unhappily, our last one!  We’ll make the most of it!  Wait!  What's that noise?  Oh yes!  It's Sunday night and time for the fireworks!  And luckily enough we can see most of the show from our window without having to get dressed and play in the weather!  Yay!

Our view is only slightly obstructed!  And we're warm!