Canada Day 6: Niagara Falls!

On July 10th we got up, grabbed a quick bite to eat and drove the 90 some miles from Kitchener to Niagara Falls. Very, very crowded as we got close. Of course I’d expect a crowd of tourists anywhere in early July. We had to park about a 1/2 mile or more from the falls. But, with all the food and drink during the trip so far it was some much appreciated exercise.

Here is the view back up the river on the Canadian side.

The American falls from the Canadian side plus a bunch of tourists on the left. All of the buildings on the left are Canadian tourist attractions and hotels. We debated staying in one of the hotels for the night to see the fireworks over the falls, but we opted to start heading home instead.

Just downstream from the Canadian side. Leaning out over a railing trying not to drop my phone while sandwiched between several people. I’ve seen many taller falls in both Colorado and especially in Hawaii. However, I don’t think I’ve seen the volume of water going over the falls this high at any other location.

After walking around the falls for a couple hours we were getting hungry. So of course we stopped at the local brewery that I noticed while we were looking for a place to park. Grabbed a BeerDevil IPA from Niagara Brewing Company while searching for a place to eat. I almost always love the local IPA’s and this was no exception. They didn’t really have a full lunch menu so after having a beer or two we headed out looking for lunch. My only complaint about the place was the fact that they didn’t have the T-Shirt I really liked in stock. Oh well, better that than getting a bad beer. It does appear that hops are locally grown in Ontario. It also looks like hops are grown in the Northeast US, so I guess they have plenty of locally sourced options for all of the hops necessary for an IPA.

Didn’t grab a pic but man are there a lot of tourist trap looking places as you go up Clifton Hill from the falls. We skipped those and went to another tourist trap on Falls Ave. Yes, we went to the Hard Rock. Look, we were getting really hungry and there was the big sign and the pretty lady giving out discount coupons for their gift shop. Plus, we had the beer or two from Niagara. That combination is how one ends up at the Hard Rock instead of an authentic local place. My apologies. Don’t remember what I had but the lunch was not bad. At least I didn’t buy the group photo that they tried to sell us while taking a picture of us during our meal. Had a beer, don’t remember what it was. Did end up buying a shirt and a shot glass or two in the gift shop. That was OK cause we had a coupon, plus a couple of beers.

Took this pic of the American falls after leaving the Hard Rock. Our side of the falls would be great if they were located anywhere else in the world. But, located next to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls they just got the short end. Very photogenic and impressive in their own right, but the other side of the island is definitely the show stopper.

We left the falls in the mid to late afternoon and drove through Buffalo to I-90. Headed west on I-90 through New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Stopped at quite probably the worst rest area in the States on I-90 in New York. Skirted Cleveland and wound up at the newly opened Holiday Inn Express in Medina, OH.

I was excited because it looked like there was a decent restaurant with a decent beer menu just a block or two from the hotel. Unfortunately, they were closed for some reason. So we ended up going to B-Dub’s on the other side of the highway. You get what you get when eating at a chain, it was actually better than I expected. The bonus was that they Dogfish Head IPA on tap. You can’t get that in Kansas City so that was a pleasant surprise.