Greetings from Toronto. What a busy few days we have had. To my friends who don't like going all over the place, (and prefer to shop or be in the spa...) these past few days were not for you. As for us, we had a great time. (I do however see a spa day in my future...)
On Saturday, we took a ride to the NE OH Amish country. This is the fourth largest population of Amish, in the US. It was really very fascinating and enjoyable too. The country roads were beautiful and of course we shared the road with lots of horse and buggies. Our first stop was at a working farm. Jeffrey fell in love with the goats. They've always been his favorite, but he really took to these. There was an interesting Cultural Center, which was packed with information. A model kitchen showed how the Amish still do not use electricity or modern technology. They have a refrigerator, but it is cooled by ice. (Later, in the center of town, we saw the Ice House, where ice is prepared in the winter, for use all year long.) Their wardrobes are pretty sparse too. Examples of all there clothes were on display. Basically, they have every day clothes, Church clothes and Wedding/Burial clothes. Nothing really looked that much different from the other. (And Juicy doesn't have to worry about competition anytime soon...) Even though I squirmed, when Jeffrey put on an Amish jacket and hat, the picture is cute. (I squirmed because who knows where that hat and jacket had been before him, let alone, when it was last washed...No one cared but me and I was quiet about it.) The "family room" was filled with board games and puzzles- most of them familiar to us. The children have no DS, computer or TV, so they are creative and make up games using marbles or other basic things. The children that we saw, looked happy and healthy and all the people were friendly. After the farm, we went to the center of town, to the General Store and Commons. In the Commons, there was a hand carved horse and buggy-- the biggest one of its kind. It was enormous and really something to see. And to humor the tourists, they perched a podium at the exact spot, where the perfect picture could be taken. The General Store was packed with almost 1,000 spices and extracts and other cooking/baking ingredients. The Amish grow most of their own food, but need to purchase additional items too and rely heavily on the General Store, which has been in the same spot, since the 1800's. We really found the whole thing to be fascinating and interesting. We found a well know restaurant for lunch and really enjoyed their home cooking. David has never had a piece of carrot cake as delicious as the one he had last Saturday. I doubt I'll ever have butterscotch cream pie again, because I want the memory of this piece to linger forever...The pie even had butterscotch chips on top.
After lunch, we stumbled upon a Day Lily Farm. We were curious as to what it was, so we took a walk around. It turned out to be a farm, where all they harvest are different types of lilies. If we had to guess, there were probably 250 different varieties. The parking lot and grounds were full, and per the licence plates, it was obvious people travelled from all over, to purchase these plants. Of course we've never seen anything like it and the pictures are going to be incredible. This truly was a unique day. They even had a separate Buggy Parking Lot available.
On Sunday, we arrived at the Progressive Park, the home of the Cleveland Indians, well before the game began. It was Beach Weekend at the park, complete with sand castles, dancing, games, Radio Disney, slides and bounce houses. Jeffrey of course took it all in. The funniest part about it-- at least to us, was that it was freezing! It barely got to 70 degrees, in the middle of the afternoon. Anyway, it still was fun.
Because I am such a savvy Ebay Shopper, I managed to buy tickets to the game, which included passes to the Terrace Club. It is a place to eat, overlooking the field. It really is a room with a view. We had prime window seats and never actually went to our ballpark seats, because we were comfortable. Jeffrey was happy, I was thrilled and David was happy that everyone was content. The downside of the day, was that the Indians lost yet again. The Tribe is not exactly having a stellar year, but apparently, any baseball is good baseball.
Early on Monday morning, we drove to Niagara Falls. We spent the first part of the day on the US side, at Goat Island. They really were spectacular and a sight to see. We had lunch at the Top of the Falls and overlooking Horseshoe Falls, on the Canadian side. The sights and sounds were magnificent.
The highlight of the day was walking to the Cave of the Wind. I missed the part about walking and kept waiting for a boat. I kept walking in awe, and was totally out of it-- looking for a boat. Thank goodness I never said anything, or David would have had to commit me. The whole thing was just lost on me. We paid our money and were given mandatory rain coats and water shoes. We did as we were told and then lined up and started walking. We walked up the stairs and down the stairs and then did it again. All the while, we were on the side of the falls and getting wetter by the minute. It was sort of like walking down into the Grand Canyon. I was so confused and couldn't imagine why we kept walking up and down these ridiculous steep stairs. Where the hell was the boat?? Then we got to the Hurricane Deck and I got it. There was no boat ride. We were walking in/out and around the falls, in the wind and water. It was truly spectacular, but by the time I figured this out, the walking was over. I would have liked to do it again, this time, without looking for a boat. I finally admitted to David that I had no clue and he hasn't stopped laughing. At least I walked the entire path with Jeffrey. Someone else in our party, chickened out, when the stairs became too steep. He didn't want to loose his glasses, so we'll leave it at that. In all fairness, loosing the glasses was a real option. When we completed the walk, we looked like we'd been in a Category 4 storm.
Once we dried off, we got back in the car and headed for Niagara Falls, Canada. It was a short ride over the border. The border guard was nasty and made a simple process basically feel like we were entering the country to cause harm to those in our way. The whole thing was silly and even though he was fresh, he didn't go through every item in the car, piece by piece. We arrived at the Marriott and our room on the 23rd floor was breathtaking. We had a view of both the American and Canadian Falls and was really a site to behold. We also saw a rainbow, which put the experience simply over the top. We headed out to Clifton Hills, which is where all the action is, if you are aged 4-104. The whole area was one attraction after the next- each one more fun than the one before. One of the highlights is the Sky Wheel, a Ferris wheel, 175 feet in the air. Jeffrey and David got lost in a maze and it took 28 minutes for them to get freed. (The average escape is 12 minutes...Better luck next time...) We had two miniature golf courses to choice from. Had Jeffrey been in charge, we'd have played both, but settled on the Dino Course. It was a fully animated course and lots of fun. By 9pm, we still hadn't had dinner. Jeffrey could have kept going, but his parents were just about down for the count. We had a light dinner and got back to the hotel and passed out-- but not before looking at the Falls illuminated in white lights and then colored lights too.
Tuesday morning, we had breakfast overlooking the Falls. We watched the morning fog lift and clear, then we took a cable car ride to the base of the city and walked over to the Maid of the Mist. This time I was sure we were going on a boat. And indeed we did-- complete with the rain gear again. The boat went to the base of the American Falls, and then to the basin of the Canadian Falls. We passed giant rocks, and millions of gallons of water crashing like thunder, right before our eyes. It was not nearly as frightening as yesterday- just loud and wet.
After our boat ride, it was time to leave Niagara and head to Toronto. We did pretty much all there was too do-- except more of the same. I personally would have voted for half a day at the Marriott Spa, but it was not part of the plan today. The drive to Toronto was easy, aside from the torrential rain storm we drove it. We arrived in downtown Toronto and are staying in a hotel attached to the Roger's Center. David actually went to the game himself tonight. He wanted to see Cliff Lee pitch. He and Jeffrey are going again on Thursday, but for tonight, he deserved a night to himself. Jeffrey and I had dinner at the hotel and are just relaxing, because I am sure that Tour Director David has every minute of the next 4 days planned. He has done an excellent job making sure we get all the highlights and don't miss anything unique, new or fun. I know the next few days include the theater, Hockey Hall of Fame, Zoo, Science Center, the CN Tower, etc., etc.
I am going to take a hot shower-- it is cold and damp here and relax, as tomorrow is another day!
Thanks for staying a part of our journey!
Best,
Ellen
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