Niagara Falls, Canada
If you subscribe to my newsletter (gosh, why wouldn’t you??) you know that the last few weeks of my life have been pretty hectic.
Chef Rouge left his job to pursue his passion, which means in less than 2 weeks we opened a pop-up restaurant called Loka Snacks, with the long term dream of opening a 20 seat restaurant called Loka.
It’s been nutso. I put all my work aside to help him and so far it’s been an amazing ride.
But even with all the support we really needed a break. For him that meant midweek roller coasters at Canada’s Wonderland. I jumped on board forgetting I’m scared of heights.
So we rented a car and were so excited to see that no one was in the parking lot. We’d have the amusement park to ourselves.
Wait…
No one was there at all! Because it’s September and Wonderland is only open on weekends.
I’m not the kind of person who likes the dwell on disappointment so I immediately suggested Niagara Falls.
Chef Rouge has never been there and didn’t know the best things to do in Niagara Falls or if there were any but I knew you could see Niagara Falls free, and that would make a cheap getaway.
I had a very fuzzy memory of it from a few decades back. Much thanks to Groupon we found a very cheap hotel and we’re set for an overnight trip.
We headed first for the Falls, although Chef Rouge seemed unimpressed.
I think he may have had Iguazu Falls in his head, Niagara is nice but much smaller. On the bright side there was a double rainbow.
I was prepared for cheesiness, I remembered that part of the Falls but I was most surprised by the number of IHOPS- like ten of them with a span of two blocks.
I’d say the same is true for sex shops.
If someone asked me what Niagara Falls is all about I’d say IHOPs and sex shops.
I guess it could be worse.
And instead of judging we decided to embrace it.
After seeing the Falls we weren’t entirely sure what to do.
Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville’s patio had a long line so we ended up at Tequila and Tacos, which was the highlight for me our bartender was from Honduras and we talked about how dangerous it is now and how Colombia is one of the best countries in the world – next to Canada of course.
Sufficiently full of both tequila and tacos Ripley’s Believe it or Not seemed like a good idea, maybe too much fun as we ended up closing the place.
So we left to ride the ferris wheel where I realized that maybe Wonderland wasn’t a great idea because the height of the safe ferris wheel was giving me anxiety.
After late night pizza and beer we called it a night. The next day we weren’t done with Niagara Falls as we wanted one last taste of cheesiness – the Flying Saucer Restaurant.
A 40-year old diner shaped like a flying saucer and an E.T. breakfast special with 2 buttermilk pancakes, 3 large eggs, 2 sausages, 2 strips of bacon, 2 pieces of ham, home fries and Texas Toast.
After a valiant attempt to eat all of it Chef Rouge agreed it was time to leave.
We had a great overnight trip. We laughed a lot and outside the city we were able to relax and not talk work.
I’m so grateful to Niagara Falls for that but I think it’s safe to say we won’t be back anytime soon.
As a Niagara resident, I feel it’s my duty to warn visitors to brace themselves for the onslaught of obnoxious and tacky attractions in Niagara Falls! But I’m glad you manged to enjoy your time there!
I love Niagara Falls, but Clifton Hill sure is cheesy, eh? Glad to see you had a great night – it’s been so long since I’ve had breakfast after the bar at a 24 hour restaurant. Those were the glory days!
Ahhhh! Niagra Falls remind me of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. so want to visit this place! Thanks for sharing
My first visit to the falls left me speechless, not because of the falls, but all the cheesy touristy things right across the street! I’ve since been back and have given it a better chance, but I think it’s just one of those places I will dip into ‘on the way’ rather than make a concerted stop for!
The attractions around the falls are definitely cheesy. I loved the small village of Niagara on the Lake nearby – much nicer
Very exciting post! I would love to explore Canada especially the
Niagara Falls. And yes! definitely looking forward to hearing more from you
about your experiences of living in Canada
I have not been to the falls yet (which is really quite a shame since I was born and raised in NY and I have been all the way up to Buffalo a couple of times but I digress…)
I had no idea that it was so cheesy haha… at first I thought I was being transported to the Vegas strip in some of the pictures until I looked more closely!
Can we have one of your fabulous videos behind the scenes of your new food venture? Because while your travels are fabulous, I come back for the bacon! It looks amazing, congrats on the new endeavor!
Yeah…. Niagara falls is not a super classy place. Were you on the Canadian side or the American side? I had always heard the Canadian side was nicer and less tacky. I think its a bit sad, we’ve sort of killed it as a destination, but its seems like you guys managed to have a lot of fun. Sometimes wacky offbeat vaca’s are best
Niagara Falls has turned into more of an attraction nowadays it is a bit of cattle market of tourists but still nice none the less.
I have always considered Niagara Falls as one of the most amazing wonders of the nature. That huge amount of water is extraordinary. I definitely want to visit this beautiful destination.
Oh my. I have never been to Niagara, but had no idea this is what it’s become. When I breezed through these photos, I thought they were photos from Vegas. Too bad!
My husband and I and his family were traveling through the Niagara region and we stopped on the US side of the falls. It was a really pretty sight to see. The leaves were beautiful and the water was raging and it was an awesome sight to see. I’m glad we had a chance to walk along the path to see the other side of the falls. It wasn’t busy at all this time of the year.
It’s kind of funny always seeing bloggers post about Niagara falls. I love it there it is pretty, but I would definitely not say Clifton hill is the best part. there is a lot of attractions around the Niagara area that are amazing and probably better than the falls. I’m lucky I guess as my grandparents life 25 minutes away from the falls. So i’m there quite often. Check out some of the smaller towns though in the area. they’re amazing!
Cheers,