Day 5: Niagara Falls, Ontario

Alright, so you already know that we're in Canada. Although, I wouldn't call Niagara Falls a piece of true Canada. This is a 100% tourist destination. You've got all of the trappings of the Vegas Strip or A1A in Daytona Beach... sky coasters, endless buffets, wax museums, and random shopping galore. I think Steph put it best when, while driving through the most cluttered, touristy street she said, "this is like I-drive on crack". Before heading out this morning, I took a quick picture of our room. This is honestly the first time I've seen a jacuzzi suite where the bed and bath are side-by-side.

Our 1st item of business this morning was to grab some breakfast. We initially intended to have brunch in Skylon Tower overlooking Niagara Falls. However, it was so overcast this morning that the falls were not visible from the observation deck. So, we cancelled our reservation. Face it, our willingness to pay top dollar relied on our ability to view the falls. While driving around we quickly spotted a nice little German restaurant that advertised breakfast. It's hard to see in this picture, but all of the details of the building were nicely done.

As the morning turned to afternoon, the weather started to look up. Although the stormy clouds never truly disappeared, they did hold off long enough for us to get some good shots of the falls. Everyone I'd ever talked to about Niagara Falls told me that I had to see them from the Canadian side, and now I understand why. There are two curtains of falls that make up Niagara Falls. The first is referred to as American Falls, and the second (larger) set of falls is called Horseshoe Falls. From our side of the falls we got a great view of Horseshoe Falls and a front-on view of American Falls. Had we been standing on the U.S. side, we would have seen only half of what we saw from the Canadian side. It's also important to note that Horseshoe Falls is what people often picture when they think of Niagara Falls. The picture you see here is the right 1/3 of Niagara's Horseshoe Falls.

At any given moment there were at least 3 different 'Maid of the Mist' ships traveling between the two sets of falls. Anyone who's seen Bruce Almighty might remember this ship from the movie. We opted not to ride the ship. Too much turbulence for me! I would've blown chunks for sure.

Now, we've never attached a video file, but I'm going to try. There's really no way to capture Niagara Falls in a snapshot. This is a 30 second clip that covers Horseshoe Falls from right to left and scans down to show a Maid of the Mist ship in the gorge.

The picture found below is a picture of Niagara's American Falls. These falls are located on the U.S. side of Niagara. The city of Niagara Falls, NY can been seen in the background. I feel a bit naive for saying this, but before visiting here, I swear I'd only seen pictures of "Horseshoe Falls". Both curtains of falls are pretty spectacular in person. I did learn, however, that only 1/3 of the water in the Niagara River actually flows over the falls. The other 2/3 is diverted through electrical plants for both the U.S. and Canada. Approximately 10% of Niagara River's water volume flows over American Falls (seen here). Another 23% flows over Horseshoe Falls. Could you imagine how ridiculous the falls would look if 100% of the water travelled over the falls?

My mom and dad always remind me to take pictures with us in them. I can hear my mom now saying, "we want to see you, not just the sights". Well mom, this photo is for you and dad. Until tomorrow . . .

Day 4: Finger Lakes Wine Festival

We happened to be in Ithaca at the time of the region's annual Finger Lakes Wine Festival. The festival was held in nearby Watkins Glen on the grounds of their international speedway. The Finger Lakes Wine Festival was awesome. It featured the majority of the wineries (about 100) located throughout the Finger Lakes region, along with other parts of New York and Pennsylvania. Admission was $25 for tasters and $15 for designated drivers. You really got your monies worth at this event. Not only did we get to taste lots of wines but each of us received a very nice engraved wine glass for tasting that we got to keep as a souvenir.

We stuck with white wines, mostly Reisling, because 1. It’s what we like and 2. There were way too many wine choices to start trying them all. In general, we did not have a wine we didn’t care for. Some we liked more than others but we weren’t disgusted by any of them. This is mostly due to the fact that we stuck with Riesling- which you can’t go wrong with. The Finger Lakes Region is the largest largest wine making region in the U.S. outside of Napa, California. Reisling in the areas #1 production. Apparently, the climate and proximity to large bodies of water supports the year-round harvest of Reisling grapes.

Anyway, back to the event. . . This is a very well attended event. The wineries are situated under tents and each has a booth/table. There was Merlot Lane, Rieling Blvd., Chardonnay Rd, etc. You just walk to each table and tell them what wine you want to try and they’ll pour you a tasting portion. You can buy a bottle on the spot or you can just walk around tasting all day without making a purchase. We couldn’t resist and made a few purchases to enjoy back home.

An interesting and clever set up was the County Sheriff's booth near the exit. Police officers were giving courtesy/voluntary breathalyzer tests to those who weren’t sure if they should drive or not. The line to blow on the straw was quite long so we didn’t do it then. When we exited the parking lot, we drove to another courtesy breathalyzer checkpoint where you could check your blood alcohol level. Nick chose to participate and blew a .16 which is safe to drive. I thought this was such a great idea and one that should be implemented in events throughout the country. I don’t see Orlando doing it anytime soon since they’re complaining of budget cuts as it is. In the long run, this saves time, money (DUI, court fees, etc), and potentially lives in our community.

After the wine festival, we visited Watkins Glen State Park for one last gorge and waterfall.

My main motivation for visiting Watkins Glen State Park was that it contained over 10 waterfalls, 2 of which you could walk behind (like the one pictured above). We didn't spend too much time here since we were still fatigued from our days of constant walks through the parks. Originally, we had decided to spend the night here in Watkins Glen, but since it was still fairly early, we decided to begin making our way back to the northwestern edge of New York and Niagara Falls. We chose to drive north along the hills of Seneca Lake, and catch a glimpse of a few wineries and veriferas along the way. Only a few miles up the lake and we came upon the Atwater Winery (one that we tasted and liked at the festival). Of course we stopped here . . had to get the true wine-tasting experience at a winery.

The property was nice albeit smaller than I expected. The vineyard sits right on the lake so there was a nice view of the vineyard and lake from the tasting room. We tried the Semi Dry Riesling again just to make sure it tasted as we remembered it and it did. We tried other selections- Dry Riesling, Pinot Gris, and Banana Belt Table White (made from only local grapes)- but the Semi Dry Riesling was the best. We bought a bottle of it.

Next stop was the Wagner Vineyard and Brewery. Nick was looking forward to the micro brewery and I was looking forward to the restaurant on site. The restaurant was closed for a wedding reception. Nick didn’t try any beer because they didn’t have the Pale Ale he was looking forward to. Plus, by this point I was exhausted and I wanted to call it a day. Nick felt bad having a beer while I just sat there with puppy tired eyes. The next picture is exactly that moment.

We was disappointed that neither the Atwater nor the Wagner vineyards had any actual grapes on their grape vines. When Nick and I were in Italy we took great pictures of the grape vines but they didn’t have grapes on them either. As we drove away from Wagner there were other smaller vineyards right along the road. I focused my eyes and noticed round green things on the vines. I asked Nick to pull over so we could take pictures. Nick got out of the car, crossed the street, walked over a ditch full of weeds, and was able to get a picture of Riesling grapes. Finally we get to see the “before” shot of the wine we love.

For dinner we stopped at a Mickey D’s because it was the only place around that was open. These towns are so small they seem to die at 5pm. We were going through the drive when when we notice a reserved parking sign that caught our attention (below).

We were eating our dinner in the parking lot when a car pulls up next to us and an Amish man walks out the backseat to the Racetrac Mart (the Mickey D’s was adjacent to a gas station). I’m guessing he was given a ride because the driver and front passenger were not dressed in Amish traditional clothing as the man was. I said “Nick look! I wonder what he’s going to buy”. I may sound naïve or just plain stupid but I’m fascinated by the Amish now. I think there might be a few misconceptions about them that I have come to believe as truth. I really thought the Amish never came out to “modernized” area (I know this sounds bad, I can’t think of another word) because they were self-sufficient. Can you guess what he bought at a gas station mini-mart?. . a gallon of milk.

This was a taxing day for both of us. We wanted to call it a day but since we didn’t make any hotel reservations prior to coming here we didn’t know where to go. We decided to finish making our way west toward Niagara Falls for tomorrow. We stopped at an exit in Batavia, NY and used the wi-fi from one of the hotels to try and make reservation for a room near Niagara Falls. It was harder than I expected. Unable to find a nice, economical room on the American side, we decided "let’s just go to Canada." So, I’m actually writing this in the car on our way to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

At the moment we're pulling into our hotel near the Canadian side of the Falls. Another day of touring tomorrow, but we're planning on taking it easy. I'm not sure what's in store for tomorrow except to tell you that we'll be having Brunch in the top of Skylon Tower at 775 feet above Niagara Falls. Should be fun as long as Nick can keep his food down for the glass elevator ride down.

Day 3: Corning

Today we headed southwest towards Corning to visit the Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG). Nick was hesitant to go to the museum. He felt it would be better to start visiting the wineries. I convinced him otherwise since tomorrow we are planning on going to the Finger Lakes Wine Festival where all the wineries will be in attendance. This museum turned out to be better than the glass museum in Murano, Italy- the mecca of glass. We were both pleasantly surprised.

Above: This is a ridiculously crazy art piece. It is beautiful and perplexing. We wonder how it was made or transported to the museum.

Above: All the flowers are made of glass

The coolest thing about the CMOG is that you get to make your own glass art. The choices were a glass flower, an ornament, glass beads, picture frame or wind chimes. I opted for the wind chime.

Because the fusing it's a two day process, the final product will be shipped to our house once it's completed. Below is a picture of the glass pieces that we glued on to be fused together.

Below: Nick attempting to make the world's largest Christmas ornament. Note the concentration.

On our way back home we stopped at the Ithaca Brewery Co. again but this time we bought stuff. Nick tried a few more beer choices before choosing a couple to bring back with us.

When we got back to the hotel, Nick searched for the nearest movie theater and found out there were still plenty of seats available for The Dark Knight. The movie was long but it was good. We both felt Heath Ledger's Joker character was Johnny Depp-like because of the little intricasies and mannerisms he incorporated into the character.

Ever since we got to Ithaca we have been driving past a cooperative market named Greenstar. I've read about co-op markets before and I was curious what they were like. Tonight we stopped in and it was just as cute as I expected. Everything sold is healthy, fresh, organic, and mostly local. If you don't know what a co-op market is..." a co-op is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically controlled enterprise"- as described on their brochure. A co-op returns its profits to its members-not outside stakeholders. While a chain store reinvests 13 cents to the local community, a co-op returns 45 cents for every dollar spent. It was great to walk through and see all the local produce and products. Here it is easy to lead a healthy lifestyle because everything you need is available. In Orlando you have to go out of your way to find a Whole Foods, which is about the only store that offers a "wide" selection of organic and/or green products.

Day 2: Ithaca is Gorges

No, I did not misspell gorgeous. The title phrase is the tagline for Ithaca since it is surrounded by gorges.
Today's Agenda:

1. Buttermilk Falls State Park

2. Ithaca Brewery Co.

3. Robert H. Treman State Park

4. Taughannock Falls (again)

5. Lake Cayuga Beach

6. Cornell University

For breakfast we had some continental breakfast. I pulled a "Ron Guittar" and took a bagel and jam for the road.

Buttermilk Falls

You can actually swim at the bottom of these falls. However, it was closed for the day due to some water testing.

Robert H. Treman State Park

This park is located just a few miles down the road from Buttermilk Falls Park. It was actually more impressive than Buttermilk Falls. As we walked along we came across about 10 falls (have you noticed our obsession with waterfalls yet?)

Lucifer Falls...the next 3 pictures are the same waterfall and they are supposed to be sequential. The Fall is so high it didn't fit in one picture. It took 3 frames to capture it.

Taughannock Falls (again but this time from the bottom gorge trail)

After Robert H. Treman State Park, we made our way down to Taughannock Falls Park so we could walk along the creek that led to Taughannock Falls. They were more impressive as seen from above (yesterday's picture). You couldn't really appreciate how large and open the gorge is from below. These falls are 215 ft high; the largest freefalling falls in the Northeast- taller than Niagara Falls.

Cayuga Lake Beach

This is the beach right next to where Taughannock creek empties into Cayuga Lake. It was strange to see grass at a "beach". If you can see the barge in the water- people could swim up to the barge and dive into the 12' deep water.

Cornell University

Referred to as the "first American University", Cornell University is considered the most versatile school out of the eight universities that make up the Ivy League. To give you an idea, the campus is about 150 years old. The buildings look historic but the interior are still quite modern. One building looked like The Haunted Mansion. The campus is huge. We did get to see the gorge that runs through the middle of it. Below is a picture of what I believe is the library.

Early in the day we scouted out Ithaca Brewery Co., which is the most award-winning micro brewery in NY. We didn't take any pictures because I knew Nick was going to take me back tomorrow to taste more samples. This is definitely Aaron's kind of place. The beer flows like wine.

On our way to Treman Park we stopped at a produce market where they sold local fruits and vegetables. I tried a plumcot. It's a hybrid of a plum and an apricot. Delicious. I forgot to take a picture of it. It's plum size with a yellow and purpley skin- plum color close to the skin and more apricotty in the middle. It was perfect. I'm going back tomorrow for a bag full.

Vacation Day 1 - Buffalo to Ithaca

Here are a few things that we saw today that we don't get to see in Orlando:

1. Snow plows lined up at Chicago O'hare airport (we flew from MCO to Buffalo via Chicago). This was my first time seeing such a machine. I don't care to see it in use.

2. A beaver on the side of the road eating

3. Corn fields as far as the eye could see

4. New York deer family

5. Lots of Christmas trees growing naturally in different sizes and shades

6. Amish family in a horse drawn carriage on SR14 along the corn fields.

7. "Cornell"ians- Hippie like college creatures who attend Cornell University

8. Taughannock Falls (pictures below). The falls are 215 ft tall and the gorge has been carved out by these falls over the past 12,000 years.

9. A small flock of sheep

10. Toyota Yaris. We see these in Orlando but we get to DRIVE one for this trip. I was hoping to get either a Yaris or a Nissan Versa for our rental car. They look so fun. (Dad, I know you think these are the ugliest cars on Earth).

I love our rental car!!!

Vegetable Garden Day 6

My vegetable garden is off to a good start. Most of my seeds have sprouted right on schedule. I'm having a hard time figuring out what is wrong with the corn. At work, the children planted corn from the seed and it sprouted very quickly. My corn seed pods keep getting this white fuzzy thing growing on top of the pod. I keep stirring the soil but it comes right back. I think maybe it's because I am growing them indoors and they're not getting as much sun as they'd like.

Here are some pictures of my tiny veggie plants.

The cucumbers are the strongest ones so far. I can't wait until I transplant them to the ground. I've already cleared an area for them and have planted a yellow tomato and a sweet pepper plant I purchased. Also, I'm experimenting with an onion that started growing while it was still inside our fridge. I can't believe it thrived rather than rot. Here's a picture:

I have no experience with onions so I'll have to read about it and figure out when they're ready to be picked.