On The Road Again: Niagara Part 2
By: John Kumiski
You can hear the falls before you see them. On a quiet morning the roar is audible for blocks. And when you can finally see them, the sight takes your breath away.
We're talking Niagara Falls, from the Canadian side.
Niagara Falls just looks better from the Canadian Side. Horseshoe Falls is there, a huge, curved precipice with what seems to be zillions of gallons of water pouring over it. You can get so close the spray soaks you. And Susan and I didn't even go to the base of the falls, not wishing to stand in that line.
Niagara Falls, Ontario is a nicer town than Niagara Falls, New York, too. You find commercialism here, but they pulled it off better- it seems much less tawdry than the other side of the river. The flower beds are better maintained, the walks less littered- it just seems cleaner, nicer. We enjoyed it more, at any rate.
We had been concerned about passing through customs. Would the Canadians even let us in? The customs inspector took a quick look at our passports, asked us where we were staying that night, and waved us though.
From Niagara Falls we braved the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW), Canada's version of an interstate highway, to get to Burlington. Like it or not, we needed phone service. We went to the Apple store in Burlington to figure out how to get it. Turns out that was the wrong place. They sent us to the Rogers store, where we bought a Chatr SIMS card for my phone, and we were good.
Next, we found our campsite at the Fifty Point Conservation Area in Hamilton, a 200-acre property on Lake Ontario with campsites, beaches, a marina, boat ramp, and a small pond for fishing. The bunnies, cottontails, were numerous. Canada geese grazed on the grassy areas, or, honking, flew overhead in their trademark V formation. It was close the QEW, so there was considerable road noise. But our neighbors were friendly, and the place was clean and well-maintained, there were lots of wildflowers, and we enjoyed the three nights we spent here.
The lighthouse at Fifty Point Conservation Center.
Our first morning in Canada, we drove to the falls, which has already been described. We then went to Niagara-on-the-Lake, a resort town located at the mouth of the Niagara River. We enjoyed lunch at a sidewalk cafe, people-watching while we dined. There were lots of people to watch!
Beautiful back roads followed. Acres of grapevines, fruit trees, and other agricultural products lined the roads. Farm stands were plentiful. We stopped, of course!
We later passed a winery. We stopped, of course! I'm not much of a drinker, but these wine tastings are turning out to be fun.
Vineyards and wineries are plentiful in the part of Canada.
Not having had enough, we drove to Burlington to the Royal Botanical Gardens. It was so worthwhile, a lovely place with both greenhouses and outdoor plantings, including a large, well-tended rose garden.
Our plan for the next day was to visit Toronto. My friend Rick is a passionate Rush fan. Rush was from Toronto, and the cover photo for Moving Pictures was shot at the Ontario Parliament building. Rick had asked me to go there and get some photos. Plus, I wanted to see the Waterfront Centre, Kensington Market, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the Royal Ontario Museum, an ambitious agenda.
We drove to Hamilton Station. We thought to catch a train into the city. But the two trains that run into Toronto do so at 7:00 and 8:00 AM. We got there at 9:00, so had to take a bus. It was an hour's wait for the bus to leave, and an hour's ride. We got to Union Station at noon, leaving only a few hours before we caught the train back. There goes the agenda!
Coneflowers at the Royal Botanical Gardens.
To the uninitiated, the station is a labyrinth. When we finally found our way onto the street, I was overwhelmed by the sheer "city-ness" of it- huge skyscrapers, hordes of people, traffic, noise- we had no idea which way to go, had no frame of reference. We used my phone and made it to the Waterfront Centre, a place of relative calm. It was lunchtime, so we got some eats, and I checked the phone for distances.
Nothing was close. We didn't know the transit system. We did not want to miss the last train. So we wandered around, stumbling into the Rogers Centre and the CN Tower. Nearby was a giant pileated woodpecker statue, my favorite memory from Toronto. We returned to Union Station, found our train platform, and rode back to Hamilton, not having seen much of the places on the list. We learned last year that you can't see everything!
Woodpecker statue, Toronto.
After the Toronto experience, we wanted a nice dinner. We found a place in Grimsby called the Diner Bistro, an odd name I thought. The chicken Parmesan was delicious and was a good way to end our Niagara area adventure. The following day we were braving the QEW again, heading east...
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