This years first destination: Niagara Falls.
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| View from Skylon tower |
A short drive away from Toronto (abt 1.5 hours) this World Natural Wonder is the most visited attraction in Ontario, so when we tried to decide where should we first take my grandmother (visiting from Europe) this was a no-brainer.
When we decided that we would only visit attractions that we can all enjoy, from my 3 year old son to my grandmother, I never quite realize how much of what is available that one decision eliminated.
Cliffton Hill is a block full of attractions for all ages...well, more correctly would be that there are attractions that cater to different age groups, from children to elderly, but finding one attraction that caters to all age groups is not an easy task.
Any of the scary attractions are not a good fit for very young kids, and then there are the kids attractions like Bronto's Adventure Playground that are not really appealing for elderly.
After we went down the list off we could have done there was only the Wax Museum, and the SkyWheel...and even them got eliminated...so we ended up doing what I would have liked to do in the first place...see the Falls.
We walked down Cliffton Hills to the popular sidewalk leading to the falls stopping and taking photos of the falls from different points (like all tourists). This was a perfect time to tell my daughter and my grandmother the names of the different falls and many interesting facts regarding them.
One attraction that we all enjoyed was the Skylon Tower. On clear days, like today, it offered a perfect view of the fall and the area around. My daughter had a blast naming the different attractions while walking around on the viewing platform.
If you are visiting the Skylon Tower with kids this is a perfect spot for an "I spy" game, and a bit of educational facts since Skylon Tower is also the perfect spot to view Goat Island, part of the first State Park.
We continued walking to Outback Steakhouse, across from the Embassy Suites Hotel.
Outback is one of our favorite restaurant chains and when we are in an are where there is one we rarely dine somewhere else. Unfortunately, there are only a very few left in Canada and for good reason. While the menu is identical in all Outbacks (it is a chain after all) the prices on the Canadian side are much more expensive, for example a blooming onion in Erie, PA is $7.99 and the same dish in Niagara is $11.99, and a New York strip is $22.99 versus $32.99. This price difference may have bin understandable many years ago when the difference between the American and Canadian dollar where much more then the 7 cents that is now....but the Canadian economy and regulations will never allow the prices to be the same (and offer the same profit for the company)....this sadly was the main reason why there are no more Outbacks in Toronto.
Our next stop was Bird Kingdom, a wonderful aviary with many exotic birds walking and flying around freely in a huge room designed to mirror the natural habitat of these birds. There are a few places to sit down and observe all the different species. There are 2 major rooms one with small birds and one with larger ones. No matter in which room you are the initial it feels that there is not much to see...but, just like in nature, if you stop and you start paying attentions and really listen and look around you will be overwhelmed by the number of birds and how close they are to you. This is also a perfect place to observe the birds behaviour.
We took a scenic route though Niagara-on-the-Lake thwarts home, promising the kids to return there in the fall.
Until next time
Happy Travels
When we decided that we would only visit attractions that we can all enjoy, from my 3 year old son to my grandmother, I never quite realize how much of what is available that one decision eliminated.
Cliffton Hill is a block full of attractions for all ages...well, more correctly would be that there are attractions that cater to different age groups, from children to elderly, but finding one attraction that caters to all age groups is not an easy task.
 |
| in front of Hershey's store |
After we went down the list off we could have done there was only the Wax Museum, and the SkyWheel...and even them got eliminated...so we ended up doing what I would have liked to do in the first place...see the Falls.
We walked down Cliffton Hills to the popular sidewalk leading to the falls stopping and taking photos of the falls from different points (like all tourists). This was a perfect time to tell my daughter and my grandmother the names of the different falls and many interesting facts regarding them.
One attraction that we all enjoyed was the Skylon Tower. On clear days, like today, it offered a perfect view of the fall and the area around. My daughter had a blast naming the different attractions while walking around on the viewing platform.If you are visiting the Skylon Tower with kids this is a perfect spot for an "I spy" game, and a bit of educational facts since Skylon Tower is also the perfect spot to view Goat Island, part of the first State Park.
We continued walking to Outback Steakhouse, across from the Embassy Suites Hotel.
Outback is one of our favorite restaurant chains and when we are in an are where there is one we rarely dine somewhere else. Unfortunately, there are only a very few left in Canada and for good reason. While the menu is identical in all Outbacks (it is a chain after all) the prices on the Canadian side are much more expensive, for example a blooming onion in Erie, PA is $7.99 and the same dish in Niagara is $11.99, and a New York strip is $22.99 versus $32.99. This price difference may have bin understandable many years ago when the difference between the American and Canadian dollar where much more then the 7 cents that is now....but the Canadian economy and regulations will never allow the prices to be the same (and offer the same profit for the company)....this sadly was the main reason why there are no more Outbacks in Toronto.
Our next stop was Bird Kingdom, a wonderful aviary with many exotic birds walking and flying around freely in a huge room designed to mirror the natural habitat of these birds. There are a few places to sit down and observe all the different species. There are 2 major rooms one with small birds and one with larger ones. No matter in which room you are the initial it feels that there is not much to see...but, just like in nature, if you stop and you start paying attentions and really listen and look around you will be overwhelmed by the number of birds and how close they are to you. This is also a perfect place to observe the birds behaviour.
We took a scenic route though Niagara-on-the-Lake thwarts home, promising the kids to return there in the fall.
Until next time
Happy Travels
