Thursday, June 21, 2012

Niagara Falls

I've got something called "The Travel Bug" right now. I would love to spend the entire summer traveling around, seeing different places, and creating new experiences. After spending so much time in China traveling from one city to the next I realized how much of my own country I have not yet seen!

My parents and I have been talking about a trip to Niagara Falls for quite some time now. We decided last Thursday that we wanted to drive up Sunday night and spend a few days there. Living the spontaneous life, right? Come Sunday night, we jumped into the rental car and headed up to Canada. After 8 hours of driving through the night, we finally arrived at the Canada/US border around 8am! It was such a gorgeous sight!

Our first sight of the day was the cute little town called "Niagara-on-the-Lake." Very quaint town lined with boutiques and little stores, with an amazing few of the lake. Of course, we stopped and took a few pictures.


After seeing the lake, we decided to walk around the town and stopped to check out this cute little hotel. It was more like a bed and breakfast place, in my opinion. We stopped at the "Prince of Wales Hotel" and snapped a few more shots!

Mama and Papa Kong

Up next? It was time to visit Niagara Falls! When we got there, it was only about 9:30am but it was still a sight to see! Absolutely stunning. The sound from the fall was so grand, and I just stood there in awe. It's crazy the amount of water that falls every second, let alone the entire day!

How gorgeous is that??

The fun part comes next: the Maid of the Mist tour! We hopped onto this cruise ship and pretty much circled around the falls. I honestly did not think we were going to get soaked...but I was 100% wrong. Those ponchos did nothing! The falls are incredibly strong and water was just flying everywhere! But, it was such a fun experience, I would do it again.

On the Maid of the Mist. See how we're nice and dry?
Putting on this dorky little thing.
The aftermath: soaking wet.

After the tour, we dried off a bit and headed out for some food and live music. At the end of the day we returned to the hotel and I simply loved the view...minus the massive casino in the center.

Best part about the view from our room? They light up Niagara Falls when it gets dark out. LOVE.

Day 3 of our little trip entailed a drive up to Toronto and visit this mall Mama Kong wanted to see: Pacifica Mall. The mall has over 300 stores and 100 restaurants. Crazy, huh? We stopped for some dim sum (WAY more delicious than that in the DMV area) and did a bit of shopping. The mall was pretty much exactly like those in China. I actually felt as if I were back in Beijing haggling away.

My trip to Niagara Falls and Canada was fabulous. I had an incredible time and can now cross "See Niagara Falls" off of my bucketlist!

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