Oh, Canada


Matt and I had a fairly quiet trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake this past weekend. We left a little earlier than planned on Friday due to some nasty weather here in Chautauqua. The rest of the trip was fine, including the border. I can’t tell you how beautiful the Rogers-Harrison house is! It was exactly what I was hoping for in a bed and breakfast. The house is Georgian style, built in 1817 on the foundation of the original house which had been burned down during the War of 1812.


Friday Night: We went to the Angel Inn Pub for a pint and some eats. This pub is one of the oldest operating inns in the area. I like how the overheard beams are rough-hewn. We could have stayed there, but I was afraid the noise from the pub area might drift upstairs. Matt and I both tried the Angel Inn Red. Heavy stuff! Very reminiscent of Killian’s Red, but much better and with a much higher alcohol content. We were there too early to hear the folk band play, but we did eavesdrop a little on the conversation going on at the table next to us. We both smiled when we realized that we were the ones with the funny accents.


Saturday: I neglected to turn the alarm clock to the correct time, so I ended up waking up an hour too early. I ended up going downstairs to write in my journal while Matt slept some more. Fortunately, Peter (one of the owners) brought me coffee while he got the fire started in the music/sitting room. Breakfast was a baked pink grapefruit with brown sugar on top, blueberry muffins, and Eggs Benedict. I normally don’t like Eggs Benedict, but the sauce was very light and tasty. The other couple and us got a huge history lesson on the house from Peter after eating. He and Marilyn (his wife and other owner) had been doing most of the restoration of the house. This B&B couple was much nicer and more fun than the place we stayed at on Seneca Lake. You really felt welcome and we had a lot of good laughs too.


Since neither Matt nor I had done much traveling outside of town, we decided to tool around in my car. That trip took us past St. Catherines and to Port Dalhousie. My favourite part was seeing the locks to the Welland Canal and the Dry Dock Ship yard. We had lunch at the Kiely House (I had bangers & mash). It was alright. Some bothersome teenagers/college boys were there and I just wanted to smack the one guy. He was so pompous! We looked at some shops afterwards but didn’t buy anything (other than candy).


Dinner was at Fournos. I had some icky chicken souvalki. I think that’s the dish that made me sick this past Monday. Oh well! We then went to Niagara Falls, ONT to see the Falls and wander around Clifton Heights. Much to Matt’s glee, I agreed to go on the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Motion ride. It was cool. Kind of like Star Tours at Disney Land or that submarine ride currently at the Rochester Science Museum. We then crashed at the B&B.


Sunday: Breakfast was a fruit cup with some spiked fruit on top, a croissant with homemade jams, and Eggs Florentine. All yummy! A couple from Spain joined us this morning. I felt bad for the husband since he didn’t speak English. While the other couple and us chatted merrily along, I tried to explain to the new couple what we were talking about (in English). I eventually introduced myself in Spanish to the husband (Jorge). I was embarrassed by much I had forgotten of the Spanish language. Although, I did remember “muy viejo (very old)” when we were trying to think of a way to describe antiques to the wife. My attempts at their language earned me the European kiss-on-two-cheeks-good-bye from the husband.


Matt and I checked out, had a lively discussion about American politics with the B&B owners, and then took off again for Niagara Falls. I had never gone on the Journey Behind the Falls before, so we went on that. It was amazing to see all that water rushing down in front of you. I took some great side-view pictures of the Falls on the covered observation deck. We then got brunch for Matt at the Tablerock Restaurant. We then went back to Niagara-on-the-Lake so I could get Afternoon Tea. I had been dying to have tea for ages, and there were a couple places that served it in town. We ended back at the Kiely House after the one place that supposedly had it told us they had stopped serving. It wasn’t bad, but I’ve had better. Still, it’s the experience that counts! We then picked up a birthday gift we had scoped out the day before for Matt’s mom and made our way home.


A real nice trip and relaxing. We didn’t want to push ourselves too much since that’s what will happen when we go to Washington D.C. next week.