Mrs.BurtonRW and I decided to take a spur of the moment trip up to Niagara Falls this weekend.

We're driving up this afternoon/evening to Amherst, where I got a good deal on a room, crossing Rainbow Bridge tomorrow morning for a 3 hour tour ([sings]a 3 hour tour...[/sings]) (and yes, I've already done the ArriveCAN thing, thanks), probably spending the day in CAN before driving back to Amherst, and then heading home at some point on Sunday, so... three things.

1) Any advice for things to do in Ontario? We have the aforementioned three hour tour, which involves a bit of walking, a cruise, and a "behind the falls" bit, which sounds cool. We also have tickets for whatever the big tall tower thing is, whenever we want to do that during the day. But what else do we like to do in Ontario between things or for the rest of the day? Hit me with the best of the touristy stuff.

1a) How wet are we actually going to get? I know everything at the overlooks always looks soaking wet in pictures and we'll definitely be damp after the cruise, but I assume we'll be dry enough wandering around Ontario if we wanted to bring a change of clothes along with us in the car?

2) On the way back home on Sunday, I assume we'll be taking the same route, so I-90, NY-63, I-390, I-99, US-15, etc.

What's worth seeing between Amherst and Harrisburg (I'm very familiar with everything south of H'burg)? Looking for any kind of tourist trap (world's largest whatever kind of stuff) or anything else of particular interest that might make for a quick stretch of the legs.

3) Anything specific we might want to check out on the American side Sunday morning before we start back for home?

4) What else should we know about our first visit to Canada, the falls, etc.?

Thanks in advance!

-Rob

Many years ago, took the maid of the mist tour, don't recall getting all that wet, went to the falls several times before 1994, never needed extra stuff to wear , You will be passing Letchworth State park, that place is really neat, you should be able to start at one end and exit the other with very little time lost.

We did the maid of the mist boat ride last summer, they provide a poncho but our shoes and shorts still got soaked. We got right up front on the rail so if you stay back you can avoid getting drenched. I would bring a change of clothes.

It's been several years since we've made the trip to Niagara. We generally prefer the Canadian side, however I believe the American side is making progress.

While on the Canadian side consider checking out Niagara on the Lake along with several of the local wineries. Peller Estates is one that we enjoyed personally. We enjoyed dinner at Skylon Tower with a view of the falls, however be prepared for them to attempt to seat you at a table with others and a hefty tab. I'm not sure if that's still the case, however it was their common practice 11 years ago.

On your trip to and or from the Corning Glass museum is a small detour off of US 15 in Corning NY. If you choose to stop on the way up you can create your own glass and return to pick it up on your travel back to MD.

Was always a seasonal place, but a neighborhood joint to pick up great pizza from

Pizza Oven

On the Canadian side there is a cute little town nearby called Niagara-On-The-Lake. Shopping and some places to eat.

I'm sure everyone knows this but if you are going to cross the border leave any "hobby items" at home.

quote:

Originally posted by 98XJRC:
On your trip to and or from the Corning Glass museum is a small detour off of US 15 in Corning NY. If you choose to stop on the way up you can create your own glass and return to pick it up on your travel back to MD.

This is an excellent idea! We'd probably enjoy a visit (although we have a studio here where we blow our pieces on the rare occasion we have the time). It would be cool to see their setup in person.

quote:

Originally posted by Gene Hillman:
I'm sure everyone knows this but if you are going to cross the border leave any "hobby items" at home.

Not a problem. I did a thorough search of my vehicle yesterday and got rid of anything that might make it look interesting enough for a search (foamies, targets, etc.). This is Maryland, so there's pretty much no hardware in there - ever - unless I'm actually using it.

Also, the vehicle has been "grey" at Mrs.BurtonRW's insistence since the Scalise shooting, so no "search me" stickers anymore, either.

Thanks.

-Rob

For me if I am within 50 miles striking distance of Buffalo my number one stop is Adrian's Beef and Custard on Grand Island for a beef on a weck, simple.

I’ve been like 6 times. Just standing their looking at it is really boring.

I HIGHLY recommend doing the maid of the mist boat ride. It is much more impressive to see it from the bottom with the 40-60 mph winds blowing everywhere.

And highly recommend the Whirlpool jet boat tour off the Canadian side. That’s a very fun boat drive up the canyon.

quote:

Originally posted by rizzle:
Many years ago, took the maid of the mist tour, don't recall getting all that wet...

Same here, though it was 25 years ago. It was this tour where we got soaking wet:

https://www.niagarafallsstatep...rs/cave-of-the-winds

I'm certain they gave us the colored rain ponchos, but we STILL got soaked.

quote:

Originally posted by wbw:
On the Canadian side there is a cute little town nearby called Niagara-On-The-Lake. Shopping and some places to eat.

this and also maybe check out the waterfront and canal side in Buffalo

quote:

Whirlpool jet boat tour off the Canadian side

I'll 2nd this. Make sure it's a hot day:

I second a visit to Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Ontario is a fairly big Province and I don't know if you'd want to go west of Niagara Falls (since I assume you're driving from Maryland), but I enjoyed a visit to the African Lion Safari near Hamilton, Ontario. Hamilton is at the west end of Lake Ontario. It's a 70-mile drive from Niagara Falls to the Safari grounds. You can drive through with your own car or park and take a coach through (I did the coach so I could take pictures along the way). Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/...s/72157627680470610/.

Photos of Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake: https://www.flickr.com/photos/...m-72157635091694668/.

On your way to the Falls you might stop in Toronto and go up the CN Tower. The view is exceptional.

My map software says it's about 400 miles from the Ann Arundel County Court House to Niagara Falls, using US-11 and US-15 (I-80 and I-390) to Leicester, NY and US-20A to Buffalo, NY. That drive will take up most of a weekend, even with no stops for sight-seeing.

Along your route, near East Aurora, NY is the Hawk Creek Wildlife Refuge. It offers guided tours and will be open this weekend. https://www.hawkcreek.org/ or
https://www.facebook.com/hawkcreekwildlife

Near the jet boat Shaql mentioned there is a cable ride over the river. DSC_3323.jpg by David Casteel, on Flickr

flashguy

My wife and I went about 4 years ago. Don't bother with the American side, it's a dump. The Canadian side is so much better.

The Como in Buffalo had great Italian food.

My tour group (from a Canada Rail tour) ate lunch at a buffet in the Sheraton on the Falls hotel, 11th floor. This is the view from there:
DSC_3283.jpg by David Casteel, on Flickr

The buffet was good, too.

There is a river-leval walk after the falls on the Canadian side. Unbelievable volume of water and rapids. Second the recommendations for Niagara on the Lake and the winerys.

Some of the hotels have rooftop restaurants with spectacular views.

Did the falls in 2010. The boat ride was pretty cool to this 'ol hick anyway! The boat headed straight into the falls until all forward progress stopped, they may have been cheating and adjusted the throttle to match the current but you could hear and feel the rumble of the engine under the deck straining against the current as they held it motionless for a couple minutes and then they just cut the engine and and steered hard over and let the current turn and wash the boat back down away from the falls. They gave us disposable souvenir ponchos to wear and keep. (see us in photo below). We lined up early to board and were able to calm the very front in the bow...

We did the canyon at Watkins Glen State park on the same trip as Niagara and really enjoyed it. Mini Grand Canyon or something they call it. IIRC over a mile you can hike up and down right along the creek, pretty cool. We were there in the fall so had some fall color left. I think they had a shuttle bus that you could take to the top and just walk back down for an easier track but for full effect we went up and back down it from the bottom.

Link to a post image gallery I uploaded of it...

link