A Trip "Home" & Niagara-on-the-Lake

 

That's Fort Niagara in New York as seen from Canada. No one ever believes me when I say how close the two countries are! 

I got back from my trip "home" to Buffalo yesterday evening feeling pretty good. I say home in quotation marks because even though Buffalo will always be home in a way, I feel like Boston is my real home now. It took me a long time to want to say that!

Yesterday was also my 31st birthday and having overdosed on cake over the weekend - really, I ate cake every day and it was GLORIOUS - I made a BLT when I got home and hit the hay. The weekend started with a little camping trip for my dad's 60th birthday on Sunday. It's always been cool that my dad's birthday is two days before mine and my sister's. Now, you may have guessed that camping is not my idea of a good time, but my dad loves it and going camping with him was our present to him this year. Trust me, it's all he wanted! We got back to civilization and on Monday my sister and I took a little day trip to Canada with my mom and her friend Cindy. Having grown up ten minutes from Canada and Niagara Falls, the novelty wore off a long time ago, but I hadn't been in a while. I hate to say it, but Niagara Falls, New York is a hole. Really. It's just not that nice of a city. The area around the falls is fine, but if you actually want a better experience in Niagara Falls, you have to go to Canada! It's clean and beautiful and there are a ton of things to do.

My mom has been talking for years about going to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. It's a sweet little city right on Lake Ontario with shops, hotels, restaurants, wineries, and ice cream. What more could you want from a day trip?

We had a great dinner on the top patio of this restaurant. Wine bar = happy. The local red sangria was just what we needed after a day of walking around!



 

There are at least five or six ice cream shops on Queen Street, but we opted for gelato. The strawberry chocolate was divine, but through everyone else I got to try peanut butter chocolate, white chocolate raspberry, and coconut. All amazing.

 

 



 

It was such a beautiful day on the lake! Plenty of sunshine, no wind, and temps in the upper 60s. It was so clear that we could say hello to Toronto.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's our new friend Max, the 130 lb. bull mastiff black lab mix. The water was a little too cold for swimming, but Max went in for a dip anyway :)

 

This was a perfect way to spend the day. If you're ever in the Buffalo area, make sure you bring your passport so you can hop north west of the border and check out how lovely Lake Ontario and Canada are! I have the rest of this blissful week off from work. I'm really not looking forward to the 90 degree temps we're in store for (I hate the heat), but I'll power through. I hope everyone's holiday weekend was as nice as mine!