It’s birthday vacation time!

Since our birthdays are 10 days apart (Jennika’s was June 29th and Jean-Marc’s is July 9th), we decided to plan a vacation to celebrate. It started with going to Niagara Falls for 2 nights since Jean-Marc had never been before. Jennika did her undergrad in the area, so we stayed with one of her long-time college friends Larissa for the first night. Larissa is awesome! She is expecting a baby in August and yet she still welcomed us and cooked us an amazing dinner. We cannot rave more about her pollo pesto penne pasta plate that we couldn’t stop eating. Her parents had brought back the pesto and the pasta from Italy and it definitely moved Italy up on Jennika’s list of places to go. Delizioso!

The next morning we headed down to Niagara Falls to board the Maid of the Mist, a boat that goes right up to the falls (American and Canadian!). It’s easy to see that Canada must have won the war of 1812 because we definitely got the better side of the falls, he he. Getting up close to the Horseshoe Falls, you really get to feel how much power the many tonnes of water barrelling over the edge have – the boat would suddenly get pushed to the left or to the right. Later, we stood at the outlook at the edge of the escarpment where all the water falls of the cliff. This is one of Jennika’s favourite spots because you can just get mesmerized by the water speeding up, and suddenly dropping off (see below for a video). Jean-Marc was really surprised by how green the water was, and not the polluted algae green, but Caribbean green and clear. It was breathtaking.

In the afternoon we purchased an adventure pass that included mini-putt, a ferris wheel, the wax museum, and a few other things. It was kind of cool being a tourist – there is sooo much to do on Clifton Hill. Our Niagara adventure was also Canada Day, which we celebrated by watching fireworks down by the falls, just over the Rainbow Bridge. It was a really nice end to the day.

After having breakfast at our B&B in Niagara, it was time to hit the road. We had an 8-hr marathon drive ahead of us because we needed to check into our B&B in Vermont by 7pm. And we only got lost twice! Once right across the border, which we quickly figured out and got back on track, but the second incident lead us 20 miles off course (about 30 mins). That one was a bit of a shock. Here we were following the 9 north, but we were supposed to be on the 9N north. PS. New York, we hate your signage.

So we made it to the B&B, which was recommended to us by my friend Katy, and we are already relaxing. The room we picked is gorgeous, with large wood furniture and luxurious bedding. We will be asleep before 11pm – and it will be most excellent.

Night, night.

Jennika and Jean-Marc

Waiting to get on the Maid of the Mist

A view of Horseshoe falls in the background

A video of water rushing over the edge of Niagara Falls