Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls
Niagara Falls — June 16-18, 2022
I mean… I had to, right?
After Detroit, James and I took the Windsor Tunnel to cross over into Canada! We thought we had everything ready to go but somehow managed to leave our passports in the way back of the car and didn’t realize it until we were almost at the border crossing. Panic ensued as James climbed onto the seat to reach our backpacks and grab the passports while I pulled the car forward. Of course, the border officer let me know that I was supposed to wait for the person in front of me to leave completely before I started pulling the car forward but at least we had our passports! And because it was Canada, she was very nice about it. I was randomly selected for self-administered Covid test. I wonder if it was actually random or if they chose me because I didn’t follow directions… Either way, it was interesting! I had to log on to a website, make an appointment (at 11 pm for some reason?) and take the test from our hotel room while someone watched me on a video call. The next day, I had to drop off the test kit in the basement of a random building. I tested negative (phew 😅).
The other thing we weren’t prepared for was our phone coverage. As soon as we crossed over, neither of us had cell service. So the first thing we did was stop at a Tim Horton’s and get a coffee and a donut so we could get on their wifi and get directions to our hotel. Why didn’t we think of that? We discovered shortly thereafter that both of our phone plans include coverage in Canada and Mexico, though my plan limits you to 2 GB of data per day so James became the official navigator while we were in Canada.
This was James’s first time in Canada! I had been there in 2009 with my family when we did a road trip through Ohio, Niagara Falls, and Toronto. James and I skipped Ohio because as someone from Indiana, he’s required by law to hate Ohio. Since it had been more than 10 years for me, it was nice to be back and see things through new eyes. We stayed at a hotel that was walking distance from the falls and decided not to take off of work because that was really the only attraction we were planning on seeing. We went to a brewery to find some wifi, lunch and beer, and we both had our first Canadian poutine.
Fun story about poutine: I didn’t know what it was until college. I had seen a poutine stand at the Wisconsin State Fair with the Canadian flag and a big moose on it. I had a long list of fair foods to try and didn’t pay much attention to the poutine stand. When I was an intern at Children’s Wisconsin, my coworkers found out that I had never tried poutine before and declared that we needed to have a team lunch at Red Dot in Wauwatosa (RIP) so I could have poutine. I ordered mine with tater tots because I ♥️ tots, always, and when it arrived I was highly confused. I looked at my coworkers and said, “so where’s the moose meat?” I genuinely thought that poutine was moose meat and I was ready to try it on a random Thursday in 2014. My friends, it is not moose meat. It is usually French fries with cheese curds and gravy, and sometimes people get fancy with it and add other toppings. But to be fair, if you saw that stand at the state fair with no other context, what would you think?! There was a MOOSE on the sign OKAY?!
I borrowed this from the internet but THIS is the sign that I saw at the Wisconsin State Fair that led me to believe that poutine was moose meat. Personally, I think that’s an easy mistake to make. If you don’t think so, I don’t want to know.
Anyway. The poutine at Taps Brewhouse in Niagara Falls far surpassed my first poutine experience in Wisconsin. I guess you just have to go to the source if you want the best cuisine. We tried a curried vegetable version too and it was delicious! We had a lot of fun half working and half chatting with the bartender and trying out their selection of beers. If you are reading this and are either of our managers, this is a joke. If you’re someone who is planning to make a stop at Niagara Falls soon, I’d definitely recommend Taps for lunch or dinner!
After the workday was over, we went to the falls. Can you believe James was in Niagara Falls for the first time and we waited 8 hours for him to see them IRL? It was worth the wait—they did not disappoint! We decided to stay on the viewing platform and not take the Maid of the Mist ferry popularized by The Office.
Jim and Pam were cute and happy but also probably very cold and wet
James and Maggie were cute and happy and also warm and dry
Although, my family and I did Maid of the Mist in 2009 and I have photographic evidence in some unknown location. Probably in a box in my parents’ basement. Instead of that, James and I looked at the falls from basically every angle possible on the Canadian side and took lots of pictures. It was surprisingly chilly when the wind picked up so we were happy to stay dry. We also had a picnic which was nice!
On day 2, we went to IHOP for breakfast because why not? And then we got tickets for the White Water Walk, which is a boardwalk along the Niagara River. It was cool to see things from a different perspective down at the bottom of the falls. We read about all the crazy people who attempted to tightrope across the river and ride down the falls in a barrel. A surprising amount of people did that for some reason…? And as you might expect, it’s highly dangerous, resulted in several deaths, and is now illegal. We both really liked the White Water Walk because it was less crowded than the top of the falls and still beautiful, plus lots of signs to read that answered some of the questions we were asking to no one in particular at the top of the falls.
Since it didn’t take us long to see the only attraction in the area that’s worth your time or money, we didn’t stay long. We meandered our way toward Toronto and saw a sign for a winery and decided to stop. It was really nice! And a great way to start our 10-day stint in Canada.
