The Beauty Around Us

60th Birthday Celebration (Part 2 of 2)

By Linda G. on February 29, 2016

We spent approximately 24 hours in Niagara Falls, Canada, as a continuation for my 60th birthday celebration.  You may read about the first part of my birthday celebration by clicking here.

 

We awakened early the morning of Saturday, February 27, after a good night’s sleep. How soothing it is to fall asleep to the sound of falling water! Bob got up around 4:00 am, which is usual for him. I got up at 5:00 am.

We watched the sun rise around 7:00 am.

We watched the sun rise from our hotel room at Embassy Suites Niagara.
We were on the 28th floor, room 2801.

The sun was a pink glow and lasted for only a short time, as it was quite cloudy at sunrise.

Shortly after sunrise, we went to breakfast. Our Embassy Suites Niagara hotel deal provided for a complimentary hot breakfast. One of the many choices for breakfast was a made-to-order omelet. Sides includes sausage, home fries, French toast, coffee and tea, juices, cereals, fruit, and pastries. It is impossible to go away hungry from breakfast!

At 10:00 am Bob telephoned the Valet and asked that our car be brought up from the parking garage. Within 15 minutes the car had been brought up; we had loaded it with our overnight bag, my tripod and our Internet devices; and we had checked out of the hotel. Valet parking costs CA$35 but is very convenient. The valet will bring your car to you any number of times during your stay, plus it can remain parked at the hotel from arrival until 4:00 pm on the day that you check out of the hotel.

At 10:22 am we hopped onto one of the WEGO Blue Line buses, which stopped in front of our hotel and rode it to the Sheraton on the Falls bus stop on Falls Avenue. From there we walked to Bird Kingdom. According to its website, Bird Kingdom is the “largest indoor free-flying aviary in the world.” This was our second visit to Bird Kingdom.  Our first visit was a number of years ago, in November 2008.  As we did in 2008, we enjoyed our visit very much.

We began our tour of the Bird Kingdom by walking through the Old Museum.  We didn’t spend much time in the museum, in which the history of the Bird Kingdom building is told via displayed photographs.

This photo opportunity was provided in the Old Museum.
I don’t know what the Daredevil Barrel had to do with the history of the Bird Kingdom building.
It did, though, provide a good photo opportunity!

 The Explorer Base Camp allows the visitor to get up close and personal with exotic birds, animals and reptiles from around the world.

This is a Chinese Softshell Turtle.

A White Cockatoo greets visitors.

Kookaburra

Yellow-Headed Amazon

Green-winged macaw

The Blue-and-Gold Macaw waved hello to us.

Blue-fronted Amazon

In the Small Bird Aviary we saw small birds that flew freely about us.

a Zebra Finch in the Small Bird Aviary

In the Night Jungle we saw bats, owls and some non-flying creatures of the night.

a Boobook Owl

an Egyptian fruit bat

The Main Aviary features a 50,000 square foot tropical rainforest and a 40 foot waterfall.  The Main Aviary is home to a diverse collection of birds from around the world.

Our visit to the Main Aviary started at the top level.
(Bob took this picture.)

Scarlet Ibis

 

We walked behind the 40 ft. waterfall and down to the jungle floor.

Pied Crow

Blue-and-Yellow Macaw

Victoria Crowned Pigeon

Pied Imperial Pigeon

Guinea Turaco

Swainson’s Lorikeet

Nicobar Pigeon

Golden Pheasant

 

Eastern Rosella

Giant Wood Rail

Ring Teal Duck

Silver Pheasant

From Bird Kingdom we hopped onto one of the WEGO Green Line buses and rode it to Table Rock.   A WEGO Green Line bus stop is just outside the front door of Bird Kingdom. We had close to a 30-minute wait, so we walked to the next stop (Niagara Parkway/Victoria Park) along the Green Line bus route.

As we were walking to the bus stop, Bob took this picture of River Road to show the lack of traffic.

At Table Rock I photographed Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls.

Horseshoe Falls at Table Rock

Bob took this picture of me, while photographing Horseshoe Falls.

American Falls

Also, at Table Rock, we walked through one of the gift shops, looking but not buying anything.

From Table Rock we rode the Niagara Falls Incline back to Embassy Suites. We could have hopped back on a blue line WEGO bus and saved CA$2.75 each. The incline is a fun experience and was a much faster choice to return to the hotel.

Approach to Falls Incline from Table Rock

Falls Incline

Back at Embassy Suites (at top of incline) we asked that our car be brought up from the parking garage. Within 15 minutes of our request we were on our way back home. We made two stops on our way home.

Our first stop was at the duty free shop. We used some of our casino winnings from the day before to purchase the following: a 1-liter bottle of Bulleit bourbon, two boxes of maple cream cookies, a bag of biscuits and wafers and two kits to grow crystals at home. We plan to give each of our granddaughters a crystal growing kit as part of their Easter present.

Our second stop was for lunch at Aunt Millie’s in Irving, NY. Bob ordered a beef on weck with French fries for his lunch. I ordered a small meatloaf dinner. For dessert I ordered a slice of peanut butter chocolate pie, and Bob ordered a Brownie Tower. We took home a small piece of my peanut butter chocolate pie and half of the Brownie Tower. That Brownie Tower was huge!

We returned home at 5:00 pm. What was for dinner? Bob finished my peanut butter chocolate pie, and I ate about half of what was left of the Brownie Tower.

This was a wonderful way to celebrate my birthday.  It was a good time, too, to go to Canada.  My friend, Lorraina, left a comment on yesterday’s blog post.  She wrote that I “didn’t mention the great rate and the extra money [we] got for [our] U.S. money…..you did notice that didn’t you?”  Yes, Lorraina, we did notice how strong the U.S. Dollar is compared to the Canadian dollar.  The currency rate for one Canadian dollar was approximately $0.74 U.S. dollars during our visit.  The favorable exchange rate and the promotional hotel rate made our overnight stay in Niagara Falls quite affordable.