The Beauty Around Us

A Canadian Daycation: Niagara-on-the-Lake

By Linda G. on July 31, 2017

Our daycation began at 6:00 am on Saturday, July 29. We spent the day traveling to Niagara-on-the-Lake and back home.

Our first stop was a fuel stop at Mobil in Jamestown, NY. Bob attempted to use the Plenti Speedpass app to make a fuel purchase. He received an error “try again later”. Needing fuel, Bob used his Plenti card for the fuel purchase and received regular points rather than the promotional points offered via the Plenti Speedpass. We have until the end of August to purchase at least 10 gallons of gas two more times to receive enough points for $20.00 in free gas. As long as the Plenti Speedpass works properly for our next two fill ups, we shouldn’t have any difficulty meeting the requirement.

Our second stop was for breakfast at Bob Evans, located across the street from the Mobil station. We had a couple minutes of excitement, before entering the restaurant. After stepping out of the car in the parking lot, a hawk in pursuit of a crow nearly took me out as they both swooped by my head! Bob saw the hawk and crow swoop by my head. I didn’t see the birds, until they had flown past me. I did hear a loud screech close to my ear, though, which startled me. The hawk and crow proceeded to a nearby tree, where they took a brief intermission. Soon the crow took off with the hawk continuing pursuit. A second crow entered in the chase as backup. Both crows escaped, last we saw.

For breakfast, Bob ordered a Border Omelet with rye toast and hash browns. I ordered a Western Omelet with wheat toast and home fries. Breakfast was delicious and filling.  We were back on the road shortly after 7:00 am.

At approximately 8:30 am we crossed into Canada via the Peace Bridge. The Canadian border control guard asked Bob questions about guns e.g., does he have a concealed carrying permit (yes), are there any guns in the car (no), what guns does he own. This is the second time this year that Bob has had questions posed to him regarding his concealed carrying permit and guns, when crossing the border into Canada.

We drove to Niagara on the Lake, via the Niagara Parkway.  We parked at Queen’s Royal Park, where we paid for two hours of parking (cost $3.22).  We checked out the view of Old Fort Niagara from Queen’s Royal Park.  We walked a couple blocks to Queen Street and then through Simcoe Park.

According to this web page, the jazz festival is an annual event.  This year marks its fourth year.

Leaving Simcoe Park, we continued our walk along Queen Street.  We made several photo stops.

The Memorial Clock Tower, or Cenotaph, has stood in the center of Queen Street since June 3, 1922.  The Clock Tower was built as a memorial to the town residents who were killed in action during the first World War.

We stopped in The Viking Shop, where we purchased a solar lighthouse bird feeder.  This is the third lighthouse bird feeder that I have owned since 2012.  The other two bird feeders were destroyed by bears!  For now, at least, I plan to use my new lighthouse bird feeder as a decorative piece in our yard. My new lighthouse bird feeder has two light options: white or multi colored.

You might be wondering why there is a statue of George Bernard Shaw in Niagara-on-the-Lake.  The city is the home of the Shaw Festival.

We made our way back to Queen’s Royal Park, which is located along the bank of the Niagara River, where the Niagara River empties into Lake Ontario.  We spent 30 minutes or so enjoying the view from Queen’s Royal Park.

I captured some very nice photographs of Fort Niagara with my Olympus 40-150mm and 300mm camera lenses.

Here are close-up pictures of some of the fort structures that you see in the above photograph.

We saw lots of boats from our vantage point at Queen’s Royal Park.

From Queen’s Royal Park the Toronto skyline across Lake Ontario can be seen on a clear day.

We arrived in Niagara-on-the-Lake at 9:50 am and departed the town, en route Niagara Falls, around 11:30 am.

TO BE CONTINUED