Thanksgiving 2017
Based on posts that I have seen on my Facebook news feed, Bob and I spent Thanksgiving Day differently than most of our Facebook friends and family.
We spent Thanksgiving Day in Niagara Falls (Ontario, Canada).
We departed home on Thanksgiving Day at 8:00 am.
Our first stop was in Jamestown NY at Bob Evans restaurant. We enjoyed a hearty breakfast. Bob ordered a Border Scramble Omelet. I ordered a Farmer’s Choice Breakfast. A woman stopped by our table, shortly before we were done eating, and gave us a $3.00 off coupon. How nice!
We were back on the road at 9:05 am.
We took a different route to Niagara Falls. Instead of driving over Grand Island, we came up the east side of the Niagara River through Tonawanda NY. I noted a few points of interest as we drove through Tonawanda: the East Hill Foundation, the Herschel Carrousel Museum, a U.S. Marine Corps Memorial, and a U.S. Navy Seabees Memorial. We returned home via the same route. Please keep an eye out for a subsequent blog post about our stop in Tonawanda.
We arrived at Niagara Falls, NY around 11:30 am. Having time to kill before we would be able to check into the Embassy Suites hotel, we stopped at Niagara Falls State Park. We have an NY State Park Empire pass card that provides free admission into NY state parks. We did not need the pass card, as admission was free at Niagara Falls State Park both on Thanksgiving Day and on Black Friday. We took a brisk walk to Prospect Point, where we enjoyed an overlook of the falls. Our walk was brisk because it was a bit nippy outside! It did feel good, though, getting out of the car after the 2 1/2 hour drive from Jamestown.
We entered Canada via the Rainbow Bridge. There was light traffic at the border crossing, so we arrived in Canada very quickly.
After a short drive up Clifton Hill and Lundy’s Lane (when we found it), we made our way to the Embassy Suites hotel. We arrived there at 1:00 pm. Check-in time is at 4:00 pm. Our room was ready, so we were able to check in immediately. Our room was located on the 19th floor, with a view of both the American and Horseshoe Falls. Being a Hilton Honors member has its advantages. We received two bottles of water upon check in. At the tour desk we purchased two 24-hour WEGO passes at a cost of CA$7.50/ea. The WEGO bus service is an excellent choice for transportation, while in Niagara Falls.
What a great afternoon / early evening we have had. Using our WEGO passes we rode to Casino Niagara, arriving there around 3:40 pm. We enjoyed Thanksgiving Day dinner (turkey & trimmings) at the Market Buffet, located at Casino Niagara. Our hotel package included several perks. One of the perks was a $30.00 off coupon for dinner for two at The Keg Steakhouse. We opted not to eat at the Keg Steakhouse. It cost us the same, or perhaps even less,to eat at the Market Buffet than it would have cost us at the Keg Steakhouse. Another perk was free slot play. We used CA$25 free slot play at Casino Niagara. We didn’t gain any money, but we didn’t lose any either! We walked from Casino Niagara to Table Rock, stopping often to take pictures of the illuminated falls and some of the Winter Festival of Lights displays. Please enjoy the Smilebox slideshow that I created of photographs taken during our walk.
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Free digital slideshow created with Smilebox |
At 6:15 pm we watched a short fireworks display over Horseshoe Falls.
If the video does not appear in your browser, please click here for the direct link. In addition, please click on HD for best video quality.
We returned to our hotel, via the WEGO shuttle bus. Soon after returning to the hotel we hung out for a short time at the hotel bar. Bob ordered a double rye whiskey, and I ordered a Diet Cola. Both of our drinks were complimentary, another hotel package perk. At one point in time I reached for my glass to get a drink of Diet Cola. It wasn’t Diet Cola, though, that entered my mouth. I wasn’t paying attention and picked up Bob’s glass accidentally. Yuck! Yuck! I do not like rye whiskey, not at all!
At 8:10 pm we watched a second fireworks display from our Fallsview room. I didn’t capture any photographs of the fireworks. I did, however, capture a couple photographs of the Falls illumination.
American Falls
(as seen from Embassy Suites hotel, Room 1901)
American and Horseshoe Falls
(as seen from Embassy Suites hotel, Room 1901)
We went to bed around 10:00 pm and awakened too early the next day. It was 4:00 am. Neither of us could get back to sleep, so we got up. We read our hometown newspaper on line, checked out some Black Friday online sales (no purchase made), and skimmed through Facebook news feed. At 5:00 am we returned to bed and slept until 7:00 am.
We awakened in time to see the sunrise over Horseshoe Falls.
Soon after getting up, we went to the 9th floor for a hot, complimentary breakfast. Our food selections included made-to-order omelets, scrambled eggs, bakery items, pancakes, potatoes, sausage, ham, a variety of juices and other hot and cold beverages.
After breakfast, we relaxed in our room for about an hour. Then we packed up our stuff to check out. We waited for over 20 minutes for an elevator. It seemed like the elevators were passing right by our floor. I finally called the hotel operator. I didn’t even get to finish my statement to her that several of us had been waiting for an elevator on the 19th floor before she told me that she would send an elevator to us. Within a minute an elevator stopped at our floor. The elevator was packed, but Bob and I and two more adults and two children (with our luggage) managed to squeeze in.
Before leaving Canada we drove around Dufferin Islands, where we saw several Winter Festival of Lights displays.
Perhaps Bob and I will have an opportunity to return to Niagara Falls before the Winter Festival of Lights ends to see the displays lit up. The festival ends January 31, 2018.
We crossed over the Rainbow Bridge into New York.
Please keep an eye out for my next blog post about our drive back home.