Our last day. We lingered over our coffee and although we had a couple of things we wanted to do on the way home, we weren’t moving too fast – and it had nothing to do with the amount of booze we’ve consumed these last couple of days. Unlike yesterday morning, there was no fog and the sun shone brightly – an omen for a wonderful, scenic drive home. Still it was a bittersweet morning. We wanted to go home to our husbands and big-Jesus dogs but there was something magical about the weekend that we didn’t want to end.

Once we got checked out and called for petrol, we made our way to the floral clock. I remember visiting it back when I was a young girl the year my mum and I went and spent a week at my cousin’s house. I’d forgotten how far out of town it was. On our way there, we made a couple of stops along the Niagara Parkway to take photos. Even though it’s not the falls, the whirlpools and magntitude of the cliffs make it a breathtaking sight.

At one of our stops along the parkway, a Zodiak filled with tourists in plastic raincapes and life jackets worked its way towards the falls. Even it struggled against the strength of the current.

Eventually, we arrived at the Floral Clock. It’s almost all the way to Hwy 405 and the bridge to the USA. The clockworks were under repair but the flowers were still gorgeous. Too bad the background is scarred with hydro pylons and wires because of the power dam.

This trip to Lock 3 on the Welland Canal was much more pleasant than when we took  my friend, Anne, from Wales there back in 2005. Unlike back then, this was a much better route and was far more direct.

The bonus of this trip was a ship was going through the lock just above the one we were going to as we crossed the lift bridge. Couldn’t have timed things better.

I’ve seen ships pass through the locks at Iroquois but that’s nothing spectacular because of the lack of lowering the ships to exit at the other end.

Today was fantastic! Watching the lift bridge rise and the massive freighter approach the lock was breathtaking.

After watching the ship clear the lock and the gates close once again, we had a picnic lunch at the visitor centre and got back on the road.

We had a great time in the ‘falls’, made new friends, and it was the experience of a lifetime. I’m really glad we went ahead with our trip rather than cancel it.

It’s really foggy this morning, although it could be the mist from the falls blowing back this way towards our hotel. Sometimes it seems to clear somewhat then we’re totally socked in again.

So since we’re on vacation we decided to start the morning off with mimosas. Okay, we already had coffee and muffins.

The plan for today is go for a ride on The Maid of the Mist this morning and then our wine tour is this afternoon. Then later tonight, we’ll check out the falls again and hopefully the fireworks and finish our night with a wander through the casino.

Shortly after boarding, an older gentleman from Korea came over and spoke to us. In the sea of blue, hooded rain gear he soon vanished in the crowd.

The ride on The Maid of the Mist was quite the experience. Even with our lovely, fashionable blue rain capes, we got soaked. The force of the water cascading over both sets of falls blew water drops practically sideways, whipped our hoods down, our raincoats billowed up. We stayed on the lower deck but right next to the railing. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to be on the upper deck.

After our boat ride, we walked through Oakes Garden Theatre. A wedding party was there and they were either getting set up for the entire event or perhaps just wedding photos. There were two small children dressed up in their best bib and tucker running around having a blast and giving the older folks a great deal of grief. Somehow, a white dress with a pink sash wouldn’t look very nice with a big grass stain down the front of it.

Our original plan was to wait and walk through the casino at night but because we were right there, thought we would do it on the way back to our hotel before our wine tour. Inside the main doors, it almost looks as if the building was built around a historic one and they left some of the original features intact. We walked up a grand sweeping staircase and made our way to the “official” casino entrance. A waterfall cascaded down on both sides of the escalators. Before them, a huge metal structure with changing colour lights, is in the ceiling and goes up at least two levels, if not more.

I stood directly under it and took a photo. It was really something to see.

Back at our hotel, we had a snack while we got de-frizzed, dressed and our makeup reapplied. We certainly couldn’t have gone in the state we were in. Quite surprised we didn’t frighten the folks when we wandered through the casino.

We were the second “couple” to be picked up by the bus. Then we went to another hotel here in the city for another couple. They weren’t there yet. When they finally arrived, we headed off to the home base of the wine tour company and picked up more people. Once everyone was aboard, we were fourteen couples.

Our first stop was at the Niagara College Winery & Brewery (although we didn’t tour that part of the business). Our guide was a young girl who will be getting her degree in tourism in a few short weeks. She led us through the various stages of the wine making process and then it was off to the sample room where we learned how to properly drink wine so take advantage of all the complex flavours going on in it. We sampled a white, a red and an ice wine.

After the structured tasting, we were led into the gift shop and sample bar where we were allowed to taste many of the other wines made there.

Our next stop was at Hinterbrook Winery. This operation has only been open to the public for tours for less than one month! They are also an eco-friendly business. They have a huge bank of solar panels, and also use geo-thermal technology.

Here we sampled a number of white wines as their reds weren’t ready yet and a rose. I shouldn’t say we didn’t sample any reds. We sampled one but it was a darker white, made from red grapes but the skins were separated from the juice so it didn’t turn red.

I don’t normally drink a lot of white wine and can honestly say, I’m not that stuck on it. But, I found two here that I enjoyed a great deal – a Reisling and a Sauvignon Blanc.

Our next winery was Reif Estate Winery. Here we were led through a structured tasting of a white, a red and an ice wine. After this was over we were free to go to the sample bar and taste on our own.

This winery also has an herb garden so we wandered through it and discovered they had Patchouli plants growing. We had to ensure this was the real deal so rubbed the leaves and then sniffed our fingers. It was. I think we rubbed every leaf on one plant between Mary and Yvonne and MJ and me.

Our tour wrapped up with supper at DeLuca’s. We didn’t get the three course meal, but we could choose any two options from the menu… starter and main course, main course and dessert. I had the spring mushroom and goat cheese salad and organic BC salmon. OMG! They were so delicious! MJ and I shared a bottle of red wine with our meal as did Mary and Yvonne.

Then the four of us split on another bottle. You’d almost get the idea we liked our wine.

The other couple at our table was Al and his wife Heather. We were all in agreement that it took too long between courses to get us our food but had it not, we wouldn’t have had the time to chat and get to know each other.
After returning to Niagara Falls after dropping the other couples off, we suggested we meet up with Al and Heather on a patio for a beer. We would meet at TGI Friday’s in about an hour and go from there.

We settled on the patio at the Casa ‘doro Restaurant right next door to our hotel. We stayed and chatted with them until about midnight and by then it was very chilly out and time to get inside where it was warm.

We weren’t sure what the day would bring since it rained heavily during the night. However, the weather was much better than predicted. We drove through a few showers on the way but nothing extreme. Even when we made our first trek from our hotel to the falls, it was dry…

until we got close enough to Horseshoe Falls when the mist drifted over the sidewalks and dampened us. As you can see from our picture we’re a bit frizzy.

While in the portals behind the falls, a younger gentleman offered to take our picture. By that time I had discovered my wee Kodak camera had a backlight feature.

In return, I took his picture with his fancy digital SLR. It was very similar to my new one but I’m just barely getting to it so I couldn’t offer much help. It took a few tries but he found the backlight feature on his and I finally was able to get a good picture of him. He thanked me for being so patient and we parted company. In the meantime, my digital SLR was tucked safely under my lovely, yellow rain cape. After our falls adventure, including the Journey Behind the Falls, we walked through the gardens, the flowers in which were spectacular,

and worked our way to The Hard Rock Cafe where we enjoyed a couple of cold beer.

After returning to our room and fed with a pizza takeaway from Pizza Hut, washed down with a bottle of red wine, we went out on a trek to see the falls illuminated at night. We didn’t know a band was playing by the water and that there were to be fireworks at 10:00. Two tests were done but it was deemed to windy to hold them tonight.

Hopefully tomorrow night, the wind will be a bit less blustery and we’ll be able to see them, if they do them again.

We finished our night off at TGI Friday’s where we had a beer and shots. Good thing it’s only across the street from our hotel.

This is what we see when we open the curtains in our room on the sixth floor at night. |A good view of the strip and Clifton Hill.