Miles: 340
Route: Lake George, NY - Niagara Falls, ON
We left Lake George on Thursday morning to drive to Niagara Falls. This was the longest drive in a single day so far - so, naturally, I (unintentionally!) decided to make it a little longer by forgetting a few things at the motel. Fortunately I realized early and only cost us an extra half an hour.
The drive to Niagara Falls was largely uneventful, though the border crossing into Canada snuck up on us a little bit and, because we didn’t have our passports immediately available, we got a few more questions than I would’ve expected. Oh well.
Thursday afternoon was pretty dreary so we found a local gym to work out at and got ourselves organized for some of the less-planned parts of the road trip. The couple that runs the motel we stayed at suggested we try Syndicate for dinner - we were skeptical based on the name alone, but the food was great and very reasonably priced ($22 for three-course prix fixe).
Friday started off just as dreary as Thursday but all our weather apps suggested it would clear up in the afternoon. So we started the day with a run by the Falls then drove up to Niagara-on-the-Lake, a small town 20 minutes north of Niagara Falls. If you are ever at Niagara Falls this town should be on your must-do list! We spent a few hours perusing the local shops, bakeries and restaurants in the charming downtown then headed to the shore to look at the view of Lake Ontario - just in time for the clouds to clear!
One of the many hotels in town. Naturally, the Prince of Wales Hotel is at the corner of King Street and Queen Street.
Downtown Niagara-on-the-Lake had some very over-the-top (albeit very well-maintained) gardening arrangements.
Town center.
The park by the lake was just as beautiful as the town itself.
And the view wasn’t too shabby either! (You can barely see it, but the Toronto skyline was visible in the distance.)
After we finished at the lake, we got back in the car to check out another of the area’s main attractions: vineyards. There are about 25 vineyards between Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake; we stopped at Reif Estates for a tasting. In addition to one white and one red, we each tasted ice wine, the local specialty. Ice wine is intensely sweet but would be the perfect conclusion to a large meal (in small portions though!). We bought a few bottles that we liked and strolled around the vineyard before making our way back to Niagara Falls.
Real men drink rose.
Lots of grapes...
Fortunately the clear skies we had in Niagara-on-the-Lake followed us to Niagara Falls. By the time we parked the car and walked down to the Falls the sun had really come out, giving us fantastic views. We walked across Rainbow Bridge to see the New York side, then back again to look at the Canadian views. As with Iguazu, there is a clear winner on which side is better. I’m sorry to say that the Canadians definitely have us beat here - so if you ever go to Niagara Falls make sure to bring your passport!
We were lucky enough to get some great rainbow views here too!
The Maiden of the Mist.
Great view of the Horseshoe Falls from New York - plus we stayed dry on this side (the equivalent view on the Canadian side has a constant rain of mist coming off the Falls).
Walking back to Canada.
The reason the Canadian side is better - NY just can’t compete with views like this.
After sunset we were a pretty tired (we ran / walked about 12 miles today!) and hungry so we headed to Koutouki, a Greek restaurant Sarah found on TripAdvisor. It. Was. Amazing! We shared the platter for two: two chicken skewers, two pork skewers, four lamb chops, plus Greek salad, vegetables and bread on the side. Oh yeah, and it also came with what I can only describe as Greek lasagna: feta melted on top of zucchini, peppers and spiced beef. Definitely check it out if you’re in Niagara Falls and in the mood for Greek food!
Somehow we managed to roll ourselves to the car and fight the urge to sleep until we got back to our motel. Tomorrow we drive to Cincinnati to see Sarah’s family for a few days then we’re off to Chicago.