the world through my eyes…

We’ve had a few guests ask about day trips to Niagara-On-The-Lake, so I decided to try doing a day trip there and see how it went over.  We left the hostel at around 11am.  I had a group of 7, which was a pretty good number.  Our first stop? Fort George.

During the War of 1812, Fort George served as the headquarters for the Centre Division of the British Army.   A visit to Fort George is to go back in time.  The workers dress in period costumes and there are demonstrations of Muskets, and Canon firing.  The fort was impressive and we spent more time there than I had originally thought we would.

Following Fort George we boarded the free shuttle into Niagara-On-The-Lake.  A brief stop at a shop selling all things English, made most of the guests VERY happy.  At one point the 2 English boys (Dumb and Dumber as they will be known in this blog) we so excited, I thought they would burst!  Every-time they saw a candy or chocolate they liked, they’d shout “God Save the Queen!”.  The were incensed however when they went to pay, and upon saying God Save the Queen, discovered that the shopkeeper was not even English!  I mean, how RUDE!!

For lunch wewalked along King St to The Irish Harp, one of the local pubs.  The pub was very cozy, with an great menu.  Their fish and chips were amazing!  I’m wanting more as I write this entry.  I’ve promised myself to ALWAYS eat at the Irish Harp when I’m in Niagara-On-The-Lake.

After lunch we wandered through the town, checking out the Niagara Apothecary, which was open until 1964, (and now a small museum) and browsing through shops.  I had made the mistake of buying small, toy, wood pistols for Dumb and Dumber to keep them quiet and occupied, which pretty much backfired on me.  Nothing like walking into a shop and having one of them exclaim, “Pam, I’ve got a gun in my pants!”

Last nights event was a group to Nightmares Haunted House followed by the Wild Mushroom.  I’ve seen pictures of people that have gone through Nightmares and really had no desire to go.  However, I was doing the group last night, so that meant that I HAD to go in. There were 10 of us all together, 4 of the them had gone out with me the night before to watch the fireworks, so we were more friendly with each other this time around.

I had to convince one of the girls to go, and she kept saying how scared she was to go and that she would probably chicken out.  The 3 guys from France came as well, so I thought it would be a fun idea to put her with them, as I had a feeling they would make it more fun for her.  Yeah…. I wasn’t wrong at all! haha  I went in with the first group and in no time the Pierre (who was in the front) kept stoping… “No, I don’t want to be in the front, you go first!”  We had to push them all the way through!

It wasn’t a gory thing, it was a case of not knowing what was going to happen and where.  However, so as to not ruin the experience for anyone who may come to Niagara Falls, I’m going to stop there.  Needless to say there was a lot of screaming, which is played over the PA system in the store below as you walk through.  I was told I was screaming the loudest, which I would believe as my ribs were a tad sore when the whole thing was over.

Afterwards we went next door to the Wild Mushroom.  A very lively night, everyone mingled, drank and had a good time.  I was proud to see my little french boys open up and have fun, as they were so withdrawn the night before.  Those boys are hilarious!  They bought 1 pint of Guinness to share amongst the 3 of them, took a sip and didn’t like it, but that didn’t stop them.  They continued to buy 1 at a time and share it.  It was too funny for words.  8 pints later there was a lot of dancing going on!

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