Niagara Falls Blog

11 Responses to “It’s a beautiful day!”

1. 1 BensonsMom
   September 21, 2006 at 9:21 pm

   WOW! It looks like a picture perfect day. It’s usually too cold, or too hot when we’ve been there. Though our last visit a few years ago the weather was perfect, unfortunately it was only a day trip on a bus, and we didn’t have a great deal of time to do much, we had walked a lot (from the American side and across the bridge) and were trying to show our folks around in the time we had. Looks like we will be saving up for our passports for our next trip. Maybe that’ll be hubby’s Christmas gift. Speaking of which… he has wanted to come up when the falls are frozen over. When is usually the best time to see it all frozen?

2. 2 Rick
   September 22, 2006 at 2:36 pm

   The falls themselves never freeze. An ice bridge usually forms below the falls (where the Maid of the Mist travels) in the late winter (Feb./March). However, assuming that it is below freezing, the mist from the falls coats everything around the falls in a layer of ice, which is quite a spectacular sight. The best time is probably after there has been some snow and the temperatures are in the 20’sF. If we get some early snow,or even if we don’t, then the Festival of Lights in December is another good time.
   Just a note about passports. You won’t require them to return to the U.S. by land until Dec. 2007.

3. 3 sue
   September 22, 2006 at 2:55 pm

   the falls is absolutley breathtaking in the winter..but very slippery..haha…if you get the chance to go down into table rock..it’s hard to describe how beautiful ice and snow can be…and another beautiful thing..especially if you’re a photogragher..is the frozen ice dripped lamp posts all around the falls area…anyhow..we were just down again wednesday night till about noon yesterday..and yes graham..it was a perfectly beautiful day…we made our new years eve reservations (been wanting to go for now years for 25 years) at the comfort inn on clifton..checked around and only found ridiculous prices..comfort was quite reasonable..and i hope after some happy partying..i will get up my nerve to take a new year’s eve skywheel ride

4. 4 niagara
   September 22, 2006 at 7:37 pm

   If you fly into buffalo and cross the border into ontario by taxi after 1/1/07 is that acceptable?

5. 5 Rick
   September 22, 2006 at 7:55 pm

   Yes, as long as you are crossing the border on land. But also please note, it is not Canada that will require the passport. It is the U.S. that will require everyone, including Americans, to have passports to get into or return to the U.S.

6. 6 BensonsMom
   September 22, 2006 at 10:18 pm

   We had been to the falls in May one year, and there was still a LOT of ice on Terrapin point. So much that it was roped off and you could not get down there. We made it once about 3 years ago for the Festival of Lights in early January, but there was no snow or ice, it was rainy for the few days we were there. On that trip, we had been to the Skylon tower gift shop and an employee there said that sometimes the water freezes from the sides of the falls and narrows in and nearly touches on really cold years but that she had never seen it completely frozen over. (I wasn’t sure I believed that though - that water moves so fast how can it freeze??!!) My father-in-law has a few really nice pictures of the ice and snow from years ago. That’s what hubby would like to see so he can take pictures. (I’m not looking forward to the snow and ice - or frozen mist pelting me in the face) but it would be a new perspective. We’ve been there in the spring, summer and fall and that one rainy January, but have never seen snow there. We will have to shoot for late February/early March sometime.

   Does anyone know if the Maple Leaf Motel up by the Imax is still open? We stayed there on our last overnight trip. It was a nice little place, nice people, and we had considered staying there again, but were were worried once the new casino moved in that they’d sell.

7. 7 Rick
   September 23, 2006 at 9:56 am

   Yes, the Maple Leaf is still open. Hard to believe. The property must be worth a fortune.
   http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g154998-d252877-Reviews-The_Maple_Leaf_Motel-Niagara_Falls_Ontario.html

8. 8 BensonsMom
   September 23, 2006 at 9:01 pm

   Thanks Rick. We stayed there once, and the people that ran it were very nice. It was clean, comfortable and affordable. We loved that it is pretty close to everything without being in the center of everything. We had asked them if they planned to sell after the casino opened - they said no, they planned to stay and not change anything. We had expected a lot of new things to spring up around it and yes, expect that property could go for quite a bit of money. We plan to stay there again (as long as they stay open), our only problem is that they close in the winter months, so we will have to stay elsewhere if we visit then.

9. 9 Rick
   September 24, 2006 at 2:38 pm

   Sorry to hear that. If you prefer motels to the large hotels, here are some others in the same area:
   Lincoln Motor Inn http://www.lincolnmotorinn.com/

   Vacation Inn http://www.vacationniagara.com/

   Knights Inn by the Falls http://www.knightsinn.net/bythefalls/

   Fairway Motor Inn http://www.niagarafallslive.com/fairway_motor_inn.htm

   Econolodge near the Falls http://www.choicehotels.com/ires/en-US/html/HotelInfo?hotel=CN442&sid= - 42k -

10. 10 sue
    September 25, 2006 at 2:05 pm

    i know comfort inn on the hill may not be very small..but it’s the cleanest hotel we’ve ever stayed in..in room coffee..and a free continental breakfast..and boston pizza is a 5 mnute walk across the skywheel park..very reasonable also..it’s just in far enough in off the hill and a great view of the skywheel if you get a balcony room.. just my 2 cents

11. 11 BensonsMom
    September 26, 2006 at 10:58 pm

    We’ve stayed at a variety of places during our visits - the larger ones and the motels. It just depends on what’s available, what time of year it is and in what price range we have the budget for at the time. There was just something we liked about the Maple Leaf. And the fact that these people wanted to stick it out even after everything was growing around them was nice. So it would be nice to help keep them in business if they are still around. They told us they go ‘home’ for the winter months.

    In the winter, I’d rather stay near everything - then I don’t have to walk in the cold as long. And when you get cold - stay someplace with plenty to do. In the summer we are out all day, so why pay a lot for a room we aren’t going to be in. They all have their pros and cons. I don’t think we’ve ever stayed anywhere that we didn’t enjoy our stay.