2001 niagara trip

8/14/2019 2001 Niagara Trip

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the issue. We had a good time looking at all the colourful movie props and costumes ondisplay, groovin' to the colourful music that was playing. We could even hear it outside and Iwas really getting into Aretha Franklin's “Respect”, dancing up on the benches, pretending Iwas in a musical.

Our next stop was the Hershey Chocolate Factory Outlet store> Everything looked so good

but it was all rather expensive. I was debating whether or not to get a chocolate bar.Fortunately, Janette had a coupon entitling everyone in our party to a free Hershey's Kiss, sowe each had a taste of chocolate after all.

There was an adjoining area with old Science Centre exhibits next door and I had a great timetracing a star shape in the mirror. I'd done this before years ago. The idea is not to hit any of the lines or it will beep. Quite an improvement since childhood because I managed to getthrough it with only making it beep once or twice. Perhaps practice comes from putting on myown KISS-style makeup, as I am no stranger to star-shapes in the mirror there!

From there, we went to the “Poople Mever” stop because before lunch when we were atOakes Garden Theatre, we'd been discussing the idea of going for a helicopter ride. Our minds were made up to go for it so we rode the “Poople Mever” down to the area where wecrossed the road to get to the helicopter place. At first it looked like nobody was there. Wehad to push a button for service and seemed to have to wait quite awhile. I was getting sillywith the Lenny Kravitz song “I Want to Fly Away” while we waited to register. Janette haddone the helicopter ride before back in 1988 and when she did she felt sick. Therefore, shestayed safely on the ground this time.

Mark and I paid for our tickets and pretty soon we found ourselves standing in the magnificentwind of the propeller as we beheld the sound of its mighty roar. Tingling with anticipation, wesat down, buckled our seat belts and put on our earphones. There was an exciting rush as thehelicopter lifted off and music played through our earphones with a recorded commentary.Unfortunately, something went wrong with the audio system. That certainly didn't stop us fromenjoying the view, though. In reverent, awed silence, I marveled at the incredible sightsbeneath me, taking pictures as we hovered above the Falls at dizzying angles, feelingperfectly safe and comfortable up there. This must be what it feels like to be an eagle, Ithought, soaring effortlessly above the plume of the mighty, cascading waters.

It all ended too quickly and all too soon we were back on the ground. Mark picked me up andswung me around. With a heartfelt “BRRRR-YOW-YOW-YOW!!!” I ran over to Janette andpicked her up and swung her around. Then Mark picked her up and swung her around. It wasone of those priceless moments of giddy euphoria with allthat swinging and laughing goingon.

After a look around in the gift shop where I bought a roll of film, we got back onto the “PoopleMever”. This was one of those quaint little ones that's kind of like a glorified school bus andfor much of the ride we had it all to ourselves, chatting jovially with the driver, taking in thesights, enjoying the “luxury of being chauffeured around.” Instead of taking a “Poople Mever”that would bring us straight back to the Falls, we took one that went as far as it could go, justpast the Floral Clock first before it headed back again. If it had been later in the season wecould have ridden all the way to the Brock Monument area. Unfortunately, it doesn't go that far this time of year.



We finally exited at the greenhouse. What a wondrous place awaited us with all its birds andflowers everywhere! We lingered at the pond to watch our beloved “toitles” and I enjoyedhearing the birds singing, whistling back at them and carrying on a “conversation.” I forgetwhether it was this visit or the second one where I noticed the giant “remon”. It was as big asa grapefruit. I tried to photograph it but my flash batteries must have been dead.

After having seen the greenhouse, we gradually made our way back to the motel for our siesta time.

That evening we enjoyed a leisurely dinner of fish and chips at Pilgrim's, same place we'dbeen for lunch. “Hey, isn't that Doo-Doo the clown out there?” I'd tease as I'd snatch fries frommy friends' plates.

After dinner we pretty much floated along from shop to shop, browsing in various places alongClifton Hill, etc. Janette majorly butchered me at air-hockey! At some point I had my portraitsketched by a computerized machine. And, of course, we did manage to catch a glimpse of the illuminated Falls.

Unfortunately, Karaoke singing was out of the question this weekend as the Beer Garden wasnot open yet.

We made our usual nightly ritual of picking up snacks at the 7-11. I got my traditional frozencappuccino, saving it for the motel where I could look forward to enjoying it in a luxuriousbubble bath. However, it seemed to lack the usual ambiance it had when we'd stay at theMaple Leaf. In fact I almost forgot to take it with me and had to ask Janette to bring it. There'sone drawback to mixed company sharing a motel room together..

Saturday morning it was very cold. The sky was gray and overcast and when I opened thecurtains I was stunned to see a layer of snow all over everything.

Undaunted, we dressed eagerly and made our way to our favorite breakfast buffet placewhere we loaded up our plates in some fine style, fueling up for the busy day of adventureawaiting us...

We thought we might go up the Skylon but we were turned off by a fast-talking saleslady witha too-good-to-be-true deal. $20 for all three of us to go up there and have dinner but another $20 for some tour or something. Forget it.

We soon found ourselves wandering back to our beloved greenhouse. Since I'm not used toNiagara in the wintertime, the snow falling all around us made for a somewhat surrealexperience, especially seeing it outside while we were in with all these palm trees!

After that we started to make our way back, thinking we might want to go on the “RideNiagara” simulator. However, we were shocked to discover that it had been closed down.There was even an eviction notice posted in the window. Oh well, one less thing to spendmoney on. We browsed around in several shops before deciding on special souvenirs. Wewere in the shop near Oakes Garden Theatre where I spotted a lovely little ceramic PTCcarousel zebra on a rocker. He was so unusual I just had to have him. I adored the well-loved



look they gave him complete with cracks and chipped paint to reveal the “wood' underneath. Idecided to forget the “Planet Hollywood” glasses and toe-ring/candle set in favor of my littlezebra. Carousel horse ornaments are a dime a dozen. You don't see zebras every day.Besides he was only half price. I eventually decided to name him Zimmus. Remind me to tellyou why later.

We made our way up along Clifton Hill and I was delighted to discover that my favorite store,the Rock Legends” gift shop was open. As usual, I gave into temptation and got myself aKISS T-shirt. This particular KISS T-shirt was unusual because it was more like a sweatshirtwith long sleeves. It was also a “Psycho Circus” shirt. I didn't have any “Psycho Circus” T-shirts before because to be honest I haven't really liked the ones I've seen. The onesavailable at their concert often had either reference to the F-word or a picture of a nakedwoman on the back. Even though she's somewhat tastefully depicted, I still wouldn't feel rightabout wearing such a ting. This one, however, shows the four KISS guys standing in a largecage, bending the bars.

I also sorted through the assortment of CD's they had for sale and was delighted to find aBlue Rodeo CD for only $7.99. Awesome! I love Blue Rodeo, especially their songs“Somebody Waits” (2000 Shining Moments) and “What am I Doing Here?”, the latter whichwas on this, their “Casino” album.

After I paid the cashier (with my notorious well-worn VISA card which was acting up as usual)I felt like I had to go to the bathroom really badly so I told Mark and Janette they could catchup with me later and hot-footed ahead of them as fast as I could run. So fast, in fact that Ialmost passed the hotel. Whew! Made it! Unfortunately, the maid still hadn't made our bedssop I buzzed around like a blue-bottle fly, making them myself. Even though we pay for suchservice, at least it's one less chore for her to have to do.

When I finished making the beds I retreated to the luxury of the “baffy-waffy” as we'd come tocall it. When I came out, Mark and Janette had the radio tuned to an Oldies' station. We triedto relax but it was hard to with all the noise outside. The laundry cart was making its rounds,its wheels rattling noisily on the concrete balconies outside the suites. Sure enough, the door opened and in came the maid, surprised that I'd already done her job for her! Usually theycome around mid morning. At least they did at the maple Leaf. It had to be around 4:30 pmnow.

I found the lyrics to some of the songs on the radio were starting to make me feel very sadand depressed so we soon decided we had to get out and have an early supper. “I need aBEER!!” I growled as we made our way to our favorite Chinese restaurant, the Lotus garden.

We enjoyed a salubrious feast. My Labatt's Blue hit the spot and went well with my hot, zestyshrimp kung-po. It was funny, but Chinese food this evening was actually less expensive thanour lunch. At some point earlier in the day we'd had soup and dessert at Pilgrim's and it kindof ended up being a complicated schlamozzle. It's usually been able to split the bill becausemost of the time we've usually ordered the same thing. At least both Pilgrim's and the LotusGarden are restaurants that have always been peaceful.

After we ate, we made our way down Clifton Hill and went to the other arcade where Janetteand I played a rip-roaring game of air-hockey. I forget who won, but somehow the machine



malfunctioned in our favor and we ended up with an unlimited number of free games.Between the three of us, we must have slammed the puck around for at least an hour. It wasa good way to let off some steam, however I played so aggressively I had bruises all over myright leg from banging into the table and the mesh compartment on my purse tore opencausing change to spill everywhere. We had quite the workout before “calling it a George” andheading to the 7-11 for our respective night-caps.

Cappuccino coolers are passe, I thought as I filled a litre Big Gulp with 1/3 Coke, 1/3 iced teaand 1/3 Dr. Pepper. Mark followed suit, but Janette was reluctant to try this new concoctionwhich soon came to be known as the non-alcoholic Earthling version of the Pan-GalacticGargle Blaster. We took our refreshments to our room. “If we were going to put alcohol in it itwould have to be something pretty strong.” I said, “Maybe that 40 proof Jamaican rum or evenGrappa.” Grappa is a very strong Italian substance. “I wonder where we can get Grappa.”

“Same place you getta da Grandma!” said Mark and we all started getting silly talking withItalian accents.

Janette and I had switched beds that night so I could have the one closer to the windowbecause that's where the heater was. I'd been feeling cold during siesta time. However, now itwas too hot and I was out of clean KISS T-shirts, save the one I'd just bought. The one I'dworn this evening was all sugary from all the sweat I'd worked up during air-hockey which hadcaused my candy necklace to melt and partially disintegrate! I ended up just wearing mypajama top and underwear. If there's one drawback to sharing a motel room in mixedcompany...

At least we slept reasonably well and didn't have much trouble waking up. Breakfast wasmuffins and fruit we'd bought the night before with free coffee from the lobby. When wechecked out, the staff was okay with letting us leave our stuff in the lobby. There'd always besomeone there to keep an eye on things.

It was a long walk to church and poor Janette wasn't feeling very well. However, a cheerfullittle robin, the first I'd personally seen all season, seemed to be following us along the way.

It was quite chilly out and we looked forward to stopping somewhere to get out of the cold.We soon found a convenience store. This was where I;d made up my mind that if I didn't seeany magazines I liked I'd make my own. Therefore, I invested in this spiral-bound notebook, abox of Crayolas, a pencil sharpener and the good old-fashioned lead pencil I used to writeout this first draft in.

It was good to get to Main Street baptist Church. There was no need to work on my newproject just yet folks were so friendly , we quickly lost ourselves in conversation. Many of themremembered us from last year and were glad to see us. Sunday School class was fun and weenjoyed singing many familiar choruses. The lesson really hit the spot too. I forget exactlywhat it was about except that it mentioned Jesus talking to Nicodemus. Then there was theservice in the sanctuary and that was good too.

After the service we were invited to stay for a soup and sandwich luncheon in the fellowshiphall. At first, Janette, who wasn't feeling well and couldn't think clearly, fretted about not beingable to make it back to our motel in time to grab our luggage and reach the bus terminal.



However, Judy, the organist, offered us a ride to our respective destinations when lunch wasover. We had an enjoyable meal and pat, the librarian, bought a CD from me. However, I hadto mail it to her later as this was my only copy left and I had to show it as a sample at theClown Alley banquet the next evening.

As planned, Judy brought us back to the motel, where we quickly grabbed our gear, and took

us to the bus terminal. As we waited for our bus I sharpened my pencil and startedbrainstorming ideas, getting out the crayons to decorate my title page. “The photo's going togo right here.” I said.

The journey back to Toronto seemed to go by incredibly fast this time as I eagerly scribbleddown the first article in my notebook. At least I managed to finish the “editorial” and the articleon tattoos.

As for Zimmus, his name comes from a Hebrew word meaning a great feast. A Zimmus is anelaborate stew served at Jewish weddings and other festivals. It contains fruits, vegetablesand a whole bunch of other salubrious injittiments. But by no means am I suggesting anythingabout making a poor, helpless zebra into stew because on the other hand, Zimmus is also acolloquial expression for a long, loquacious story (like the kinds I tend to tell, LOL!). A klezmer band on CBC radio called themselves Zimmus in light of this information and I considered itappropo for my little zebra who now stands proudly on my shelf next to my Sunflower horseJan gave me, both with their unusual riders. A Gene Simmons action figure grins menacinglyfrom the Sunflower horse, looking not unlike some surreal rider from the apocalypse. On theother hand, Tomfoolery, a cheerful stuffed ladybird, rides Zimmus looking like Gene's peculiar,

juxtaposed happy-go-lucky sidekick.

All in all, it never fails, we always tend to make a “zimmus” about our annual Niagara Trips

2001 niagara trip

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