Our next stop was Niagara Falls. I was very excited for this stop, not just to see the Falls, but also because we were stopping to see friends. Our good family friend, Ann, grew up in Niagara, and her parents still live there. We couldn’t wait to visit them!
We arrived around noon, and Toni (who I’ve always known as Grandmere) and Bob were waiting for us. They were so welcoming and sweet! The first thing Toni did was point out the house next door, and tell us she was born there. I thought that was awesome.
They led us into the house, and like any good Italian grandparents, they immediately started plying us with food. Homemade meatballs (unbelievably good!), which Toni insisted we eat with our hands (I complied!). Cold cuts, bread from the bakery, fresh mozzarella, summer fruit, veggies straight from the garden, and to top it all off, homemade strawberry shortcake. It'd been almost two weeks since we’d been in a home, sat a table without a menu, and it felt fantastic. We didn’t realize how much we’d missed being in a home, let alone being spoiled like this!
We talked about Ann and her husband Steve, and their kids, Seth and Sasha, the best kids I ever babysat. (I always say they were my first set of kids—they broke me in for Mark, all these years later. Now, the Fera-Schanes’ aren’t just friends—they’re family!)
They asked about our trip so far, and we told them all about it, including the Louisville Slugger museum. Toni was thrilled about that, and told us about her favorite baseball player, Derek Jeter, and how much she loved him. I thought she was gonna cry when I told her we got to hold Derek’s bats at the factory! She was so excited about that.
We tried to help clear the table, but Toni fought us off. Instead, she guided us down the hall, and gave us a tour of the house. It was so cool to see where my friend Ann grew up, and just listening to Toni and Bob tell stories about all their kids was hilarious. They even showed us their room, where Edra pointed to a picture taped on the dresser.
“There’s Derek Jeter!” Edra said. Toni sighed dreamily, and Bob smacked his forehead.
“Even in my own bedroom!” Bob cried. “Can you believe that?” But he smiled when he said it.
We promised meet back up for dinner later and left to check in to the hotel and see the Falls. Our hotel was only mile away, and when we pulled into the parking lot, I could hear the roaring waterfalls. I was so excited!!
Our hotel was right at the edge of the park—it took about three minutes to walk to the falls. I couldn’t believe how much water poured down over that ledge, and how quickly. It was loud, too! We hadn’t brought our passports, so we stayed on the American side. I was amazed at how close up you could get to them, and how big they really were.
Mark and I couldn’t wait to get on the Maid of the Mist, the boat at the bottom of the falls. Edra had been before, so she opted out, but Mark and I raced for the elevator.
We traded our tickets for blue plastic ponchos, which we pulled over our heads. It was hot, hot, hot, a muggy, humid hot, and the plastic clung to our hot bodies. I think that was the last dry moment of the ride!
Since it was Monday, we missed the weekend crowds and walked straight onto the boat. It headed past the first falls, the American Falls, which were gorgeous and relatively calm, although not calm enough that I could envision riding down them in a barrel.
The blue ponchos didn’t help much—we got wet. The water was ice cold, but felt great. I took my glasses off because I hate when I get rain on them, but it didn’t seem to bother Mark any.
Then it was on to the Horseshoe Falls, on the Canadian side. These falls were loud, thundering, massive falls, literally walls of water five stories high just exploding into the lake. It was crazy how much water came pouring over the cliff every second! You couldn’t hear anyone or anything but the pounding water, coming at you from three directions. I couldn't even get a good shot of the Horseshoe Falls, because I was worried all the water would ruin my camera.
We’d gotten a little wet from the American Falls, but here, it was ridiculous. We got DRENCHED. As in wet. As in shirts-dripping, hair-plastered-to-our-heads, soaking wet. And we couldn’t stop laughing! It was so funny, the amount of water that hit us—you couldn’t escape it anywhere on the boat, you just tried to move to a different side, but the water was splashing in from everywhere. You had to just go with it, and laugh.
The Maid returned us through the mist and back to shore. We tore off our ponchos and rode the elevator up to the observation deck. Mark took one step out on to the deck, screamed, “WHOA!” and braced himself from a sudden gust of hot air.
It was crazy windy up there, a hot, powerful wind that felt like someone was pointing a giant hair dryer at us. We stood looking over the wall, and were completely dry in about five minutes.
It was almost time for dinner, so we picked up Edra, and headed back to the Feras. They took us to their favorite local Italian restaurant, the Como, for what was seriously the best chicken Parmesan I’ve ever had.
We had such a great time! The Feras knew everyone who walked in the door, and had stories about every building on the block. I could’ve sat with them all night, just listening and laughing.
They’d been so kind to us, Edra and I wanted to thank them for their hospitality by buying them dinner. We didn’t realize that doing so would offend them to their very core, and we felt terrible about that. For a few minutes, it looked like we’d ruined the night, but Bob saved us all by insisting we let him treat us to dessert.
“I’m good with that!” Mark quickly answered, and so it was settled. We piled into their car and drove off for ice cream.
The car radio was playing big band music, and Toni said, “Oh, Glen Miller, my favorite!” And suddenly, our two-hour detour in Iowa was not in vain.
“We drove through Clarinda, Iowa, birthplace of Glen Miller!” I told Toni proudly. “We drove right down Glen Miller Boulevard!”
She clapped her hands excitedly, and I just smiled. Who knew I’d ever get a chance to impress anybody with that little tidbit of info?
The ice cream store turned out to be the most adorable place ever. It was called De-Dee’s Dairy, and offered all sorts of awesome flavors, including cake-infused ice creams.
I got a mint ice cream cone with hunks of chocolate cake in it that was fab, and Edra got lemon cake in hers. I think Mark got one with bubblegum inside, but he wolfed it down so quickly I couldn’t tell.
The cones were HUMONGOUS—seriously, the biggest cone I’ve ever had! Toni and Bob warned us to get the “baby” scoop, which was the smallest size they offered.
This is a “baby” scoop--after the kid ate about half of it!
Like I said, we had such a blast, we could have stayed out with the Feras all night. The sun stayed out late, and I was shocked to see it was almost 10 p.m. So, sadly, we bid the Feras a fond farewell, and returned to the hotel. We had an early morning waiting for us, which was the bad news, and a full day of driving, also bad news. It was also our last day of the road trip, completing the trifecta of bad news. But the good news was that it we would end it in Maine, with Amber, and start a whole new vacation adventure.
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