In the morning we had our hearty breakfast in the kitchen--coffee and toast. At this point I was quite glad that Peter had brought individual packets of Nutella from the McDonald's in Frankfurt, as they added to the breakfast.
Despite the quirks of the hotel and the price, I asked if we could stay another night simply because I didn't want to pack up and look elsewhere the Friday of Labor Day weekend. She said they were booked up but she might be able to get us a room at a friend of hers who rents out rooms. Scary. Meanwhile I called AAA and got a booking at an EconoLodge in Buffalo ($71 a night--ouch!)
Shortly afterwards, though, a young Japanese man came and asked if she had beds for the night and she said she did! A little irritated, I asked her, "do you have rooms or not?" Then she said she did but the price goes up to $85 for the weekend. I said, "what about the dorm beds?" She said they were available and they were $25 each. I said we'd take them.
With the hotel situation settled, we could go on and enjoy our day. It was only a 4 block walk to the entrance of the Rainbow Bridge to Canada. Since I had walked around the park on the American side before but had heard the Canadian side was better, I suggested we walk to Canada. All I had to do at U.S. and Canadian customs was say I was U.S. citizen; no I.D. was requested. Peter had to get his passport stamped but otherwise had no problems crossing the border. Non-citizens are advised to be sure they have the right documents before they cross. One poor couple from Japan was not sure if they could cross or not, but there was no one at the window who could answer their questions, and no way to enter the immigration office without trying to cross the border. Damn INS.
For those of us lucky enough to cross, on the Canadian side we got an amazing view of the American Falls; a full frontal view rather than the profile you get from the American side. And I could finally understand why Horseshoe Falls got its name--that is, I could actually see the horseshoe shape. We continued along the scenic path to a point where the wind was blowing so much mist from Horseshoe Falls, walking through there was like taking a shower. In fact, I got a great picture of Peter pretending to scrub up with soap.
After walking maybe a mile or so, we walked back towards the bridge. We stopped for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe Niagara Falls (Ontario), the first time Peter had been to a Hard Rock Cafe. After lunch we walked back to the American side, saw the falls from that viewpoint, and started to walk towards Goat Island but I was really too tired to make the sojourn over the bridge. Plus Peter wanted to get postcards and things. So we stopped in one of the cheesy tourist shops and then headed towards what was labeled "outlet mall." But the only outlet stores we saw were tacky souvenir outlets. Horrible.
By the time we got back to Olde Niagara House our room was ready for us, so we took a much-needed late afternoon nap. At about 8:30 p.m. we started our trek back to Canada to see the illumination of the falls and the fireworks. The Canadians shine a series of different-colored lights on the falls--teal, purple, pink, white, and multicolored. The illumination takes place year round but the fireworks happen only on Fridays in the summer and this was the last show of the summer season. It was a modest display but a nice way to mark the beginning of the end of summer.
After the show we walked back to America and stopped for dinner at a hot dog stand that also sold Buffalo wings. The wings were good but needed more hot sauce. Also, the stand did not serve alcohol, and chicken wings don't seem right without beer. However, the only alternative was to go to the gas station to get beer and that seemed pathetic so we settled for soda.