With Nicole’s birthday on the approach, I thought I’d get last year’s first – of what will hopefully be many – Birthday Challenges. Seeing her birthday as an opportunity to face her fears, for her birthday in April 2011 we were visiting Niagara Falls, and Nic decided that she would take advantage of the Skywheel and put her fear of heights to the test. This is the short version of that video, and runs just over 4 minutes long.

Having the opportunity to escape the winter greys for a few days in sunny Florida, we again hopped the border and flew out of Niagara Falls International Airport. The still little known airport is a hub for the smaller charter airlines, however getting direct transportation from Toronto continues to prove elusive.
With a mid-morning flight our options for getting there on time meant a 7AM Megabus out of Toronto, and a relatively quick border crossing on the 23rd, or staying overnight at one of the hotels in Niagara Falls, and cabbing …

In our ongoing efforts to get places in the cheapest way possible, we went down to Florida in February via Niagara Falls (US) International Airport.  Not a lot of people actually know that this airport exists – when we mentioned it to people, they often said ‘Oh, you mean Buffalo.’  Though Buffalo does have a rather nice airport that we’ve had the opportunity to spend a fair amount of time in – there is actually an airport in Niagara Falls.  One would be forgiven for not knowing this given the …

Despite how much Nicole and I have always liked visiting Niagara Falls, I’ve never been able to reconcile the place as the “Honeymoon Capital of the World.” While the Falls themselves do hold a certain romance to them, the city itself just doesn’t embody the type of intimacy expected of a place holding that claim.

We certainly had a hell of time finding anything that would offer a decent meal other than a major chain. And something to take your significant other to? Good luck. Outside of the Red Chateau, there …

Between my family visiting from Wales, and us returning a few weeks later for Nic’s birthday, we had the chance to really try and take the new Niagara Falls in. And meet the occasional bunny along the way.
The last time we’d been there had almost been ten years ago and Clifton Hill – aside from the Falls and the casinos the only other thing to do – had a lot more of a Midway feel to it with all manner of fairground games and wax museums scattered up the …