Finding your Happy Weight: Canada: Trip 1...

Well...I figured since we were spending part of this week in Canada, now would be a fun time to show you a glimpse at our OTHER trip above the border: Toronto & Niagara Falls! I can't say there was too much food to discuss, but there were a lot of really cool things to see & do along the way:)

OK...I lied a bit. I did have one of my all-time favorite breakfasts in Toronto:) My friend found this little place called Cora's and I had an awesome light AND decadent breakfast all rolled into one! I had brie cheese baked with with almond and maple syrup and a BOATLOAD of beautifully presented fruit! Sooooooo delicious, light, healthy but with a little devilish kick from the maple cheese;) Where are you, Cora??? COME TO NEW JERSEY! :) Loved this breakfast!

And since we came to Toronto under a torrent of rain & fog...much of our sightseeing had to be done as we were LEAVING the city;) But it was such a clean, QUIET (Scott STILL talks about how there were NO HORNS in Toronto:) and gorgeous city. And we got a nice birds eye view of it from:

The CN Tower! Can you beat this view???

You could also take a stroll across the tower's glass floor with a view of 1,122' straight down! That'll get your heart rate up in a hot minute, let me tell ya! :)

And if THAT isn't enough of a view for you...you can also visit the '1465 feet from earth' Skypod! Another 33 stories from the main observation tower....which you can see below us in this picture:

Let me tell ya, the air was PRETTY thin up there! We took a stroll around the top and gladly went back down to Earth:)

And as soon as we hit the ground, we headed off to our main destination: Niagara Falls!!! We stayed at the Marriott: Falls View which was a BEAUTIFUL hotel right across from the Falls! You could NOT beat the view from our room:

They even had a little window so you could hear the roar of the falls in your room....so cool! We LOVED this place!

And our first order of business after we dropped our bags was the Maid of the Mist. OK, I figured this was going to be a cheesy-tourist destination, but still a "must do"...well, I'm glad we did, because riding in that boat right next to the falls was one of the most UNBELIEVABLE things I've EVER seen, witnessed, experienced, etc. It was just IN-CREDIBLE....

It was no joke:) hahhahahahhaa....

If you ever go to NF, seriously, DO NOT skip The Maid! There really is a reason for it being the main attraction there! I know we'll never, ever forget it!

And awe-inspirations calls for a little snack...no? :) And what more appropriate than the Great Canadian Bear Claws;)

Cute, right?? :)

We walked around to a few more 'touristy destinations' in the area, before heading back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. OH, and WHAT a dinner we had! We ate at the Terrapin Grill at our hotel which, although the Falls view wasn't as nice as the one in our room, turned into one of those fabulous 3 hour-ish 'loungy type' dinners that I LOVEEEEEEE:)

I started with the delicious goat cheese & strawberry toast with balsamic (again, sorry for the BRIGHT pictures! :)

Then a Caesar salad...which stood out in my mind because it had BACON in it:)....so good:)

And my main course was salmon with jasmine rice. I forget what the sauce was, but I just remember this dish being HEA-VEN-LY!!

And Scott's dinner was pretty awesome too: Stuffed Chicken with the best dide rish...risotto cakes! YUM!

And after a round of cappuccinos and creme brulees, our fun quickly ended as the bill arrived;) hahahahahaha....my friend's reaction to it STILL cracks me up;)

Oh well...you only live once, right??? :) hahahahaha...(Right, Scott?? Right???;)

The next morning, we headed down to the ADORABLE nearby little town of Niagara-on-the-Lake to stroll around...

It was a BEAUTIFUL little town, albeit small & VERY quiet:) But it was soooooo clean (a shocker to us East Coasters;), and beautifully maintained. I was so in love with all of the little decorative touches throughout the town.. It was just picture perfect...

After that, we headed BACK to MAIN Niagara for another trip UPward. This time to the Skylon Towers....

With picture perfect views of both the Canadian Falls....

And the American Falls...

And next was our:

OK...again...this is up close and personal to the falls and it was NO JOKE! It was loud & thrilling...and moderately scary (aka-claustrophobic) in the tunnels, so I was pretty grateful to hit the outdoor viewing platform...even if it felt like preparing for battle to go out there;) hahahahahahaha...

And yes...you look amazing ALL of the time in Niagara because you spend it in an array of rain coats. It's just how you roll when your there;)
OK....and here was yet another COMPLETE surprise from the trip. We headed down to the White Water Walk, which was a long stretch of wooden planks & platforms that ran alongside of the river downstream from the falls....

And once you went a ways down the planks, you were met with all of the beautiful and POWERFUL white water rapids! It was hypnotizingly beautiful...SUCH a great surprise!

And did I mention HUGE????? This will give you an idea of their vastness....

Definitely one of those "realizing how small you are" moments in life:) DO NOT MISS the White Water Walk!

We also visited the IMAX theater, Niagara's Fury (which my friend SCREAMED through...so I guess you could say it was...affective;), took a ride on the SkyWheel (which scared ME to death...I don't do heights at a slow moving pace!;) and just enjoyed all of our time there. The area to walk around is just beautiful along the falls...you could just watch them for hours:)

For dinner that night...we went WAY over to the side of "TOURIST" and visited the "Oh Canada, Eh!" Dinner Show to round out our trip with ALL things Canadian:) I have to say, it was a REALLY cute show...and we even got some laughs out of the boys, which was IMPRESSIVE to say the least:)

The dinner was really decent too...the highlights of which included an OBSCENE amount of Canadian white bread with butter:) Literally...we ate like 5 baskets...it tasted like gold at the time;) hahahhahahaa....

And our VERY Canadian Maple Coffee....because you just HAD to get Coffee that involved Maple AND Canadian flags;)

But seriously, doesn't a picture of 2 husbands with Anne Of Green Gables just SCREAMMMM "Worth it???" Ummmm....YES it Does! :)

And ANOTHER "not to be missed/NO Joke/Up close & personal with the Falls" trip was one we took on our way home and stopped off at the New York side of the Falls. It was called the "Caves of the Winds." Now I would not have skipped this for anything...HOWEVER...it MIGHT have been a bit nicer when this water that was POURING over our sandeled feet wasn't somewhere in the 50 degree-ish range...

Yeah...it was FREEEEZING, but the experience was Absolutely worth it! Standing almost as close as possible to being UNDER the falls was indescribable. OK, 2 descriptions: Loud & Cold, but spectacular none the less;)

So there you have it: My NOT to miss guide of Niagara:) It really was SUCH a nice trip. Sure, there are now TONS of tourist-y traps (Wax museums, "Oh Canada, Ah" dinner shows and such;), but it all can't take away from the main attraction: The completely awe inducing and beautiful falls!