The Cave Tapas Bar & Lounge

There is a newish tapas restaurant near my girlfriend Tina's house that she has been talking about a lot recently. It is called The Cave. They have shadow dancing on Tuesdays where girls dance behind a screen to music and all you can see are their shadows. It sounded kind of neat, so I have been wanting to check it out for awhile now.

www.thecavetapasbar.com

The night definitely started out badly. I was on my way and my car started making a rattling noise. The rattling quickly turned into rattling and squealing. All of the sudden, my power steering went out and all the lights in my dash started blinking on and off! The next thing I know my car is over heating, so I pulled into a the first parking lot I came to which was a church. Maybe it was a sign from God that I am supposed to be in church. Maybe. Maybe not. My friend Brian that was meeting us came to pick me up and I decided just to go ahead to the tapas place since there really wasn't anything we could do until morning.

We got to The Cave and I was impressed with how nice the interior looked. There were tables with couches as well as others with chairs. They serve free nachos on Tuesdays nights, so I started with those and drank my current favorite beer--Yuengling. The nachos were good, especially since they were free. ;) Then I ordered the fried green tomatoes and those were awesome. I thought they were slightly greasy looking when they first arrived, but the taste made me forget about it. This is one of my favorite appetizers, so I can often be a little overly critical, but I thought it was great. It was topped with goat cheese, red tomatoes, and a pepper sauce. Anything involving goat cheese is likely going to be a winner in my book. The atmosphere was good and it was a slightly older crowd and I totally prefer that.

When it was time to go, Brian gave me a ride back to my van to collect some of my things and was going to take me home. We passed by a lake with a fountain in the middle and he suggested we stop and check it out. I am always up for an adventure, so I agreed. We saw a good climbing tree while walking down to the lake and got distracted by that for awhile. I also love climbing trees. It just doesn't matter how old I get. Then he said to me, "Do you see what I see?" I looked over and saw several canoes on the shore of the lake. Guess what we did? Oh yes. Hijacked (borrowed) a canoe and paddled around this lake in Kennesaw for about an hour. Definitely an experience to remember. Who does stuff like that?

Goodbye Niagara Falls

It was finally time to head back to the United States to catch the plane. I was definitely sad to go. I felt like I could have spent another week there without getting bored. I missed the kids desperately though, so I wanted to get back and snuggle with my babies. I had an amazing time and would love to go back sometime with the kids. If only plane tickets were cheaper......

White Water Walk

I had planned to get up super early on our last day to do and see as much as possible before we left. Sleep interfered with that some, but we managed to fit a few things in. We started with the White Water Walk. It was the last attraction left on our adventure pass and was really neat. We took another long elevator down to the bottom of the Gorge and walked along the rapids. They were really cool to see up close.

http://www.niagaraparks.com/nfgg/whitewater.php

Our Last Day Of Overeating In Canada

For lunch that day we went to Hooters for the All-You-Can-Eat Wings special. Eric really likes to eat until he feels sick. Again, I told them it was his birthday and they made him wear balloons boobies and stand in a chair while they sang. All good times for me. ;)

That night we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and drinks. It looked really cool inside. There was obviously lots of music memorabilia everywhere. We sat at the bar that was lined with lava lamps. The food was only okay for me though and of course again--overpriced. We still had a good time and got to bed relatively early since we had a big day of traveling the next day.

http://www.hooters.to/niagara.html

http://www.hardrock.com/locations/cafes3/cafes.aspx?LocationID=72&MenuID=15&MIBEnumID=3

Whirlpool Jet Boat

On Memorial Day when we woke up, priority one was to schedule our jetboat tour. We ended up choosing the 4pm trip to get a break in price. When we got there we went through a short safety orientation first. We were given all sorts of gear to wear. Over our regular clothes was a wool sweater that was supposed to keep us relatively warm, then a full body coverall-type suit with another poncho and life jacket on top of that! We had to wear these slimy little water shoes instead of our regular shoes since everything would get so wet. Eric really wanted to get in the front of the boat, so we hurried into the gear so we could get in the front of the line. We ended up on the second row, which seemed to be all right too. In fact, one of our guides indicated that the second row gets slightly wetter than the first row since they are guarded by a little window. We started off slow going down the Niagara River. The United States was on one side of us and Canada on the other. The Canadian side was mostly trees. Everything appeared to be pretty much in its natural state. The United States side had several multi-million dollar homes, including Hillary Clinton's summer home. Things that make you go hmmmm. Why can't we just leave things beautiful for everyone to enjoy? Why to we isolate certain areas for just the rich? So many areas really. But I digress....We went through the Class 5 rapids on the river. We went on a few "test" spins and what they called a Mickey Mouse run before we did the real thing. We still got pretty wet during that part, but it was easy sprays and such. When we went for the "real thing" it was like having several bathtubs of freezing cold water thrown right into your face. Doesn't that sound like fun? Really it was though. Exhilarating. The natural instinct when you have cold water dumped on you is to gasp. Naturally when you try this you inhale and drink quite a bit of the river water. I could taste it for the next day or so. ;) The entire ride lasted for about an hour or so. When we headed back to the dock, I was definitely really cold, but it was so nice to ride and feel the wind on my face. Eric and I had a great time and I think it was the highlight of the trip for both of us.

http://www.whirlpooljet.com/

More Nightlife

That night for dinner we went to the all-you-can-eat buffet at the Casino Niagara. We were both a little disappointed in the selections, but when you have been spoiled by Golden Corral in the South...what can you do?


We left there and went back to the Wild Mushroom for a nightcap. I was freezing and had forgotten my jacket. I tried to convince Eric to run over to the hotel and get it, but he was being resistant. He left for a few minutes and came back with an XXL t-shirt that said "My boyfriend went to Niagara Falls and all he got me was this stupid t-shirt". Ummm.....let's just say it wasn't exactly what I had had in mind.


We ran into a crazy girl on the walk back to the hotel. She was going to give us a ride the two blocks up the road because she wanted someone to eat at Denny's with her. She drove right at a police car and asked them if they wanted to eat at Denny's as well. She wasn't drunk, just a bit off. She apparently showed Eric some papers at some point showing that she was certifiably crazy. Where do we meet these people?

Niagara Falls Botanical Gardens and Butterfly Conservatory

We stopped for lunch at Kelsey's. They were giving samples of their peppercorn burger away outside of the restaurant when we walked by and it was too delicious to resist. We shared one of the peppercorn burgers and a spinach dip. They were both to die for. I think Kelsey's was my favorite place to eat out of all of the restaurants we went to while we were there.

http://www.cliftonhill.com/niagara_falls_restaurants/kelseys_restaurant/

After that we headed over to catch the People Mover bus to get to the Botanical Gardens and Butterfly Conservatory. While I waited patiently for a bus, Eric was sucked into the Candy Planet shop and somehow swindled into buying 1 1/2 pounds of fudge. Sucker.

The Butterfly Conservatory was pretty amazing. There were beautiful butterflies flying everywhere. It was a very serene place with beautiful flowers everywhere.

We walked from there into the Botanical Gardens. I took my shoes off and walked barefoot through the grass. It was really beautiful and much less crowded than the Atlanta Gardens. Many times, Eric and I were completely alone. We came upon a fountain and decided to get our feet a little wet while singing the theme song to Friends. How often do you have the opportunity to do that with little probability of getting caught? The water had some amazing component that made our feet incredibly soft. Still puzzled about that one...

We saw the bus driving by and I tried to thumb it down. Hitchhiking is apparently more legal in Canada than in the U.S. Since she didn't stop for me, we chased the bus so as not to have to wair for another. When we made it on there was a British lady that informed me that "in Canada we don't flag down buses". I then told her I was from Zimbabwe and we did. She asked me if I was okay and gave me the "I wonder how much she has had to drink" face. Apparently she didn't realize that I was not at all drunk, just always this way. Silly Brits.

A Rainbow In The Falls

After the Journey Behind The Falls, we walked along the viewing area for the actual Falls and saw a beautiful rainbow down inside the Gorge. It was amazing. Amazing. Enough said.

Journey Behind The Falls

The next morning we started out with The Journey Behind the Falls after hitting one of the Niagara Falls area's all-you-can-eat breakfast buffets. It was really cool. We took and elevator down several stories and then walked through a long tunnel until we were right beside the Horseshoe part of the Falls. Again we were given the hideous ponchos that kept our clothes dry. It was like it was raining and windy. My face and hair got pretty wet, but it was really amazing. It was almost better than the Maid of the Mist because we could get a little closer and stay as long as we wanted.

http://www.niagaraparks.com/nfgg/behindthefalls.php

Niagara Falls Nightlife

For dinner and drinks that night, we went to a local bar called The Wild Mushroom. There was a great, little patio area where we could sit and have drinks and food. We got a ribs and wings special they had going on. The wings were pretty darn good, but the ribs were only okay. I guess the bbq sauce that we typically use on ribs in the South is not done everywhere. It made the ribs seems sort of dry without it. It was amazing to me how much beer cost everywhere! A pitcher was almost $14 where down here it is more like $6 or $7. We had a pretty good time and talked to some people from Toronto. They said that it was really cool there and only an hour away. We talked about trying for a day trip over there, but just didn't have enough time. There is really a ton of great stuff to do right in Niagara Falls if you are into outdoorsy stuff. We had seen gas priced at $1.07 and were flabbergasted that it could be that cheap and over $3 a gallon in the U.S. Hello? Metric system? We were informed by the people from Toronto that it was around a $1 per LITER. They had a good Canadian laugh at our expense. :)

http://www.thewildmushroom.com/

After the Wild Mushroom, we walked across the street to the Casino Niagara. I am not much of a gambler, but Eric had really never been to a casino. We played a couple of slots and drank a couple of drinks before heading home. Eric cashed out with an amazing $4.40. High roller, aye?

http://casinoniagara.com/

On the walk home from the casino I was attacked by a Canadian werewolf. It came out of nowhere and clawed my back. I am lucky to be alive and hopefully will not turn into a werewolf soon. It scratches definitely didn't happen when I fell in that bush though. Totally seperate incidents. ;)

Great Canadian Midway

The next three attractions were at the Great Canadian Midway. We started with the Cosmic Coaster Ride. It was like one of those interactive roller coaster movies. Wind blew at us and the seats moved as if we were actually riding the roller coaster. It would be pretty cool for a kid that was too scared to ride an actual roller coaster, but for me it was a little too tame. Eric also thought it would be fun to elbow at my face. That is not only not fun, but he injured my lip a little. I guess it was my payback for the "golfing incident of '07".

After that was the Ghost Blasters Thrill Ride. Not exactly thrilling, but again it would be pretty fun for a kid. We took a little train ride through a ghostly area and used the guns to attempt to shoot the ghosts. Our train kept score on who shot the most. Shooting is definitely not one of my finer talents, so again Eric beat me horribly.

We got a handful of tokens with our Fun Pass, so we played a couple of arcade games. We both like car games, so we played a couple of those. Eric won a bunch of tickets which we traded in for an amazing ring for me. Who needs diamonds when you can get rings for free at arcades?

http://www.cliftonhill.com/niagara_falls_attractions/great_canadian_midway/

Movieland Wax Museum

Then we went to the Movieland Wax Museum. All of these attractions were right beside each other, so we could just hop from one thing to the next. It was relatively cool although it only took a few minutes to walk through. Many of the wax figures didn't really look anything like the actor or actress they were supposed to be though. Look....it's Forrest and Jen-nay together again.

http://www.cliftonhill.com/niagara_falls_attractions/movieland_wax_museum/

Dinosaur Park Miniature Golf

We decided to play miniature golf next. Eric "thinks" that he is an amazing golfer. He might be, or else he often plays with inferior golfers such as myself. He definitely was winning and mouthing off quite a bit, so I decided to give him a lashing with my golf club. Bested again, he stumbled backwards from my blows and landed on some hidden steels rod in the fake boulders. It left an amazing bruise on his thigh. Amazing bruise. I was proud that I was a part of creating it. :) It made him feel a little better that he beat me terribly at the golf game. Only just a little.

http://www.cliftonhill.com/niagara_falls_attractions/dinosaur_park_mini_golf/

Eating Again & The SkyWheel

I was ready to go see and do more, but Eric is sort of like a newborn baby in that he needs to feed approximately every two hours. We decided to drive down the strip a little and found a place to stop called Mick & Angelo's. We shared the nachos and a small Hot Stuff pizza. The nachos were pretty good, but the pizza was a little strange. There was barely any pizza sauce! It also really wasn't very hot either. I was bored a little, so I told the waitress it was Eric's birthday to get him back for having to stop and eat when I wasn't very hungry. They sang an embarrassing song, so it made the stop seem a little more interesting and worthwhile. ;)

http://www.mickandangelos.ca/

Once we got done, we purchased a Niagara Falls Fun Pass. They have several options to purchase admissions to several things at once to save money.

http://www.cliftonhill.com/niagara_falls_packages/attraction_passes/

We decided to ride the Skywheel first. It was an amazingly high, enclosed ferris wheel. It was actually a tiny bit scary at first. I love roller coasters and whatnot, but it just was extraordinarily high. We stopped for a bit right at the top too and could see for miles and miles.

www.skywheel.ca

Maid of the Mist

The first "attraction" we did was the Maid of the Mist. We all put on these bright blue ponchos and were herded through this underground tunnel to a boat near the base of the Falls. The boat goes down the river and right beside the bottom of the Falls. There is spray and mist everywhere, but it is mostly just like it is raining a little. It is amazing to get that close! There were some areas where the misty spray was so heavy that you really couldn't see at all.

http://www.maidofthemist.com/en/

After it was over, we hung around the marketplace for a little while. There was a shoeless Canadian playing the guitar, so we enjoyed a few of his songs before we moved on to the next activity.

The Beginning of the Adventure...

We arrived in Niagara Falls on the 25th. Our flight went out of Atlanta at 6:00am, so we had to leave the house before 4am! Since I worked until almost midnight and hadn't started packing yet, I didn't sleep at all. We flew into Buffalo, New York and rented a car. Our hotel was actually in the Ontario/Niagara Falls area, so we had to cross the border into Canada. At the border there are these stop signs that say "Stop" (obviously) and beneath that it says "Arreit". Arreit means stop in French, but if you say it the way it is written is sounds like someone saying "All Right" with a Canadian accent. We thought that was pretty hilarious and were so busy making jokes about it that we didn't stop at the place we were supposed to. Apparently stop signs are a pretty big deal to Canadian border officials because when I pulled up to the window, the officer asked me if I had ever received a ticket for running a stop sign. I thought that was a strange question and said that I hadn't. Then he asked me if I wanted to start today and explained that I had run the stop sign. I apologized, but he already decided that he didn't like me. He asked us a barrage of questions. Where are you from? Where were you born? Where do you work? Do you have alcohol in the car? What hotel are you staying in? He had us pull forward and our car was searched by another officer. We were then directed into the immigration office to be questioned by yet another officer. They finally decided we weren't terrorists or fugitives and let us through. As Eric says, "the man with the rubber glove was surprisingly gentle". By the time we got to Niagara Falls, we were both exhausted. We checked into our hotel first. We stayed at the Days Inn Near the Falls. It was in an area called Clifton Hills and was right on the strip. Everything we could have possibly wanted or needed was walking distance away.

http://www.daysinn-nearthefalls.com/

We walked over to this restaurant called The Keg Steakhouse. It was absolutely amazing and ridiculously expensive.

http://en.kegsteakhouse.com/menus/dinner

There are two in the Niagara Falls area. One overlooks the falls and is even more expensive than the one we ate at. Ours just happened to be right across the street from our hotel. Eric ordered the Prime Rib and I got the Escargot and Calamari. My meal was delicious. I have never had calamari that was so lightly breaded and the sauce complimented it perfectly. Eric said his prime rib was only so-so. It was accompanied by a horseradish sauce that was like fire. I seriously think it might have burned the hair in my nostrils a little when I breathed. We asked the waitress to ask the kitchen about it. Apparently there are different types of radishes and they use the hottest one for their horseradish sauce. I guess you learn something new everyday, huh? After we got the bill, we suffered a little buyer's remorse. ;) It was definitely an amazing meal though.

We walked around after that to buy some beer for the hotel room. Apparently in Canada, they can buy beer on Sundays but you can't find it anywhere except a liquor store. They also charge a deposit on the bottles to encourage people to recycle. I think that is an amazing idea. If they offered reimbursement to encourage people to recycle in Georgia--sooo many more people would do it, even if they are paying extra up front. The sad truth. We have to pay people to want to save the planet. Beer is also crazy expensive. I don't know if it is everywhere in Canada or just the tourist trap where we stayed, but it was almost twice as much as it is in the United States. We went back to the room to take a nap and ended up sleeping for the rest of the night.

The next morning, I woke up first and walked down to the Falls for the first time. They were absolutely breathtaking. I felt the temperature drop when I was about a block away. I love love love waterfalls and I can't even describe how amazing these were. I walked down and checked everything out of several different vantage points they have set up. There was a Denny's right next door to our hotel and I stopped there for breakfast. Apparently Denny's is the only breakfast place in Canada that offers grits, so I was happy about that. I was starting to wonder if there was reasonably priced though because breakfast cost me an arm and a leg.

http://www.dennysniagara.com/index.htm

After that I went back upstairs to collect Eric. He was finally ready to wake up, so we got ready and walked down to the falls. He was really hungry since he had slept through my breakfast, so we stopped at Burger King right on the strip. One thing I noticed right away is that their menu lacked the dollar selections they have everywhere else in the world. I was starting to wonder if everyone is in on this conspiracy that causes tourists to spend all their money. We bought the Niagara Falls Adventure Pass first. Anything to save a couple of bucks since we had to spend all our extra money on food.

http://www.niagaraparks.com/nfgg/discountpass.php

End of School Playgroup & Fun at Christine's

We went to a playgroup today at another Atlanta Momma's house named Heidi. She is a school teacher, so she planned a End of School playgroup now that she is home with her son for the summer. There were a lot of older kids there, so I knew Alex would have a good time. He met a boy named Jeran at Lost Mountain Park the other day and they really hit it off and he was there as well. The kids put their swimsuits on and ran through the sprinkler then came in and ate hot dogs.

After we left we went over to Christine's house. She is always complaining that I never come over there, so at least now I have at least a week before she can say anything. :) We hung out for awhile while the kids played and then we headed home. We stopped by the grocery store on the way home and there was a guy talking on his cell phone and cussing up a storm. I hate when people do that when kids are within earshot! We got home and had Alex's favorite, sausage gravy, for dinner. Jason came to pick him up shortly after dinner and Jon went out with his work friends to play spades, giving me some time to fulfill my internet needs. I tried to feed Alyssa peaches tonight for the first time and she didn't want anything to do with them. She made a terrible face and spit them out all over the place. I swear. She is going to go straight from the boob to eating cheeseburgers.

East Cobb Park

We went to East Cobb Park today. I met another mom named to Lynn to show her some diapers and the Ergo since she is thinking about making the leap into cloth diapering. It was a really nice day. The first part of the day was awesome, weather wise. We ran into some wild girls that Alex was chasing around the playground. One of them accidentally knocked Kaitlyn down though and that was sort of a disaster. Then apparently one of them said something mean to Kaitlyn and made her cry. She is my more sensitive child that way, so she was pretty upset I wasn't sorry to see them leave and of course Kaitlyn got over it pretty quick.

Jon and I watched Freedomland tonight. I have to give this one two thumbs down!! Samuel L. Jackson and Julianne Moore were in it. I guess it was based on the Susan Smith situation where a white woman claimed she was carjacked by a black man with her child in the car. I didn't think it flowed well at all. I guess the acting done by Julianne Moore was pretty good, but the plot was all over the place. The best part about it was when it was over.