A Romantic Getaway in the Great White North

My husband, Tim, and I decided to take a 3-day trip to Canada instead of exchanging gifts for Christmas this past year. I am so glad that he and I went, despite the cold weather. Christmas in Canada is a magical place. We departed a few days after Christmas on our 5-hour drive to the Canadian Border. Now, if you haven’t tried to go across the Canadian Border before, which we hadn’t, then the first time driving through can be quite intimidating. I am not sure if we just hit the drive in at a good time, but we didn’t have to wait very long to cross the border. When we pulled up to the booth, passports ready to go, we got a friendly greeting, and then played an intense game of 20 questions! “Why are you here?” “Where are you going?” “Who owns this vehicle?” – No joke. Well, we must have passed because they let us on through…

It was about another 20 minutes to our hotel.  As we were driving through a more rural area, it was dark, and you could see the amazing city lights in the distance! We finally arrived at our destination, The Hilton at Niagara Falls. They had the option to do valet parking, the check-in process was quick and smooth, and the hotel staff were so inviting. The hotel lobby was dressed with many Christmas trees, gingerbread houses, and wreaths. Timmy and I decided to spend a little extra and get a really nice room; we went with the “Tower King Suite,” which was equipped with a jacuzzi tub, plasma TV, an extremely comfortable king-sized bed, and the most amazing view. The beautiful view included two different falls– to the left was the U.S. Falls and to the right, the Horseshoe Falls (the bigger of the two falls).

After Timmy and I got settled in we decided it was time for dinner so we headed up to the 33rd floor to The Watermark Restaurant.  We were greeted so warmly and serviced promptly, even though we did not have a reservation. So this is the part of the story where I tell you to close your eyes and use your imagination. Everything was accented in different shades of blue, fresh flowers decorated the restaurant, and candles lined the stairs. We were escorted to our very own booth, where we enjoyed conversation while the candle light danced on the table. The entire front of the restaurant was glass so you could look out and admire the falls. This time of year the falls change colors, from blues, to pinks, to shades of red and green. Our waitress and her assistant were so lovely; they quickly brought us our drinks (Timmy had a soda and I had a virgin Daiquiri- we don’t drink, but they had a large wine selection there!) and then took our orders. Shortly after, our meals were sitting in front of us, plated to perfection. You can see the menu here. The Calamari appetizer was delicious! For my main dish, I ordered the Chicken Supreme, pan-roasted chicken with sage, truffle butter, and cabernet jus with fingerling potatoes. Is your mouth watering yet? But what brought the entire evening together was the firework display that started going off as we were enjoying our meal.  After we enjoyed the show and a few more minutes of conversation, I asked for them to box up my Nutella Crunch Cream Cake (yum!), and we headed back to our room…. bow-chicka- wow-wow… hahaha, just kidding!

The next morning we decided to go back up to the 33rd floor and enjoy breakfast before we headed out exploring! Breakfast was just as delicious and the view was just as amazing during the day as it had been the evening before. We noticed that the time of year was actually a lot busier than what we had expected, so we asked our waitress what she recommended we did that day to get away from the crowds. She sent us straight to Niagara-on-the-Lake and it quickly became my favorite spot to visit. She told us that in the summertime the streets were lined with flowers and there is so much to do, but in the winter, there is a lot of great shopping and it is just as beautiful. From our hotel, Niagara-on-the-Lake was about a half hour drive, but it seemed to take longer because I kept yelling, “Oh, let’s go there!” and “Slow down! I’m taking a picture!”

We spent the afternoon going in and out of the shops, trying samples of fudge, shopping, and spending a few minutes here and there to get out of the cold. It was an old Victorian-looking town– every streetlight was decorated and it was quiet and very relaxing. We finished our day of exploration driving just a few streets down to have a look at Lake Ontario before we headed back to the hotel.  It was beautiful and I wish we would have been able to walk it more, but it was really cold by the water and there was ice everywhere… and well, I am extremely clumsy! On our way back to the hotel, we found a souvenir shop and I just HAD to go in.  Outside, there were numerous photo opportunities. The inside was a lot of fun and we spent about a half an hour in there!

That night we dined in another fine restaurant the hotel had to offer– Pranzo Ristorante Italiano. It was less expensive than The Watermark, but the atmosphere was very nice and the food was delicious! After dining, we decided to take a walk down to the Falls to enjoy the beautiful lights and spectacular view. The entire area was still decorated for Christmas– lights everywhere, wreaths on the light poles, the falls glowing beautiful colors, and snow flurries fell from the night sky.  It was freezing by the falls and there was a continuous cod mist, so we didn’t stay long, but I am so glad I got to see them close up!

The next morning, we had to say goodbye to the Great White North, but there was just ONE more stop we had to make. If you didn’t stop at a Tim Hortons, were you ever really in Canada?! I was more excited than Robin Scherbatsky going to the mall (Only true How I Met Your Mother fans will get that reference)!

We plan on going back to do all of the touristy stuff in the summer. I can’t wait!

Happy Adventuring,
Er