(part one can be found here)

We crossed the border into Canada with little trouble. The border guard didn't even pop the trunk. Not that he would have found anything that would have got us into trouble. We didn't bring back anything we shouldn't have, and we didn't even go over our allowed spending. The lousy (for us) exchange rate meant that just about everything was really expensive, and therefore we didn't feel the need to over spend. Even so, crossing the border always makes me nervous.

The first thing we did was to head to Niagara-on-the-Lake. Niagara-on-the-Lake is a really picturesque region of Ontario, and is mostly known for its vineyards. Though that did make for a really pretty drive though the country, vineyards were not why we wanted to go there. We wanted to go to Fort George, a big old fort from the early days of Canada. We found it to be very, um... educational. Which is to say, a little boring. I think this picture taken from the entrance to the fort illustrates that quite well:

It was quite disappointing just how conventionally educational (read: boring) it was. See, historic Fort George is apparently well known in ghost hunting communities as a prime spot to see ghosts. Tiffany is a ghost hunter, so she wanted to check it out, and I must say I found the idea intriguing.

Despite the storybook dark, foreboding clouds, we didn't find any ghosts. We may have had better luck if we'd gone at night. There are actually ghost tours in the evening, and there are some really cool stories associated with them. But as it was, we didn't find anything even remotely ghostly. Although I will admit that I did get a strange uncomfortable feeling when I stepped into one of the jail cells, which was kept unlit, as it would have been for the unfortunate prisoners who wound up there. Basically as soon as I stepped into the cell, I wanted to get out. Now But there is a little Scully-type voice inside my head that says that the very easy, perfectly rational explanation for that is that I was feeling claustrophobic because the room was small, pitch black, and smelled stale. Oh well. Make of that what you will.

The fort wasn't a total waste of time though, despite the lack of the paranormal. The architecture of the place was pretty interesting, and it was kind of fun exploring there-- especially the tunnel up to the lookout tower:

And best of all, because it was Canada Day, there was no change for admission into the fort. All national historic sites are free on Canada Day. So if you ever feel like taking in some educational sites, I suggest you wait until July 1st.

We didn't stay there too long. Basically, we saw everything there was to see, and then we took off again for the falls. We grabbed some lunch and then headed down to Clifton Hills.

Niagara Falls Ontario is a strange place. Living so close to it (more so when I lived in Hamilton), it is a place that I have taken for granted in my life. I've been to the city dozens of times, so often that sometimes my family and I would drive by the falls and not even bother to get out of the car. (Hey Heather, we're going past the falls, put down your book and look out the window. Yeah, neat, whatever.)

This time though, I was determined to go in with a tourist's eye. I'm glad I did. It's something that everyone should experience at least once in their lives. Niagara Falls is a city of contradiction. On the one hand, you go there because it is home of one of the most spectacular sights of natural beauty in the world (which my cloudy pictures cannot do justice to):

And once you have seen the falls, you go to the city because less than a five minute walk away from the falls is Lundy's Lane and Clifton Hills, home to a tremendous amount of campy (or in some cases just plain tacky) man-made crap. Like this:

Actually I shouldn't talk so disparagingly of Frankenstein here. Tiffany and I loved this site. It was a highlight of our trip. More Burger Kings should consider putting Frankensteins on their rooftops. Seriously, I think it would entice more people to eat at Burger King. If Frankenstein wants a Whopper, doesn't it stand to reason that you should want one too? Especially seeing as he just looks so damned happy to have that whopper in his hand!

If you've never been to Niagara Falls, you might not be aware of the fact that you could spend an entire day (and drop hundreds of dollars in the process) visiting fun houses and wax museums. There is something for everyone. You've got Ripley's Believe it or Not museum, The Guinness Book of World Records Wax Museum. You've got Frankenstein's Castle, Dracula's Castle, and assorted other fright houses. You've got Rock Legends, Movie Aliens, and Movie Stars.

Tiffany and I decided to go for the Movieland Wax Museum (I think that was the name). It was sort of a combination traditional wax museum and fun house all in one. It was quite entertaining, and although I did enjoy it, I am not really sure just what the appeal of wax museums is. Honestly, who really needs to see a wax reproduction of Mr. T to make their lives complete?

I'm sorry. I take that back. I pity the fool who doesn't want to see a wax statue of Mr. T.

For those who have never experienced a wax museum before, basically you pay $7.00 to walk through the museum, stare at inanimate wax objects like a slack-jawed yokel, and critique the accuracy of their design with your friends. But somehow, this is actually entertaining (after the fact, you do sort of feel foolish for dropping $7.00 for the experience-- of course, this probably won't stop you from walking right over to the next one, dropping another $7.00, and doing it all again).

A lot of the sculptures weren't that great. Some of them were dead on, but there were more than a few who would have been completely unidentifiable if not for the name plates. Some were pretty realistic though. The Jurassic Park scene was quite convincing-- I honestly wondered if the Spitter was going to spit something at me.

After we left the museum we did a little more sight seeing, and tried in vain to find a reasonably priced tacky souvenir store. We wandered around the overpriced Hershey store, took some more pictures, and then decided that we were tired, our feet hurt, it was cold and rainy out, and we were ready to go home. Thanks to luck with traffic, and Tiffany's excellent driving skills, we made it home in just a little over two hours.

At that point I lugged my stuff up to my apartment and collapsed onto the couch with my cat and my bag of American snack treats, where I remained for the better part of two days, thus ending Heather and Tiffany's Buffalo and Niagara Falls Adventure!