Act 6
30 August 2008 – 2 September 2008
30/08/08
We have had another great day after and excellent sleep in. It was quite a bit cooler here today as
it was overcast and there was a slight breeze blowing. The heat was definitely easier to handle
without the sun blaring down.
We
wandered around to the Flamingo today for a little look and to see the
Flamingo’s of course. As it was
such a pleasant day we sat out in the grounds for quite a while just enjoying
the people parade.
Tonight
we went to see Cher at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. Oh wow it was magnificent and she was
fantastic. It was nonstop
entertainment even when she wasn’t on the stage (while she was changing
costumes). The costumes were skimpy
and she looked fantastic in them.
There was a lot of film footage of her and Sonny as well. There were acrobats, dancers and it was
truly a wonderful evening. We both
thoroughly enjoyed the show.
Tomorrow
is our last day in Vegas as we catch a 12.35am flight to Buffalo tomorrow
night. So I think the two of us
will be have a cat nap in the afternoon early evening to set us up for a
sleepless night and day.
So till next time we hope everyone in the US and Canada are having a wonderful holiday weekend. To all our family and friends back home a big hello.
31/08/08
We are still talking about Cher last night and what a great show she put
on. Wow at 62 she sure still rocks
is all we can say. I don’t think I
have seen quite as good a show at home although there have been some excellent
ones I might add.
This
was our last day in Las Vegas and we took it easy today. After a late breakfast of fruit and
yoghurt, which we got from the coffee shop here in the hotel, we headed out for
a ride on The Deuce Bus. First we
headed Downtown and stopped off along the way and did a small amount of
shopping. Then we headed back South
to the Terminal where we then waited for a bus for the return trip back to
Bally’s.
The
terminal was quite interesting and we were not sure what was going on. Anyway we were waiting for the next
return bus and one pulls up so everyone is waiting to get on. Then the driver stood at the door to the
bus and spoke to everyone but we couldn’t hear what he was saying. After this he just walked out of the bus
spoke to another driver and then disappeared inside the
door.
This
lady then told everyone there will be another bus and sure enough one pulls up
so everyone goes up to that one to get on.
From the moment people started getting onto the bus the driver was
telling them to get off that he was leaving. Although he was still letting people on
he was still telling everyone this and then he got angrier and just said I am
leaving now and literally closed the doors and drove off. So we have no idea what on earth was
going on it was all a little strange.
It
was not too long another bus arrived and we were headed on our way back to our
hotel. It sure is a cheap and
inexpensive way to get around Las Vegas and we had a chance for a bit more of a
look at the place.
Once
back at Bally’s we headed to the Sidewalk Cafe for an early dinner and then up
to our room to pack our bags ready for our departure tonight for Buffalo and
Niagara Falls. Our flight leaves at
12.35am arriving in Chicago at 6am and our connecting flight leaves at 8am
arriving around 10am in Buffalo. We
have tried to have a nap but well it has only been a couple of hours so I am
sure we will both be very tired by tomorrow night.
I
have organised a pick at the airport by Magic Mist Limousines to take us to our
hotel and then they will also be picking us up at the end of our stay on
Thursday.
We have enjoyed Vegas and all the bright lights, crowds and just the sheer enormity of the casinos here but we are now looking forward to the start of the next part of our adventure.
1/09/08
We arrived at Las Vegas airport around 10pm and then had quite a wait in
the queue before we were headed up to the terminal for our flight to Niagara
Falls via Chicago and then on to Buffalo.
But first we had to go through all the security stuff and I was glad I
had decided to wear sandles and not my joggers as we had to take our shoes
off.
Security
over and done with we followed the signs to our departure terminal D and then we
found we had to board a monorail which took you out to the terminal. All very different to what we are used
to as home.
Well
our flight to Chicago left pretty much on time but neither of us really slept
and we arrived in Chicago just after 6am.
After getting some breakfast we found that there had been a change in the
terminal from where our plane to Buffalo was leaving from. So now we had a rush to make get there
in time for our flight. Oh my
goodness it is such a huge terminal and so much walking. Have they not heard of moving footways
as they would be an added help to everyone.
Our
American Eagle flight boarded on time but then there was a problem with one of
the seats. It would not stay
upright so we had to wait till maintenance cam down and fixed it. Alas maintenance was unable to fix it so
they found another seat for the passenger and then we were able to leave. This delayed the flight around 40
minutes.
At
least it was only a short flight as those planes are so tiny. They don’t even have enough overhead
lockers for everyone to put there carryon things in.
We
fell asleep for most of the flight as we had now been up over 24 hours with
little or no sleep. Never again
will we get a flight which leaves at that time of the
night.
Arriving
in Buffalo a little before 11am we headed down to get our bags and then to go
and find the limo we had booked to bring us to Niagara Falls. I was just hoping that he had not left
as we had not been there at the right time. There were no worries about that and he
appeared a few minutes after we arrived at the limo pick up
point.
It
was a great ride into Niagara Falls and he deposited us at our hotel, Ramada
Plaza Fallsview which is in the Konica Minolta Tower. As we were too early to check in we were
heading down to do the Maid of the Mist Tour. The bellman gave us some free vouchers
for the shuttle from out the front of the hotel down to near where the Maid of
the Mist leaves from.
Off
we headed and well what can I say but the ride was a fantastic experience. We both opted not to use the raincoats
provided we were happy to get a little wet. It is an awesome experience being so
close to such raw nature in action.
It is truly one of the things that we definitely had to do and it was
great. It will be remembered
forever.
Once
we back ashore we headed back to our hotel thanks to a quick cab ride. Our room was ready but before going up
we went next door to Friday’s Bar and had a couple of beers from the Niagara
Brewing Company called Honey Brown and it was very good
indeed.
After
a couple we headed back to the Ramada and up to our room. I had been talking to the Manager,
David, who had taken my original booking, and he assured us we had a great
view.
Well
we think that a great view is truly and understatement. The view is magnificent,
beautiful, jaw dropping and we have brilliant views of both the
Horseshoe and American Falls 
and better than I even anticipated. Our room directly
overlooks the Horseshoe Falls. We
sat in awe snapping pictures continuously. This great picture shows a
rainbow over the Horseshoe Falls with the American Falls to the
left.
Both
of us were feeling very tired so thought we should head off for dinner and we
opted to dine in the restaurant.
The view was fantastic and the meal was every bit as
good.
After
dinner we headed back down to our room two very, very tired people but we wanted
to try and stay awake long enough to see the light show on the falls. Reg did get to see it but he had to wake
me up and then I still didn’t see much of it as I pretty much fell straight back
to sleep. Still there are a couple
more nights here before we leave so we will make sure we don’t miss
it.
The hotel is great and the staff is brilliant and make us feel very welcome the only problem is there is no internet connection unless we use dial up at international calling rates. So we apologise about not updating our travels before New York. Gosh hope where we are staying has the net.
2/09/08
I awoke early, just as the sun was rising to the east with the falls in
full view with huge plumes of spray going a couple of hundred metres into the
air. Oh what a magnificent site and
then as the sun slowly poked itself over the horizon and the orange glow mixed
with the white plume of spray it was truly beautiful. I hope the photos do it justice but I
will have to let you all be the judge once we get the photos
online.
I
woke Reg so he could see and we both sat entranced by this magnificent
view.
Now
it was time to get ready and head down for our continental breakfast which was
included with our room rate. The
breakfast was quite good with choice of juice, cereal, bagels, toast, pastries,
mini muffins, pancakes, fruit, tea and coffee. Definitely enough to get you started for
the day.
We
had an enjoyable chat with some of the other guests before heading back to our
room to get ready for our outing for the day.
While
we were on our earlier travels we had an email from Paul and Sue
(S&POnboard) who are on the Star Princess Cruise, 23 September 2009 from San
Francisco to Sydney. They wanted to
catch up and also show us around a little.
I might add that we would also be meeting Don and Sue (gofish4), who are
on our Dawn Cruise on Wednesday.
Paul
and Sue picked us up around 10am and we headed off taking in a few of the sites
around the falls and Clifton Hill, before heading out and toward Niagara on the
Lake. We stopped at the whirlpool
where you can take a cable car ride across the whirlpool and back again. This is also where some of the jet boat
tours come up to.
As
we continued on our way we stopped to take in the sites as we came across them –
from the power plants on the river, to views down the Niagara River to just
driving through housing areas it was all very interesting and enjoyable. We passed the English and American
forts, which were involved in the 1812 war, when the Americans tried to invade
Canada. We should add that the
English won this battle.
Paul
and Sue were very knowledgeable about the area and were trying to give us as
much information as possible about everything we were seeing. Thanks, heaps, both of you it was a
great tour. We think Paul would be
an excellent tour guide.
As
we continued to Niagara on the Lake for our stop for lunch we were all having a
great chat. Paul also stopped and
showed us the Inn where the game Trivial Pursuit was
invented.
Our
lunch stop was at The Angles Inn and I know Sue was a little worried after
saying how good it was that it would not be up to their usual standard. I know how she was feeling as I have
done that myself.
But
she need not have been worried the food was excellent and the service good. Reg had bangers and mash and I had the
steak and kidney pie and they were both very good. The cold beers went down well
also.
After
lunch we went for a short walk around the town and it looks so beautiful as
there are flowers all down the street and in hanging baskets. It really makes the town look wonderful
and inviting.
Sue
and I ventured into the Christmas store, leaving the two boys outside, and both
of us came out with a couple of things.
The store had some many beautiful decorations is was amazing. We don’t really have stores like that at
home. Once out of the store we
couldn’t find them and when we remembered we had been discussing bakeries Sue
headed us in the direction down the street and we found them both on the next
street corner.
They
also have horse drawn carriage rides in the town which start from the Prince of
Wales Hotel.
We
finished our walk our walk and Paul went and got the car and picked us all up
and we continued on our tour. Next
stop was Port Dalhousie and this really reminded me a little of being down on
Moreton Bay. Except we were on the
edge of Lake Ontario and we could just see a little of Toronto through the
haze. As we walked out beside the
river we took some photos of everyone and when we arrived back at the car it was
decided we would go to Tim Hortons (just up the road) for a
coffee.
Next
stop was the Welland Canal to see the locks in action. These locks move cargo ships and
pleasure craft from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie (and vice versa). This is definitely something which
neither of us had seen in action before, except perhaps on
TV.
Once
a ship is in a lock it will fill or empty depending on whether it is going up or
down the canal. This done then the
gates open and the ship moves slowly out into the canal and continues on its
way. When we arrived there were 2
ships one in the lock where we were and one at the next lock upstream. These then passed each other once they
got out into the canal again and then they moved into the next lock. It really was very interesting to
watch.
Well
it was getting later and was definitely time to start heading back to Niagara
Falls. As we were driving back Paul
asked if we would like to stop on the way for some beer and chicken wings. We thought it was a great idea and they
took us to ‘Somebuddys’. Not being
locals Reg and I would never have found it and it was a great spot to finish off
what had been a very enjoyable day with Paul and Sue. The beer and wings were
great.
Thanks
to you both for a wonderful day and we know that you are going to love your
cruise next September. It is a pity
you are not on ours this year, we would have some good laughs but we will keep
in touch and let you know how it all goes.
