A few months before we got married, Zack was over at his parent's house. He called me and said, "mom suggested Niagara Falls for our honeymoon. What do you think?" Without hesitation I said, "book it." Listen, I know NF seems a bit cheesy, especially for two kids in their early 20s. But Z and I are experts at having a blast no matter where we are. Also, we hate hot weather and humidity, and we got married in June in Alabama. Caribbean? No. No thanks. Not our style. Canada? That's more like it. I was wrapping up my internship at Cottage Living magazine when we got married, and Z had to do play out-of-town conferences with the band, so we decided to go on our honeymoon a month later. Yeah, it was bummer to have to go back to work THREE DAYS after getting married (quick side story: two days after the wedding we were driving down Caldwell Mill Road apartment hunting, and in the distance we saw smoke coming up from the trees. Turned out it was Inverness Country Club burning to the ground. 36 hours before, we were having a blast with our friends and family at our wedding reception at that very place. Two years later we were hanging out in Italy with the match-happy kid who did it.). Anyway. It really had its pros though, I'm glad we didn't do it any other way. We had a whole month to get excited, look forward to, and rest up for the trip. Plus, we were there on our 1 month anniversary, my 23rd birthday, and 7-7-2007, which was pretty cool.
Zack parents hooked us up on our honeymoon. We had a driver pick us up in Buffalo and drive us across the border to the Fallsview Marriott. It was ballin'. This was the view from our window. Believe it or not, there aren't a lot of fallsview rooms in Niagara.
Our first night we toured the Niagara Daredevil's Museum. A bit morbid. This Greek dude died in here. Why am I giving a thumbs up? What's wrong with me?
The greatest anticipation of the trip, for Zack anyway, was the Marvel Museum. Much, much, to our dismay, it turned out to be an indoor amusement park with things like Hulk mini golf and a Spiderman laser game. Total disappointment. But again, we're champions of having fun no matter what. This pic however, was taken before my new husband went inside and realized what it actually is.
I love this pic of us in front of Horseshoe Falls. A really nice family took it for us while we were standing in line for the Maid of Midst. Funny story, when I posted this photo on Facebook/printed it to be framed years ago, I Photoshopped out Zack's left arm tattoo (the only one he had on his arm at the time, imagine that!) so that his parent's wouldn't see it!
A really flattering picture of us on the Maid of Midst.
The Journey Behind the Falls! I remember is was sunny, pleasant day in the low 80s, until you stepped onto this platform, and it was about 50 degrees and was like a constant thunderstorm. We loved this attraction.
Yay! Hitched!
Zack's parents sent us on a wine tour of the Niagara region. There are more vineyards here per square mile than in the Napa Valley. We spent a whole day doing this. We went to four different wineries (two German one, an Italian one, and a French one), all makers of the area's famous ice wine. We had a great picnic lunch made by the hotel's restaurant, the Terrapin Grill, and sat with a lovely older couple from Scotland. I remember them telling us that they were due to fly out of Glasgow on the day there was a terrorist attack at the airport! So crazy.
Here's my new husband at Chateau de Charmes, our first stop. By time we got to the last vineyard, Iniskillen, everyone was ice-wined out...except for this one. When the sommelier at Inniskillen were offering more glasses, everyone declined, but a man in our group said, "the gentleman from Alabama would like another though." That's my Irish husband.
I don't think I have any pics from it, but we also spent the afternoon in an adorable town called Niagara-on-the-Lake. Completely lovely, but I remember being so miserably hot that day and scarfing down multiple scoops of ice cream (logically), and then feeling really sick :(
We rode a ferris wheel! It was pretty.
We also had fruity cocktails at the top of the Skylon Tower which had a rotating restaurant. I remember getting into a fight with our waiter because we didn't want to dinner (we were poor newlyweds!), just drinks, and apparently there was a minimum you had to spend to eat there. I whimpered that "it was my birthday and honeymoon! Please let us just sit here for a few minutes and have drinks! Please!" and the sweet manager politely and firmly told the waiter that he would serve us himself! Such a fun night!
The view from the ferris wheel.
We ate at an overpriced tourist-trappy restaurant on my birthday, but we were right by the window and had a great view of the Falls. The thing is, there's plenty of stuff to do in NF. A lot of it is stupid, some of it is great, and all you have to approach with a sense of humor. But by the end of the trip, we realized that the Falls are so incredible, you could spend a week just staring at them.
A few other fun random memories before they leave my head:
-The best dinner was at Terrapin Grill at the hotel. We had sun-dried tomato-stuffed chicken served over risotto, and the hotel's magician (yes, magician) came to our table and did some really fun slight-of-hand tricks. We went to his show later that night and had a blast with, along with all the little kiddies and their parents. We even participated in one of the tricks. I had to think of something completely random and he had to guess what it was. I was thinking "Hulk," and that son of gun guessed it. Mind: blown. We got back up to our room just in time to watch the fireworks show over the Falls. Great night.
-I pitched A FIT over the "History of Niagara 4D theatre show." What a freaking joke. We paid about $20 each to be sprayed with water, shaken in our seats, and watch a poorly put-together documentary about the Natives who lived in the area centuries ago. I complained to the manager, who never refunded our money, but gave us free entry to the Skylon Tower that evening. Hence, the above story of us going up to the restaurant without having to pay the minimum meal amount. This girl gets what she wants.
-Our first meal was the Subway down the street. Something we'd NEVER do now. But we were soooo hungry, and Canada is expensive! They had three taxes on everything in Niagara. We also had to eat standing up because they didn't have stools, which made me super irritated. Later that night we ate at TGIFridays. Good lord. How far we've come. I got four-cheese pasta. I was so lame.
-We were soooo pysched about the all-you-can-eat pancake buffets that were all over town. We hit that stuff up one morning and made ourselves sick. So worth it.
-I admit it. It's so embarrassing, but there was a point in my life where I loved to go to Hard Rock Cafes. There, I said it. We went to Hard Rock Cafe for dessert one night. It was awful and overpriced. And yet, we continued to go back to them. Thank goodness we know better now.
-My great-grandmother, Grandmama Ellison we called her, died while we were on our honeymoon. It was so sad. The last time I saw her was the day before we left. I remember telling her about me and Zack going to Canada for our honeymoon, and even though she was virtually unresponsive at the point in her life, she looked at me with wide eyes with this look that she was so happy for me! I knew she understood. It was probably one of the last reactions she had to anything in her life. I loved that lady so much, and the day she died, I remember feeling really sad all of a sudden and I started thinking about her. It wasn't until I got home that my mom told me the news, but I still think I knew, ya know? I'm so glad I had that one last sweet visit with her before she passed.
-The bus driver on our winery tour told us that if we went to the NF Visitor's Center, we'd get a parchment certificate signed by the mayor, two Niagara Falls pins, and a coupon book that gave free entry to looks of attractions for the bride when the groom paid full price. We still have the certificate and those pins around here somewhere.
-There is 5-year old bottle of ice wine somewhere in this house. We have plans to drink it on our 5th anniversary. But we'll be in Costa Rica that day. Hmm. We need to bust that open soon, honey.
-Niagara Falls is cheesy, and it is awesome. We couldn't have had a better honeymoon, and I'm so thankful to my wonderful in-laws who made it possible.
