Trip to Canada

You know how when you’re in school, you go on class trips to different cities?  Can I get a shout-out from the peeps that went to Washington DC in 8th grade (what whaaaat?)!!  Anyways…when I was in school, I went to Montreal, and Quebec (with the BAND – #bandgeek), but I hadn’t been back since…

That is…until this past weekend!!!  We left super early on Friday (7/14), and took our time getting there…I might have gotten SUPER bored on the way…and if you follow me on Instagram (if you don’t, you should)…you might have seen my stories…I was. BORED.  What you might not have seen was this cute little owl Greg got me at one of our stops … he comes out with this flat wooden owl “coloring kit”, and says “I got you something to do in the car”…instead of InstaStory’ing his face all over (lol).  TRUST…I was HAPPY to have the distraction.

Also…a short disclaimer?  This post might be long (and very photo-heavy), but I promise, it’s worth it!  

Then there were the windmills.  Both on the way there (and back) we passed this huge section of windmills…literally miles and miles and miles and miles and miles (and miles!) of Windmills!

These pictures don’t even do it justice – each windmill is at least 200 feet tall…if you can see at the base of one of them, there’s a door.  It’s a 6-ft tall door (so people can access it to fix it if needed)…use that for a size-comparison.  It’s insane, ya’ll.  Wait, since when am I southern??  Ya’ll??

Greg and I wanted to stop and smell the roses listen to the windmills…so we did just that (on the way home).  We found a road and pulled over to watch them for a while…they were just so peaceful.

Since I had no idea about any locations/hotels within Canada (never mind the city we were staying in), I did a BUNCH of research before I booked a hotel.  The hotel we selected, the Best Western Plus Rose City Suites, had gotten HUGE reviews (TripAdvisor gave it a 4.25 out of 325 reviews, and Booking.com gave it an “Excellent” 8.8 out of 152 reviews) – the result was that it was named one of the Top 5 hotels in the area, and that was good enough for me!  After staying there?  I couldn’t agree with the reviews more – the rooms were VERY clean (and recently renovated), and the staff was INSANELY helpful (although I could chalk that up to us being in Canada #supernice) LOL, and I would ABSOLUTELY return here (if given the chance).  Did I mention it was CHEAP?  For the room size you get (~400 sqft), you get a full bedroom, living room, kitchenette, and bathroom…not to mention, the bed was OH SO COMFY…

ANYWAY…since this isn’t an ad for any of the above links…PROMISE – I’m not that important (yet!)…back to our trip…

In case you forgot…we went to Canada! 

Since we arrived right around dinner time, we asked the person at the hotel desk what she would recommend in the area to have for dinner.  After some follow up questions (i.e. Seafood, Italian, Pub, etc), which I GREATLY appreciated since I’m a FOODIE…Her suggestion was the best yet – M. T. Bellies (say it like “I have an empty belly”!!).  So cute!

When we arrived, our server (damnit, I’m mad I forgot her name) was SUPER nice, and Greg and I both ordered beer.  I had the Belgian Moon [Blue Moon for Canada], and Greg had Moosehead.

Super #canadian, right?  Not really…BUT, we did get two(!!) hats out of the deal.  Our server kept joking that we could “win” a hat, but since people rarely order Moosehead, she just gave them to us.  So great, right??

Since we were traveling all day, and munching on snacks pretty much the whole time, we weren’t THAT hungry…but we knew we had to eat.  I got the Traditional Poutine, and Greg got this “Butter Chicken Pull-Apart Naan”, which was so. freakin’. good!

After our carb overload from the beer, fries, and naan?  You can BET we just went right to bed.

Now it’s Saturday (7/15)!!!!  The whole purpose for going to Canada, was so that Greg could participate in the World Long Drive Qualifier.  If he were to qualify, he would be given the chance to go to Thackerville, Oklahoma to compete to win $270k…but before all that, he had to qualify in a Local/Regional location…which in our case, was Welland, Ontario.

In case you were curious (and this is one of the many reasons why I love this man so deeply)…his time slot was at 11am, so (naturally), we got there at 9am. Always one million percent earlier than he has to be…and I’m the same way, except for our wedding day, when I was 2 hours late…*face-palm*…Love you, babe!

So…long story short, he didn’t qualify…but we had fun.  And I know it was a good experience for him.  Here’s some photos from the Qualifying Event; because it didn’t happen unless you blog/photograph/post it, right?!?

Now, because we had all this time on our hands (at this point it’s around noon), we decide to go to Niagara Falls (Canada side, duh).  It’s only about 30 minutes east of where we were, so it was definitely drivable.

So what do we do with all this time?  Go to a Brewery, of course!!  We ended up at Niagara Brewing Company, right on the main drag in Niagara Falls.  Obviously, I got the cheese plate (because I just can’t resist a good one)…and Greg got pretzels (which were so good, he didn’t even share).  I got their full flight sampler, and Greg went right for the Clockwork Berliner Weisse (from their website: A classic German Sour beer with a blood orange twist).  Everything was just so good!

Granted, I might have though everything was so good at Niagara Brewing because I was happy to be off the street…and if you’ve been to Niagara, you know what a sh*t show it is.  Think Vegas meets Sleaze-side Boardwalk in the dead of Summer…but everyone is a different nationality (so it’s a legit melting pot of cultures).  It’s insane how many people are on the roads…INSANE.  Admittedly, I might have had a little freak out (due to the sheer VOLUME of people), and had to pause at a little park before walking back up the street, but it was OK because this man of mine?  He kept me sane…

Once we finally made it to the bottom of the street to see the falls…?  It was worth it.  Every last push and shove was all worth it to see these beautiful falls in person…

It’s breath-taking, isn’t it??

Even better with THIS guy, amiright?

Also…with a Blue Moose?

Our final stop in Niagara before heading back to the hotel was a little place called Kelsey’s.  It was definitely THE place to be in Niagara, and we were happy we landed here.  Just had a couple beers (and maybe some nachos and calamari), but it was a GREAT place to people watch!  It was one of those places that served your beer in proper glassware AND on the coordinating coaster!  My OCD heart was just oh-so-happy!!

But the best part?  On our way back to the hotel on Saturday night?  We caught this BEAUTIFUL sunset…and how could I not take a picture (or 12)?

Insert Sad Face…because now it’s Sunday (7/16), and we have to drive home…but not before a stop at Tim Hortons!!  We clearly wanted to do all the Canada things…

We got these amazing breakfast wrap things, I got an iced coffee, AND we got orange juice… #basicbreakfast … then we got in the car, and attempted to drive home…but not before a traffic jam Canada-style… CANADIAN GEESE (or is it just Geese)?  Gooses?  Wow, these words look weird. LOL

So we made it back home, but not before one more casualty.  My $7 WalMart sunglasses BROKE…they were literally ON. MY. FACE. and they just crumbled off me!  How does that even happen?  Oh well, $7 sunglasses…you were good to me…and CLEARLY you had a good time this weekend too!

Hope you enjoyed traveling with us!  Where have you been lately?  Any recommendations from you?  Where should we go next??