Notes from the Inside of a Barrel

My boyfriend called in sick to work today and all I got was this lousy photo of us at Niagara Falls.

Today, Duke and I escaped our real lives for a day on the inaugural Chicago Rockford International Airport (RFD) day trip to Niagara Falls. RFD is a short and sweet 15 minutes from our house, with free parking, and absolutely no hassle.

So this morning, we woke up extra early and arrived at the airport at 6 am, where we were greeted by a complimentary breakfast. Does O'Hare ever do that for you? I think not.

When everyone on the sold-out flight had checked in, they boarded the plane and we got to leave early. One hour and fifteen minutes later, we landed in New York at the Niagara Falls International Airport. We got off the plane and we were greeted by Hug-A-Day Frannie, who welcomed us to Buffalo/Niagara and hugged everyone on the plane except Duke. Sorry Frannie. Duke doesn't even hug me voluntarily. He has intimacy issues. It's not you.

From the airport, we boarded a shuttle bus for the 10 minute trip to the Falls. We were given multiple options for organized tours and we chose to strike out on our own, rogue adventurers depending on our own wits to survive. But then we realized it was really pouring outside and we didn't want to walk to Canada in the rain, so we let the shuttle bus drive us across the border, where we then struck out on our own, rogue adventurers depending on our own wits to survive.

It stopped raining shortly after we got off the bus. Our first order of business was to walk the length of the path along the Canadian side, until we reached the Horseshoe Falls. We passed the American Falls during this walk.

American Falls:

Horseshoe Falls:

Our second order of business was to find the Niagara Falls, Ontario Hooters. It was a grueling march straight uphill, from which my ass might never recover, but we made it.

Then we ordered poutine! No, we didn't. But we did point at it on the menu and laugh, which totally counts. We both had our normal Hooters foods, and Duke sampled three different Canadian beers on tap. When we got the bill, he learned they were each $7. Factoring in the exchange rate, it was definitely our most expensive trip to Hooters ever.

We wandered around a little more on the Canadian side, which was lovely. Even the Canadian squirrels were friendlier.

We walked back across the border on the Rainbow Bridge and provided the necessary ID to get back into the United States. When asked if he had anything to declare, Duke replied "I do! I love Canada!"

We both had to use the bathroom and we were hoping to find some non-$7 beer, so we went into the first establishment we saw - the Hard Rock Cafe. Duke bought a beer at the packed bar, and we sat down at a very small round high-top next to the bar. The rest of the restaurant was practically empty. Nonetheless, within 5 minutes, a waitress stopped by to let us know that we were taking up a real table, and if we were only drinking, we should sit at the bar. Again, we looked around. Empty tables everywhere, packed bar. So we left completely.

We headed towards the visitor's center with the intentions of going up the observation deck:

But we talked and realized that neither of us really wanted to do the tours and the man-made attractions, we were both more interested in hiking around the state park. The next three hours were spent on Goat Island, Luna Island, and the Three Sisters Islands, getting up close and personal with the major Falls and walking along paved paths and hiking through some not-so-paved areas.

Honestly, the rapids and smaller falls leading up to the American and Horseshoe Falls are really gorgeous by themselves, and they are surrounded by a much more natural environment, without high-rise buildings and TGI Fridays signs just above them.

I also had a great time reading up on the history of the area, the original owners of Goat Island, and the very Duke-like hermit that lived there and died while bathing under a waterfall. It was a very serene hike. But also very long. Duke is walking like an old man now and my bad knee has been slowly swelling up all day.

With an hour remaining before we had to catch the shuttle back to the airport, we tried to find a place to sit and have a beer. Our experience at the Hard Rock made us realize that the only way we'd enjoy ourselves is if we sought out a small local dive. It took many many blocks of walking away from the Falls, but we found it. The name was Dell's, and we sat at the bar with nothing but locals, drank cheap beer, and watched the Buffalo evening news. It was lovely.

Back to the bus we went, for the short ride back to the airport. Duke and I both zonked out the entire trip home, exhausted from waking up so early and spending the entire day on our feet and moving.

When we landed at RFD, we walked out of the terminal and straight into television cameras. Our faces managed to make the evening news on 2 different channels tonight. (Which might make it hard to stick with that "calling in sick to work" story.) The PR blitz is on, so if any of the news outlets or the paper would like to talk to a passenger on this flight, I would like to volunteer . . . Duke! He has a lot to say. Most of it involves beer and squirrels.

Seriously, though, this was a really fantastic opportunity for us to get away for a day and I doubt we would have ever planned a trip to Niagara Falls if not for this flight.

RFD's next day trip is to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky on July 15th. More information can be found here. Duke and I can't make this one, but I really hope it sells out, because I'm definitely going to be keeping an eye on these day trips for other stuff that does fit into our schedule.

But for now, I'm going to bed. We were home by 9 pm, but I'm painfully sore and extremely exhausted. My photos are all here.