June 28th, 2009- Homeward Bound

Another alarm-free morning. I actually managed to wake up with loads of time to spare before check out. Can you believe it?
Granny and Maude weren't too far behind in waking up this time.

It was a dreary day. The sky was full of clouds and the occasional drizzle would sprinkle down randomly.
At least the rain held off until our driving day.

As the girls got started packing, I sat in bed for a bit, snacking on leftovers, shaking the cobwebs out, and checking out my souvenir from the night before.

Shortly later, I was up in my chair and everyone was packed and ready to head home.
Mom called down for a luggage cart and I took a last look at the view, as I always do.

We waited. And waited. And called again. And waited some more.
It was about 45 minutes until the luggage cart arrived. At least it was cool that our buddy Stu ended up being the one to bring the cart and help us head out.

Before loading up the van, there was one last stop to make. We had to stop at the front desk to have them fix the bill, as they never adjusted it after we were downgraded.
I hate to be negative, but I really wasn't impressed by the Hilton. Maybe I've just been spoiled by how smoothly past trips have gone, but staying at this hotel just seemed to stress me out. I can't really see myself staying there again.

By the time we got everything squared away with the bill and packed up the van, we hit the road around 2:00 PM.

The drive home was pretty routine. We stopped at Duty Free, I grabbed myself a few bottles of Jackson-Triggs (I loves me some Gewürztraminer), and crossed the border back into the States.
The rain had stopped by the time we stopped to eat in Angola.

After Angola came the long stretch of the drive. Granny and Maude dozed off in the back of the van, so for most of the ride, it was just me, Mom, and my iPod.

We reached Ohio and Maude was the first to be dropped off. Then Granny. Mom and I finally arrived home at 8:00 PM, officially bringing the trip to a close.

Even though I was stressed out a lot on this trip, it was still a good one and I did have fun. We took Granny to her second concert, she had her first long island iced tea, we saw the sights, and had lots of laughing fits.
Good company, good food, good music, good drinks. It was a much needed and greatly enjoyed getaway.

As always, until the next one...

June 26th, 2009- The Chaos Continues

Vacation- a time to relax and sleep in as late as your heart desires. And then you're woken by the fire alarm going off.
It was 10 AM. Mom and Maude shot out of bed, confused, looking around, trying to focus and figure out what was going on. I laid still, eyes still closed, listening. Meanwhile, Granny was in the bathroom panicking, thinking she had done something to set an alarm off.
Eventually, they came on over the PA system and gave the all clear.
How's that for a start to the day?

I dozed for a few more minutes before getting up and snacking on some leftovers with Mom while waiting for Maude & Granny to wake up for the day.

Around noon, we decided to take the initiative and help them wake up.

Finally, once everyone was up and ready, we headed out.

On the way to the elevator, we bumped into a lady from the housekeeping staff. While talking with her, we learned that the fire alarm goes off almost every day because of the continuing construction on the new wing.
Lovely.

The weather was perfect. Not too hot, not too cool, and sunny skies full of puffy clouds.

For our first stop of the day, we scooted across the street and up to the top of the Skylon Tower.

It was exactly as we left it last time, but still an impressive and gorgeous view, perfect for picture taking.

Beware Goat Island! Canada's only island fully inhabited by bloodthirsty Goat People.

We descended down to street level and pounded the pavement up to Tony Romas for a (really) late breakfast. I had been craving some really good chicken fingers for a while and these totally hit the spot.

Maude vs. Cheesecake

We also went and found my brick from last time.

I love it there- the food, the music they play, it all just does it for me. I wish we still had a Tony Romas around here.

Next up, we were aiming for the Pen Centre, so we headed back to hotel to get the van.
The sign said to allow up to fifteen minutes for valet to bring your vehicle. No biggie. So we waited.

And waited.

A half hour went by before the van showed up.
I've always been one to keep my cool when I'm frustrated, but this was pushing it. The little things were piling up and I wasn't digging this hotel.

So, we loaded into the van and hurried off toward St Catharines.

We wandered around the Pen Centre for a couple hours. It's so much bigger and nicer than the malls around here, I actually love just roaming around inside. It's even interesting to people-watch, it's so noticeable how much more peaceful, laid back, and just generally happy Canadians are compared to most folks in these parts.
I bought myself a copy of Let the Right One In on DVD and we headed back towards Niagara Falls.

We dropped off our purchases in our room, then made our way back down to the first floor to get some dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grill. I'm a macaroni junkie, so I was ready to chow down. So, we got to our table, looked at our menus for a few minutes, and then I asked a question I didn't think I'd have to ask- "Does anyone see macaroni on the menu?" We asked our waiter and it was confirmed. Romano's Macaroni Grill does not serve macaroni.
I repeat.
NO. MACARONI.

Macaroni disappointment aside, dinner was good. I particularly enjoyed the ultimate leaning bellini I had.

The restaurant itself basically seemed like a slightly more upscale (pricier) version of Olive Garden, though I think I prefer Olive Garden.

From there, we headed across the street to the casino for a little while. I'm not much of a gambler, so as usual, I gave myself a nice low limit and stuck to the slots. In the end, I didn't win anything, but had a good time playing.

It was getting late, so once Granny and Maude finished on the slots, we mozied on back to the room. The next day was the concert, so I definitely wanted to be well rested. Stuffed, tired, and hoping for no more fire alarms, I drifted off to sleep.

June 25th, 2009- The Other Side of the Storm

As usual, I had planned to leave early in the day, around 9 or 10 AM. Also as usual, we got off to a late start, leaving the house around noon.

Our first stop was a couple streets over to pick up Granny. We grabbed Granny, then Maude called just as we set out to pick her up. She called, saying that the news was reporting Farrah Fawcett died. It's weird, celebrities seem to die when I go on vacation. Anna Nicole Smith, Steve Irwin, etc. Kinda creepy.
So, by the time we drove out, picked up Maude, and really on the road, it was somewhere around 2 PM. Definitely later than I had hoped.

The ride started out pretty smooth, despite the hot (especially hot for this summer) temperatures.
As we drove through Pennsylvania, approaching the New York border, the skies in front of us grew dark.

A few minutes later, we were driving through a downpour, accented by heavy winds and some wicked looking lightning. Thankfully, most of it had stopped by the time we reached the rest stop in Angola, save for the occasional stray drizzle. We popped in, grabbed a quick bite at Denny's, and got back on the road.

A windblown Granny tells us it's all good!

We finally crossed the Peace Bridge into Canada, rode into Niagara Falls, and arrived at Hilton around 7 PM. As we pulled in and waited to unload the van, Baytosh called to tell us that Michael Jackson had died.
See what I mean?
That one was a bit of a shocker.

We unloaded and headed in. I was pumped. The Hilton had been renovating for a while and the room I booked was part of the brand new wing, which opened less than a month earlier.
Only three of the six elevators were up and running at the time, so there was a bit of a wait, but I figured it's just one little inconvenience.
The bellman that helped us to our room, Stu, was really cool. He kind of looked like Simon Pegg. All was going well, the room looked great. Excellent view of the Falls, fireplace, flat-screen TV's...then we found a sizeable problem. To summarize, the bathroom door wasn't exactly handicap-friendly and I'm fairly sure I wouldn't have been able to hold it all weekend.
Stu went from room to room, checking to see if any of the bathroom doors were different, but no luck. He hung around with us for quite a while, calling down to the front desk, searching for any kind of solution for us.

Finally we ended up downgrading and moving over to a room in the older wing. We got into that room around 8 PM.

As they unpacked, and helped the confused lady who thought our room was hers, I flicked on the TV and saw that The Dark Knight was on and it was right at the pencil scene. That was an enjoyable little moment of relaxation.

It was starting to get dark out and I wanted to do something, so we left the room and aimed for the Falls. We decided to cut through casino, so we took the walkway that went over the street that connected our hotel to the casino.

The walkway.

So, we walk cross over the street...and find stairs on the other side. Besides turning around and going back, the only way into the casino was through the parking garage, so through the parking garage we went.

Through the casino, down the hill, and we were down by the Falls. We made our way up the sidewalk and through the mist and looked at the Falls, illuminated in the night.

Once at the top of the Falls, it was getting a bit chilly, so we shuffled into the Table Rock building to warm up a little. While inside, I consulted the all-knowing mystic, Zoltar! And before you ask, no, I didn't wish I was big.

It was getting late, so we headed back up the hill and had dinner at the Keg inside the Embassy Suites. As always, it was delicious.

Totally stuffed, we made our way back up the street to our hotel to get some shut-eye and prepare for a full day.

Day 3- On Our Way Home

Saturday, February 24th, 2007

I slept better than the previous night, but I was still a bit tired when I woke up to a sunny Windsor Saturday morning. The previous two days, though jam packed with activities, went by surprisingly fast. Even though I had an amazing time, I felt ready to head home.

Once again, Mom was up and active a while before I was, packing and getting ready for the drive. I flipped through the channels as I woke up and was surprised at what I found. It wasn't Saturday morning cartoons, it was Saturday morning Veronica Mars. Not a bad thing to wake up to by any means.

Not much later, we were packed, bundled, and in the lobby, ready to go. I waited by the luggage while Mom made a quick stop in the gift shop to grab a copy of the local paper, in hopes of there being a review of the concert. When she got back with the paper, I smiled when I saw Chantal featured on the front page in a story about her visit to the children's ward of the Windsor Regional Hospital before the concert.

We readied our maps and road music and made sure snacks were handy (as we were traveling on empty stomachs) and finally set out.


The drive had a slightly bumpy start, thanks to some useless steps in the directions from MapQuest that led directly to a dead end, but we eventually found our way to the Ambassador Bridge.


Mom's not a fan of bridges, heights, or large bodies of water, so it was understandable when she got visibly tense when we saw how backed up traffic was on the bridge. I figured it would just be a few minute long thing, but we were on that bridge for 45 minutes because it was so backed up at customs. Even so, Mom still did great.


A few more confusing directions came and went, but we found the freeway quickly and were on our way. The drive was relaxed and smooth as we listened to my new Our Lady Peace CD and ate the occasional pretzel. A quick three hours later and we were home.

Approaching Cleveland

We unpacked, told Dad and Kris about the trip, and settled in. While watching the news, we saw that the same icebreaker we had seen the day before was now in Cleveland. Also, it looked like we had gotten out of Windsor at just the right time, as they got hit with a pretty nasty ice storm that night.

The night continued with a nice chill session with Corey, Jeff, and Eric. We kicked back, played games, swapped music, and watched my new Trailer Park Boys DVD, which is easily the funniest movie I've seen in ages.

It was a great night that wrapped up a great little adventure. Here's to the next one!

Day 2- "We Were Occupied, I Never Had to Go Outside..."

Friday, February 23rd, 2007

I hate hotel beds. I've had a water bed my whole life, so sleeping away from home has always been something of a challenge. Making sleep more of a challenge was the heater in the room. This thing was so loud and ran almost constantly. It ran so much that when I finally fell asleep, it woke me up by shutting off. Needless to say, it was a fairly restless night.

Mom was up before I was and snapped a few shots out the window. There were giant chunks of ice floating down the river in the morning sun.


As I woke up on the day of the concert, I checked out some of the many channels and was overjoyed to see MuchMusic. I was a huge fan back when our cable company carried it, but they dropped it years ago. It was where I first found a lot of the bands I still listen to today. It was nice to be able to watch it again for a few minutes.

While we got ready to go find somewhere to eat, we noticed a boat coming down the ice-filled Detroit River. As it got closer, we could see it was actually an icebreaker.


A few minutes later, it was followed by another one. It was a pretty cool sight.


Mom and I wandered down to the River Runner Lounge, just off of the hotel lobby for breakfast, but found it didn't open until 2:30. Having a half hour to kill, we decided to go check out how to get to the Chrysler Theatre. It worked out nicely, since the Hilton was right next door and the buildings are connected, we didn't even have to go outside to get to the venue.

We went as far as the ticket booth door, which was locked, and turned around to find the door we had just come through was now locked. There was an open door leading to an empty meeting room, which we passed through and found an employee who helped us out.

Still having time to kill, we wandered a bit more. Checked out the gift shop. Posed with a funky little statue. The usual.


When they finally opened, we got a quick bite and and a little wine (what a breakfast) in the lounge. Jeff called halfway through, asking what I was up to that night. When I said I was in Canada, he responded with a classic "Whaaaaaaaaaaat?" and we made plans to hang the next night.


A little while later, we headed over for the sound check, as we were so kindly invited again. It was a great time, watching Chantal and Raine play and visiting with them and their awesome crew for a bit before the show.

The concert itself was excellent. The show in St Catharines was great, but this one blew it out of the water. The venue was bigger, the crowd was bigger and more responsive, and the performances from both Raine and Chantal were more finely polished.

During his set, Raine played two new songs from his forthcoming album, both of them, especially Yellow Brick Road, sounded great. I'm really looking forward to hearing the completed album.


One funny moment came when Raine commented how happy the audience seemed and suggested it was cause of all the strip clubs in the area. Seconds later, Chantal chimed in from behind the piano, "Not gonna happen, honey."

Chantal's set was excellent, mixing it up newer songs with the older ones. After opening with So Cold, she briefly paused the show, noticing several audience members had an extremely obstructed view, due to the piano's position on the stage. She took a few minutes and actually had some chairs brought up on stage, she then brought some of the audience members up.


Chantal and the band, including Raine on bass, sounded in top form. So many personal favorites were played, including Time, Ghosts of You, Surrounded, and a recently reworked version of Wayne.


After leaving the stage, Chantal returned to the stage for an encore minus the band and completely unplugged. She sat, legs dangling over the edge of the stage, with just her guitar and her voice, no microphone or amp, and performed a hauntingly beautiful rendition of Far Away. This was my sixth time seeing her in concert and I was blown away by her ability to hold such a large crowd in awe with her voice alone.


I've always loved the song, but this was the best it's ever sounded. Obviously, I wasn't the only one who thought so, as the song was interrupted by applause for about thirty seconds before it ended.

The band returned to join Chantal for the remainder of the encore and close out an incredible show.


Mom and I quickly went back to thank Raine & Chantal and say our see-you-laters before heading back to the hotel.

We decided to stop in the lounge for a drink, but found it was closed. Before midnight. On a Friday. After a concert. In a casino town. Does that make sense to anyone? Cause it sure seemed odd to us.

So we went with Plan B and went back to the room and hit some snacks Mom packed. Some pretzels and a few cookies later, we called it a night and got some sleep before the drive home in the morning.

What an amazing day. All that without ever even going outside.

Day 1- The Winds of Windsor

Thursday, February 22nd, 2007

I woke up at 10 AM, which is like the crack of dawn for me. My throat felt a bit scratchy and I desperately hoped I wasn't going to be sick for this concert too. I decided to pop a tylenol, ignore it, and keep getting ready. I threw some new music onto my iPod for the road while Mom got herself ready.

We loaded up the van and set out at 1:00. It was a pretty overcast day, but it wasn't snowing or raining, which was nice. The only bad factor from the weather was the wind. It wasn't terrible, but it was just enough to where Mom couldn't just relax and cruise. Sadly, the wind stayed with us the whole drive.

Approaching Cleveland

The drive to Windsor isn't nearly as scenic as the drive to the Falls, unless you're a big fan of fields, that is. There isn't much to look at along the way, so to pass the time, I would overly excitedly point out every frozen body of water along the way. Rivers, ponds, lakes, even ditch water. Maybe you had to be there.

Traffic wasn't too bad, thankfully. I guess we were driving at the right time. Even so, there was one semi driver who cut us off and missed us by about three feet.

I never used to think crossing state lines meant much of anything, but it is a bit weird how things can seem different the moment you enter another state. The road feels different, the bridges and freeways have a different look, and when we crossed into Michigan, it even seemed like a different season. There was much less snow on the ground and the sun came out for the first time all day.


Also for the first time on the trip, a favorite Chantal song of mine, Little Things, randomly came up on the iPod and I took it as a sign we'd have a good trip.

After sharing the road with the crazy Michigan drivers (they don't seem fond of turn signals), we arrived in Detroit and came to the tunnel to Canada, which I just found out is "the only vehicular international subaqueous border crossing in the world." Groovy.

Detroit

Three hours after leaving home, we arrived in Windsor.


The high winds were strong as ever when we pulled into the Hilton (get it out of your system, insert cheesy "That's hot" joke here). Alas, it wasn't just windy, it was bitter cold and windy. With the help of Marty, the awesome bellman, we got our stuff and settled into the room a bit.

The view from our room

It was a bit cramped with my wheelchair, but it was nice. If they could combine the room from the Marriott at the Falls with the amenities of this room, it would be perfect. Tons of TV channels and free highspeed internet, including free wireless, though apparently the wireless doesn't work above the 3rd floor for some reason. We were on the 9th. Ah well, I didn't travel up there to play online.


A bit later, we were off to the mall. Yeah, I'm a sucker for shopping. Mom made me wait inside the hotel lobby while she lowered the lift on the van, that's when I heard familiar notes over the hotel music system. They were playing another of my favorite Chantal songs, Wayne. As we pulled away from the hotel, we were greeted by her name on the marquee of the Chrysler Theatre next door.


A ten minute drive and a few pictures later, we were at the Devonshire Mall.


Though the Pen Centre in St Catharines is bigger, I think I preferred this mall. It just seemed to have more variety and better stores. I bought myself Trailer Park Boys: The Movie on DVD and Our Lady Peace Live on CD. Excellent finds.


Neither of us having really eaten all day (aside from some pretzels on the road), Mom and I stopped in the food court and split some fries from New York Fries.

On the way out of the mall, I decided to indulge the action figure collector in me and head to the Toys R Us across the street. That's when it got crazy.
Since it was still windy and freezing out, Mom told me to get inside the store while she closed the van. The parking lot was empty, so I took off. Halfway to the door, a gust of wind hit me and I felt my Our Lady Peace hat quickly leave my head. I yelled out "My hat!" and spun around. The trooper that she is, Mom was already right on top of it. I spun again and resumed the journey to the door. That's when the second gust hit. This time, it caught my sweatshirt and blew it up over my head, completely covering my face. I could still see out of the corner of my eye, so I kept driving as I looked for the ramp to the door.
When Mom saw me driving across the parking lot with a sweatshirt over my face, she freaked and ran for me. Meanwhile under the sweatshirt, I have tears running down my face from laughing so hard. Mom flipped the sweatshirt down and ran back to finish closing the van while I finally got inside.
Seriously, she's a trooper.
Oh, and to complete this story, there was no trace of any figures I was looking for, though I was still laughing too hard to care.

We braved the wind and returned to the van to head back to the hotel. After dropping our stuff off in our room, we went down to the fancy restaurant on the second floor, The Park Terrace Restaurant. Maybe it's stupid, but I try to treat myself while on vacation and eat at one restaurant I'd normally consider too expensive. Sitting in the dimly lit restaurant overlooking Detroit and the Detroit River, Mom and I sipped on wine and ate bread (accompanied by fancy looking butter) before digging into the main course, roasted chicken (Mom's had fruit salsa, mine didn't) and mashed potatoes. It was pricey (to me), but fantastic.


By the time we finished, it was nearing closing time, so we took our piece of hot chocolate cake back to our room.


We split the cake and I checked my email before hopping into bed after a long, busy day.