How I Spent My Summer

Like a sticky, 90+ degree whirlwind, summer has already come and gone.  Looking back, I'd have to say it was a pretty odd summer for me.  It began with a burst of awesomeness and spun into a blur of inactivity.
So, let's start with the (mostly) high note that kicked off my summer.


For the past couple years, I've been friends with the fantastic Teal Sherer (whom you might recognize from The Guild).  Earlier this year, an idea became a discussion, a discussion became plans, and Teal and I agreed to finally meet and hang out for a few days in Niagara Falls.
Everything was arranged quickly and before too long, the end of June had arrived and I was ready.  Well, almost.


On the morning of Thursday, June 23rd, I was up at 7 AM. The original plan was to hit the road at 10 AM, but it was becoming increasingly apparent that things weren't going according to plan. Despite everything being booked and ready so far in advance, my dad didn't take our van in to get checked until the day before I was supposed to leave. Our van is a few years old and has a bit of rust on the bottom. As a result, every time this guy fixed something, something else would break. He kept the van overnight on Wednesday and kept working through Thursday.  So, I sat in my living room as the hours passed by, tracked Teal's flight all the way across the country (LA to Buffalo), and it started to look like we weren't getting the van back. Dad finally brought the van back at 8 PM.  Mom and I debated what to do and decided to leave that night, so we didn't lose half of Friday traveling. We packed up and left at 9:45 PM, picked up my aunt, and arrived in Niagara Falls around 2:30 AM. By the time we got unpacked, settled in, and in bed, it was 4 AM.

I woke up to my phone ringing around noon on Friday, it was Teal checking in to make sure we arrived safely. I quickly got into my chair and a little while later, Teal made her way up to my room.  After two years of friendship, we finally got to meet face to face.

We went to a late breakfast at Friday's, then basically just wandered around the area for a while.

We made our way down to the Maid of the Mist, and hopped aboard.  Sure, we got a bit waterlogged, definitely moreso than Teal expected, but I couldn't, in all good conscience, let her miss out on the Maid of the Mist experience, could I?

After the boat, we wandered back to the hotel and had dinner at The Keg.

All of us ended the night just hanging out in the room and watching the fireworks over the Falls.
Despite the craziness of Thursday, Friday was great.

Saturday started with another late breakfast, this time at Tony Roma's, and then it was time for the big event.  A lot of my Niagara trips are planned around Chantal Kreviazuk concerts, as was the case this time, but this one was raising the bar of awesomeness. Not only was it another show at the excellent Jackson-Triggs Winery, but this time, Chantal was being accompanied by the Niagara Symphony Orchestra.  As if that wasn't cool enough, the concert was also being filmed for a DVD/Bluray, etc.
So, Mom, Aunt Karen, Teal, and I packed into the van and headed to the winery early to meet up with some friends before the show.  It was fun, as always, to visit with Terence, Deb, Shelly, Chris, Russell, Mitch, Sandy, and a very pregnant Kathy.  People came and went, we hung out and chatted for a bit, then made our way down to the amphitheater for the show.

In reviewing the concert, I would end up mostly echoing my own comments about past shows, so I'll just say the show was incredible, Chantal sounded and looked wonderful, the orchestra really enhanced the sound into a whole new experience, the venue was beautiful, the wine was outstanding, and we had perfect seats (Thanks, Del!).

After the show, we said our see-you-laters, snapped some pictures, and headed back to the hotel.

The awesome Karen Graves

The gang

Del!

Unfortunately, this is where the whole thing went downhill for me.

Around 4 AM on Sunday morning, I woke up feeling awful.  The best I can guess is the mixture of wine and what I'm assuming was a kidney stone episode hit me at the same time and threw me for a loop, leaving me stuck in the hotel bed for the next couple days. I stayed in bed from Saturday night until we left on Monday morning, slept the whole way home, then got in my own bed for a couple more days.
For the last bit of vacation, my aunt and Teal bonded as they hung out and wandered around Niagara while Mom stayed in the room with me. I consider the "end" of the trip to be Sunday night. They had fireworks again and I could see them from my bed, so everyone gathered and watched. Teal had an early flight back to LA on Monday, so after the fireworks, she hugged me and was off.

After we got back, it took me about a week before I started to feel back to normal. Plus, I was laid up for so long, I got a bit weak and it took me about a month to fully feel like myself again.
So, the trip started and ended badly, but the concert and spending time with Teal were worth it.


That was the start of summer, and honestly, the rest of the summer whooshed by.  It was an exceptionally hot summer, so I really didn't go out much.  Everyone was busy, so I didn't see many people, though I did spend some good time with Bridget and Sarah.  I even got to catch up a bit with Cathy and Nikki, neither of whom I'd seen in ages.
And, of course, I'm always hanging out with my ever-growing and scarily smart nephew, Matthew.

Before I knew it, my birthday was upon me and summer was nearing it's end.  I had a pre-birthday visit from Corey, Eric, and Brendan, and then had a blast celebrating at Corks with Bridget the following weekend.

Me & Bridget

The weekend was topped off by a great hang out session with Marisa.


So, here we are.  Fall has arrived and it looks like it'll be a busy one.  I'm just about to embark on another Canadian adventure, I'm working on a big screenplay, I'm prepping a short film I love, and I'm working on a comic strip.
Yowza.
Let's go, fall!

Niagara Falls 2005: Day III

We woke up a bit later, since we were so exhausted from Day Two. Again, Mom was awake before Kris and I. She had the camera ready as the day began with what she says was a pretty intense thunderstorm. I slept through the whole thing. She was amazed that they kept the Maid of the Mist going with all of the lightning.

By the time I was up and ready to go, the skies were perfectly clear and you never would've guessed it had rained.

We decided to head for the Maid of the Mist. Kris led us on a "shorter route" which actually turned out to be the long road, but it was scenic. As we walked, we came upon a motel I was pretty sure they used in the first episode of Wonderfalls, so I had to take a picture in front of it. (When we returned home, I checked my Wonderfalls DVD and it was the wrong motel. Oh well.)

Before long, we found ourselves walking down Clifton Hill. I was a bit shocked when I realized it's even steeper than Murray Street. I took my time so I didn't plow through a bunch of tourist, didn't want to scuff my new chair!

Finally at the base of the hill, we neared the Maid of the Mist. After a short elevator ride and many ramps going downward, we donned our stylish ponchos and we were ready to board.

I look like something out of a Missy Elliott video

It's a funny thing, overall, the newness was gone from most of the things we did on last year's trip, but the Maid of the Mist lost none of its magic. It's such a rush getting so close to such a massive natural wonder, you can really feel the power of the Falls.

The Brothers Smurf

There was one thing I could have planned better though. It turns out that the spot I chose to park my chair was directly under the edge of the second level of the boat, so as we pulled away from the Falls, a bunch of water poured down from the upper level onto me. There were puddles forming on my poncho.

We went to the gift shop (got a t-shirt and a little Canadian flag for myself and a t-shirt for Dad), stopped to eat at the little cafeteria area we ate at last year, then we checked out a couple places at the bottom of Clifton Hill. We made a quick pass through the WWE shop and then went into the MGM store. Next, we went into the Marvel building. It really is a cool place with lots of cool stuff, but it baffles me that they don't have any adult sized t-shirts or anything. What's the deal with that?

Chillin' with Spidey again


Me between the Infinity Gauntlet and Thor's hammer, Mjolnir


Me with Dr Doom's mask


Outside the Rainforest Cafe

Next, we stayed on the walkway along the river, heading back towards the top of the Falls so we could go on the Journey Behind the Falls. Another elevator ride down and we were wandering in the tunnels behind Niagara Falls. It was pretty amusing watching Kris, who's 6'8", walk down this tunnel with only about an inch between his head and the ceiling. It's crazy to watch the Falls from behind. The combined sights of massive amounts of water pouring down as huge clouds of mist shoot upwards is tumultuous and incredible.

Under the Falls


Behind the Falls


The tunnel

From there, we stopped in the gift shop and I bought a postcard to send to my good friend, Linda. Then I headed back outside to the top of the Falls for another dose of mist before heading back to our room.

At approximately 7:30 PM, we all lost it. Without warning and without reason, the three of us completely lost it and began laughing uncontrollably. Maybe it was the negative ions, maybe it was us being in vacation mode, or maybe we were just delirious. I'm leaning towards the latter. We laughed so hard at absolutely nothing that we had tears in our eyes. When we eventually regained our composure, it was time to eat again.

This time we went across the street to Tony Roma's. I'm happy to say it was the best and cheapest of the nice places we ate at, though it was still a bit pricey. And I've just got to say, damn...that Romarita I had was excellent.

Finally, on our last night in Niagara Falls, we went to the casino one last time.

Within the first ten minutes on the quarter slots, I hit for $30. I had a good vibe, baby. At the end of the night, I had played with about $50 and won roughly $80. I'd say it was a good night.

I was craving some ice cream, cause, y'know, gambling makes you crave some ice cream. We searched a bit, but anywhere that might have ice cream was already closed for the night. So we tiredly marched back to the hotel.
I wrote out the postcard for Linda while looking at the Falls from our room and then hit the sack to rest up for the drive home in the morning.

Jacob's 2004 Adventure: Part IV- Day One At Niagara Falls

Instead of waking up and seeing the cabinet in my bedroom covered with Superman memorabilia, I woke up to a view of a city stretched out far below me. The sun was out and the world was bright, I was in the midst of an adventure far from home.

I sat up and looked at the book and picture on the foot of the bed. I smiled as I saw these reminders of my wonderful experience the night before.

While we were all waking up, my aunt was on a mission. She tossed on a little outfit and went down to the front desk to talk to the morning concierge. She told her version of the story and ended up redeeming herself for being an hour late the day before. This generous concierge gave us an upgraded room for the price of the room we were supposed to have. Poor guy never knew what hit him.
We all got dressed and hauled our stuff to the new room. It was great! A living room with a couch and pullout bed, a bedroom with two big beds and a beautiful view of the Falls, a bathroom, a separate shower, and a even Jacuzzi. Style, baby.

After getting settled in, we set out for adventure.

Getting a late start, we went down to the T.G.I. Fridays that was connected to the lobby of the hotel. After a quick breakfast, we were on our way.

We walked for a while to see what we could see, then we decided on our first destination: The Maid of the Mist.
Our journey to the Maid of the Mist was roughly a half hour to 45 minute walk. It led us through the new casino, which we'd be returning to later. When we came out the other side of the casino's mall area, we were directly across the street from the Skylon Tower. One of my goals for the trip was to see the view from the top of the tower. My aunt said she'd go up with me...until she actually saw it. Apparently I was the only one of the four of us who isn't terrified of heights.

To get to the Maid of the Mist from where we were, we had to make our way down a huge hill, which was easy and I thought quite fun, but there was one thing we overlooked, on our way back we'd have to go back up that hill.
Deciding to make it easier on myself by not fighting gravity, I let 'er rip and flew down the hill. Mom matched my speed. As Grandma observed, she thought I had lost control and Mom was chasing me. With that, Grandma began chasing us while yelling to my aunt "Help your sister! Help your sister!"
We finally made it and got in line. We got our tickets and they led us down an elevator and through a long hallway. We were given ponchos, which we quickly put on, then we went aboard the Maid of the Mist.

The boat rocked as it traveled against the current and it took us practically right below the Falls. It was so incredible. The rocking, the wind, the mist spraying you. Mom thought the same effect could be achieved by going to the firehouse and having them hose you down, but I absolutely loved it. The poncho came in handy, but my legs were soaking wet for the rest of the day.

After getting back on dry land, it was time to eat. Right by the gift shop was a cute little eating area overlooking the river. There were one or two little restaurants, drink stands, live music, and a little craft stand. I decided it was souvenir time and approached the craft stand. They were selling leather bracelets that they would personalize for free if you wanted. I thought about it, I wanted one, but I didn't want it to just say "Jacob," too predictable. After some thought, it came to me. Over the past few days, I had met so many people from message boards and they kept referring to me by my message board name, "BoyOfSteel". So I picked a nice black bracelet, told the lady what I wanted it to say, and watched as she burned the letters "B.O.S." into it. After I ate me an ice cream sundae, we were once again on our way.

As we walked, I made a last-ditch effort and offered my aunt $15 for the casino if she took me to the top of the Skylon Tower. No luck. It was worth a shot. Maybe next time.
Shortly later, we found ourselves at the base of the hill, gritted our teeth, and started to make our way up. It's insane how tiring it was, even for me in my wheelchair, I felt like Frodo scaling Mount Doom. About 90% of the way up, a guy working a parking lot at the top of the hill came down and asked if help was needed. My mouth said "No thanks, I've got it" but my brain was saying "Screw you, buddy! I made it this far on my own and I'll make it the rest of the way!"

We took a breather at the top and then we headed into the casino. I had set myself a $50 limit for casino use over the entire trip. That night I lasted over an hour on $40 and the credits I won at the quarter slots. I don't think that's too bad for my first time.

Upon getting back to the hotel, we were all hungry again and decided to go to the steakhouse in the hotel. The atmosphere in the restaurant was great. Dimly lit, very friendly staff, hot waitresses, and amazing view of the Falls, which were lit up at night. I had a nice steak, a baked potato, and a drink called an "Orange Slice." The drink was okay, but went fast, everything else was fantastic!

Slightly buzzed from my drink, I followed as we made our way back to our room.

From the comfort of the room I relaxed and watched as they shut the lights on the Falls off one by one. I worked on my travel journal on my laptop, but we were so busy throughout the trip, I never even finished documenting the first day's journey to Toronto. Then it was time for bed. I had to rest up for what was sure to be another full day.