Hey Guys!
This post continues our time at Niagara Falls.
We started our 3rd day with breakfast at the nearby IHop.
I ordered the lemon ricotta mixed berry french toast.
It was pretty tasty but very expensive!
See their menu here
After breakfast, we drove to the nearby White Water Walk.
The drive took approx. 10 mins from our hotel.
The fee for this attraction is $10.50 for adults and $6.50 for children ages 6-12.
At White Water Walk, you’ll ride an elevator down 230 ft, then walk through a tunnel that is 240 ft long.
You will then arrive at a wide open covered area with views of the river.
There are information plaques placed here talking about tragedies that have happened in the river.
After spending a few minutes here, you will then walk the nearby wooden boardwalk that runs alongside the rapids.
The boardwalk is 1/4 mile long.
There are stairs along the way that lead to two observation areas at the edge of the River.
Along the boardwalk, you will find several information plaques that will answer all of those questions you will likely have about the river.
Tip: This is a seasonal attraction open April to mid November weather permitting.
The water here is moving at approx 30 miles per hour!
The views from the boardwalk are incredible!
After getting to the end of the boardwalk, we turned around and walked back towards the elevators.
At the start of the walk, as soon as you exit the tunnel, there are more information plaques talking about those who have tempted fate by boating, swimming, tight rope walking and taking barrel rides in the river! Obviously, many of them perished trying these stupid stunts!
Read reviews here
After leaving here, we drove to the nearby Whirlpool Aero Car. It was less then a 5 min drive from the boardwalk.
The aero car is an antique cable car that transports passengers over a section of the Niagara River referred to as the Niagara Whirlpool. 
The cars have been soaring the Niagara Gorge since 1916!
They are suspended 200 ft above the river from six cables and span approx 1800 ft across the gorge!
Each car holds approx 35 people and the ride takes about 10 mins round trip.
The views are spectacular!
Read reviews here
After the aero cable car, we headed to the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens.
The gardens are located approx. 5 mins from the cable cars.
Read reviews here
Tip: You have to pay to park just about everywhere you go
The gardens are free to visit and feature 99 acres of award winning landscapes.
The gardens offer seasonal displays ranging from roses to vegetable and herb gardens.
We walked along the many beautiful paths throughout the gardens.
There was a wide variety of flowers blooming all around the garden!
And lots of old trees scattered throughout the gardens.
Also located on the grounds is the Niagara Parks School of Horticulture that was established in 1936 in response to a growing need for skilled gardeners to tend to Niagara Parks’ expanding parkland along the Niagara River Parkway.
Note: Just an interesting bit of information – the tuition at the school is $2200 per semester and a 7 day meal plan (includes 3 meals a day) costs $3165 per semester…you can pay $8 to have a student take you on a tour of the gardens
Admiring the beautiful vegetable gardens!
I loved this cool looking tree! It was called a Weeping Serbian Spruce.
The front of the school
The gardens are beautiful and I highly recommend a visit here!!
We spotted a bird’s nest in one of the trees!
Walking through the rose garden
So many beautiful and unique roses!
After spending about an hour walking through the gardens, we headed to the butterfly conservatory.
The conservatory is located at the same location of the gardens.
The cost to visit is $17.50 for adults and $11.50 for children ages 6-12.
The Conservatory features over 2,000 vibrantly colored butterflies fluttering freely throughout winding pathways adorned with lush vegetation and trickling waterfalls.
This is one of the largest glass-enclosed butterfly conservatories in North America!
I have been to several butterfly conservatories but this one was by far the best!!
There were so many different varieties and they were flying around everywhere!
As usual, I took way too many pics!
M mom had a huge blue one land on her shoulder!
This black and white polka dotted butterfly was so cool!
The conservatory was full of beautiful tropical plants and flowers.
I think they had every color butterfly you could imagine!
Read reviews here
After the butterfly conservatory, we headed to the small, quaint town of Niagara on the Lake.
The town is located approx. 20 mins from the botanical gardens.
We passed the floral clock on the way so we stopped for a quick picture.
The clock is created with thousands of carpet bedding plants and are changed twice each year.
After leaving the clock we continued our drive.
You will notice lots of wineries along the way…this area is known as Canada’s wine country.
Once we arrived to Niagara on the Lake, we had to find parking which took a little while!
We had to pay approx. $15 to park for 3 or 4 hours.
Niagara-on-the-Lake is made for walking, with its boutique shops, cast-iron planters bursting with flowers, and horse-drawn carriages transporting riders to another time and place.
This place is beautiful and definitely worth a visit!
As we were walking, we passed the historic Prince of Wales Hotel.
The Prince of Wales Hotel was built in 1864 and is a historical landmark in Niagara on the Lake….the hotel was named in honor of a visit by the Duke and Duchess of York in 1901.
Tip: There’s another Prince of Wales Hotel located in Waterton, Canada...we had booked a stay there in 2020 when we visited Glacier National Park but we had to cancel due to Covid.
We loved all of the historic buildings and flowers! So beautiful!
After walking around for a while, we were ready for lunch.
My mom & sister asked a local where the best place to eat and she recommended the historic Angel Inn.
The Inn was built in 1789!
The Inn was badly burned during the War of 1812-14. It was rebuilt by John Ross in 1815, who named it the Angel Inn, in a tender reference to his wife.
The Angel Inn is Ontario’s oldest operating Inn and offers five guest rooms plus an adjacent, private two bedroom cottage.
Read reviews here
After getting seated, we looked over the menu.
I ended up ordering the bacon portobello mushroom hamburger and it was delicious!
See their menu here
After eating lunch, we continued our walk through the beautiful town.
Later, we decided it was time for dessert and spotted the Niagara Home Bakery.
However, we decided to wait and see if we could find some ice cream instead because it was so hot!
So, we continued our walk as we admired all of the beautiful buildings and flowers!
A short time later, we spotted an ice cream store called Cow’s.
COWS originally started in 1983 with an old-fashioned recipe that originated in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island.
The ice cream store has, in the past, been named “World’s Best Ice Cream”.
Their ice cream is made with 16% butterfat, one of the highest butterfat used in any ice cream!
This place was packed out and we had to stand in line several minutes before getting our ice cream!
I ordered a scoop of the peanut butter cup and a scoop of the messie bessie and it was delicious!
After our ice cream, we decided to head back to our hotel.
On the way back, we passed a monument called Brock’s Monument so we stopped for a quick picture.
The monument was named after Major-General Isaac Brock, Commander-in-Chief of British forces who was killed in battle in the year 1812.
It was rebuilt in 1853 after the original monument was bombed by a terrorist in 1840.
After arriving back to our hotel, we decided to head to the falls to watch them be lit up and to watch the fireworks.
We tried to figure out how to get to the falls without having to take the incline railway, but after walking several minutes, we determined that it was going to be a very long walk so we turned around and took the railway.
We did, however, discover the Galleria Shops at Fallsview on our walk…there are several shops and restaurants located here.
We arrived to the falls around 8 pm and spotted a rainbow!
The sun was illuminating just one small section of the falls!
The area was packed with people waiting on the lights and fireworks!
At around 9, the sun started to set.
In this picture, you can see the SkyWheel lit up and the lights that light up the falls.
Finally, at approx 9:45 pm, the falls were lit up!
At 10:00 pm on the dot, the fireworks started!
The fireworks last 5 mins and right after they were done, we headed back to our room and called it a night!
Thanks for reading!
Stay tuned for Day 4!
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