An adventure outside the city

For Thursday, we woke up early had breakfast at the hotel and then headed to the countryside.

First up was a stop at Fallingwater, a Frank Lloyd Wright home. It was magical! This house practically floats above a waterfall and it's in the midst of a beautiful forest. I can't imagine what it looks like in the Fall!! We loved it and the tour.

Then, it was a short 10 minute drive to our white water rafting adventure. This was no joke! Michael and I were in a boat w/ a lady and her teenage son. No guide!! We did about a 4 hour trip down the river of class 3 and 4 rapids. They'd pull over and tell us about the rapids before we did them, and then they'd stand on rocks and call out signals, but it was still pretty intense knowing we were in charge. It was fun! We got stuck on rocks a few times, but no flipping. :) Good stuff!!

Here's a link to some pics (look for my bright green shirt): https://wwaraft.smugmug.com/Lower-Yough/AUGUST-2016-LOWER-YOUGH/AUGUST-11-2016-12-PM/i-kcptmPf

After our 1.5 hour drive back to Pittsburgh, we got cleaned up and drove to Butcher and Rye for dinner. It was so yummy and perfect! It was by far the best food we had on the trip. Mac n' cheese, brussel sprouts, and a halibut dish. Very cool! Then, we checked out one more brewery (Hophead) before heading back to the hotel. A busy day, but very fun!!

Four more Pittsburgh adventures Friday morning before we headed back to Columbus.

First up was a brief run around Pittsburgh. Lots of great running trails on the river and over the bridges. It was nice.

Then, we rode the Duquense Incline to get an overhead view of the city. It was gorgeous! And the ride up was also cool. Apparently this is the oldest version of this type of transport in the US. Cool.

Then, we went to this cool contemporary art gallery called The Mattress Factory (it was inside an old mattress store). Artists build their installments directly into the space. Some great stuff by James Turrell.

Then, we headed to Smallman Gallery to have some lunch. It's a cool little place where budding chefs get to try out a restaurant concept. There were 4-5 places to choose from. You ordered your food from the counter/restaurant idea you liked best and then sat somewhere in the big space until they texted you to let you know the food was ready. We did some really nice sandwiches w/ yummy fries. A really cool area to explore and we're glad we stopped there!

Then, we hit the road for Columbus. We even drove through West Virginia on the way back. Boom!

Thanks for following along. Until next time....

On to our final stop: Pittsburgh

We decided to enjoy our hotel room a bit more the next morning. It had rained over night so the windows were a bit wet, but over all it was still a wonderful site. We took a stroll down to the water to take one last look at the falls. Then, we went back to the room and packed everything up.

We grabbed a quick breakfast at Tim Hortons...apparently it's a thing up north.

Then, it was off to Pittsburgh. We drove over the bridge in Niagara and then headed down a more scenic route in New York to avoid the toll road. We ended up in some sort of wine region...again! We stopped at one winery and did a tasting just to get out of the car.

We arrived in Pittsburgh in time to check in to our hotel, The Priory Hotel, which was an old monastery. Super cool historic building with creaky stairs and old furniture. A real hidden gem in Pittsburgh very near the baseball field.

After checking in, we drove to a late lunch at Conflict Kitchen which is a cool place that serves food from a country that the US is currently in some sort of conflict with. Currently, they're doing Iranian food. It was yummy. But, it did start pouring out just as we arrived and it was a little outdoor food stand, so that was a bit of a mess. However, there was a big tent we could sit under and enjoy our food while watching the rain.

After our late lunch, we headed out of town a bit and went to The Church Works Brewery (another one inside an old church...and they really embraced it!) and then to Arsenal Cider House which was really yummy.

On the way home, I dropped Michael at a brewery (Penn Brewing Company) near our hotel and I went to take a little nap. Once Michael made it home from his adventure, we went down to the hotel bar (apparently the smallest in Pittsburgh) and we had some dinner and chatted with the very interesting bar tender.

That was it for that day. A slow day for the Grishmarrs, but we had a big day planned for our last full day.

The Falls!!

Tuesday morning, we woke up early and did a run from the B&B down to the Falls. It was really cool to see the Falls for the first time just running up to them. We had plans to do the Hornblower Boat Cruise at 8AM (this is the Canada version of Maid of the Mist boat tour), but it turns out the first tour isn't until 8:30 and we had breakfast at 9AM at the B&B, so we got our tickets, but then walked back for breakfast.

We had a really nice homemade breakfast with fruit, veggie omelets, turkey sausage, potatoes, and homemade breads. So much food! We were certainly ready for the day!

After we got ready and packed everything up, it was back to the boat tour. The line was now CRAZY! So, note: take the 8:30 boat tour if you can!! The 20-minute boat tour took about 2 hours with the wait before and the wait after to get on elevators to go back up. But, it was so worth it!!! So cool to get in the boat and be that close to the Falls. We were so hot from waiting in line that it was great to get all wet from the water. We loved it!!

Then, it was back to Niagara on the Lake for some more wine tasting. We stopped at Caroline Cellars and had a fun tasting. Then, we stopped in their restaurant to have some chicken bacon ranch poutine (think fries, gravy, ranch, chicken, and bacon). Yummy.

Then, we went to Peller Estates again to do their wine tour. We had to wait about 30 minutes before the tour started, so I took advantage of the break to get a quick nap.

Their tour was cool! We walked over to the vineyard, went into their wine cellar, and then into this ice room to taste their famous ice wine. We got to put on these big coats and stuff. It was fun!

We had picked up some free tasting coupons at the hotel so stopped at Trius Winery on the way back. It was just okay. But a quick and easy tasting.

Then, we did a quick stop at Silversmith Brewing Company so Michael could have something yummy to drink since I was getting all the good stuff! :) It was in an old church building and was super quaint and felt like a local pub.

One final stop was at Justin's winery using one of our coupons (again...nothing special) and then it was back to Niagara Falls area. We stopped at the B&B and picked up our bags and headed to the Hilton Fallsview Hotel and Suites. We decided to splurge and have one night with a room overlooking the Falls. We arrived to complete chaos! We've been staying at little B&B's and small hotels so this place was overwhelming. So many people! We got a room on the 43rd floor and it was spectacular! So worth it!!  We hung out in the room for a bit and just enjoyed the view.

Then, it was off to do some mini golf at Dinosaur Adventure Golf. A pretty quality course complete with sound effects and an erupting volcano. I actually won the game which never happens!! It was exciting for me. :)

We walked around in the touristy chaos before returning to the hotel. So many attractions, but we were able to avoid temptation and made sure we didn't spend any more money on these crazy things! Mazes, upside down house, arcades, more mini golf!! All too tempting!

We ran two quick errands (picked up to-go dinner at Taps Brewing Company and looked unsuccessfully for Canadian beer to take home at The Beer Store) before returning to the hotel. We set up a little picnic area by the window and had our yummy cheese, bar food, and a bottle of wine while we looked at the Falls all lit up at night. It was perfect!