Just Back from…Niagara Falls

Before it became fashionable to honeymoon at destinations around the world, lovers headed to a northeast location that was to become a honeymoon capital: Niagara Falls. In the ’50s, thanks to attention brought to the falls by a Marilyn Monroe movie named Niagara, this was a prime place to honeymoon in style.

Through the years, Niagara Falls has had a lot of competitors—but it’s still a honeymoon hotspot. We had never visited the falls so when the opportunity to visit with a handful of other journalists came up, we quickly took it. We’re happy to report that the falls were all we expected them to be—and more.

We traveled to Niagara Falls, Canada by air, arriving in Buffalo, New York. From Buffalo, it’s about a 50-minute drive including the international border crossing to the Ontario city that lies right across the Niagara River from the less-developed Niagara Falls, USA.

For three nights, our home away from home was the Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort. We’re fortunate enough to say that we’ve had a lot of great hotel rooms around the world but this suite was in a class by itself thanks to its unbeatable view. Our suite sported a curved wall with windows that overlooked both the American Falls and the Horseshoe Falls. The view didn’t end there, though; even the Jacuzzi bathtub had a view of the American Falls and, at night, the city lights.

With just three days to see this new destination, we had a lot of ground to cover and hit the ground running on our first day, with a tour of the $1 billion casino resort. The 200,000-square-foot casino floor was busy even during our afternoon visit but we’d come back later to get a real feel for the action divided between tables and slots. For now, we met the other journalists in the lobby and started off on our tour of the many restaurants and shops, the spa, and especially the new wedding chapel.

The hotel’s new wedding chapel, we learned, is the first in any Canadian casino. The hotel had marked opening this past Valentine’s with a mass vow renewal for 250 of its employees—all serenaded by Paul Anka, no less. During our visit, the chapel (really two small chapels that can be combined—one seating 25 and the other 50) was quiet but preparations were underway for several weddings over the coming week, including one that would be held outdoors at an overlook with the falls in the background. (Weather permitting, that would definitely be our choice—you’d certainly have wedding pictures that couldn’t be topped!)

continued on page 2: off to Niagara-on-the-Lake for romantic wineries, carriage ride

 

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