A few days in Niagara Falls
We always enjoy visiting with Martin, Rebecca and whoever else of the family happens to be home - this time we were lucky and got to visit with Tim, Jon and Jeremy.
Tim just had his wisdom teeth removed the day we came, so he has been under the weather with his face all swollen and obviously uncomfortable. The bonus to us is that he decided to stay home for the weekend, so we have been able to spend some time with him and also his girlfriend Emily.
Jon’s summer job on Maid of the Mist has extended to weekends, so we’ve only seen him for little bits, but keeping busy is good! He’s getting his courses lined up for Brock University in subjects I can neither pronounce or understand :)
Jeremy is doing really well, and enjoys coming with us in the truck, so we’ve been able to spend quite a bit of time with him.
So, what have we done? Martin had a ‘Dad job’ so he and Mike have been constructing a bannister for their stairwell. Rebecca and I took Tim to Guelph to pick up his insulin, and then promptly brought him back home for the weekend. But I got a road tour of the university grounds and also got to see Tim’s new apartment.
Saturday Mike and I did some shopping, then in the afternoon we all (except for Jon who was working) went to the Wayne Gretsky winery (Rebecca and I had seen the sign and thought it might be interesting). As it turned out, it is a small operation, still relatively new and not all that interesting as wineries go. As a result we decided to follow it up with a tour of Peller Estates winery - a beautiful building in a lovely setting, very grand - and had an excellent tour of the facilities. Since they don’t process the wine there, we were shown into the vineyard and given an informative talk on the process of growing and harvesting the grape. Mike and Martin had opted out of the tour and went back to their carpentry, so they missed out on this. Then we went into the winery for the usual tasting etc, although here again the tour was much more informative than others we have been on.
Since Martin is the pastor, Sunday is church! This was their ‘Round-Up Sunday’, sort of a get-back-to- church-after-the-summer service, so we all wore whatever western gear we had. Just for fun, Martin asked if I would join the worship team with my fiddle - great fun actually. Unbeknownst to any of us, the church chose this weekend to honour Martin and Rebecca - their 10 year anniversary with the church here in Niagara Falls. It was special to us to see how much the congregation appreciates the work that both Martin and Rebecca have done there. And to think this was the weekend we happened to be there!
We finished the day with a quick walking tour of Niagara on the Lake, followed by dinner at Rebecca and Martin's with their good friends Ian and Patti, and also Rebecca's Mom and Dad - a full table! We enjoyed (again) Rebecca's fine cooking! This was followed by a game of Hillbilly Rummy, which is always fun, stopped early because not everyone at the table is retired :)
On our last day in 'the Falls' the weather continued to be perfect - great day for a bike ride! There are miles and miles of bike paths in the area, so we had lots of places to choose from. We rode from Rebecca and Martin's house to the Brock tower, a pretty ride through parkway, by the whirlpool, past the power plant and to the park where the tower is. Martin has been wanting to climb the tower, and in the interests of economy (there is a charge for the climb) Rebecca and Mike decided not to do it :) I was undecided - but the tower was closed. Martin was disappointed, I'm not sure if I was disappointed or relieved - it's very tall and narrow, and would be quite dark inside - but the view would be fantastic.
We spent part of the afternoon in Chapters :) and then in the evening the Niagara Concert Band, in which Martin plays clarinet, was having a concert, so we went and thoroughly enjoyed it. Jeremy was likely the most enthusiastic member of the audience! The band has been in existence over 125 years, which is quite amazing.
And then it was good-byes all around - we always are sorry to leave as we don't see nearly enough of this part of our family.
And tomorrow - on the road again!
No comments:
Post a Comment