Table with a View

One of the things on my daughter's "Must Do" list for our trip was eating dinner in the revolving restaurant atop the Skylon Tower. Since $50 - $60 entrees were in the budget, we opted for a non-rotating buffet lunch.

The food was good,

the company was delightful,

 

and the view from our table was exquisite.

We lucked out; we could see both the Canadian falls and the American falls from our table.

 

My daughter decided that the non-rotating option was best because we got to look at the falls for our entire meal. 

"The rotating restaurant  goes around once each hour mom, so we would have only been facing the falls for part of our lunch." 

I was glad she found a silver lining in not eating on the rotating level. I admire that about her - she is usually really good at finding a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.

After dessert we headed up to the Observation Deck,  775 feet above the falls, to take in the spectacular view. It was a neat place to spend an afternoon...

When in Rome

Or should I say, "When in Canada..."

When we travel, we always try to avoid the food we can easily eat at home. So, of course, as soon as Allen discovered this place, we had to try it.

If you've never tried poutine, it's a dish that originated in Quebec in the 1950s. It's quite simple really - just french fries, brown gravy and cheese curds. But not at Smoke's Poutinery; they have an unending number of varieties. Allen got poutine topped with pulled pork and the kids and I all tried Mexican poutine - imagine nachos made with french fries instead of chips.

It may not look it, but it was delicious.

You Guessed It

We spent some time on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls! And of course, while we were there we had to be typical tourists.

One Guess

Any guesses on where we went exploring recently?

Parade Fun

This year S and I didn't just watch the Lilac Parade, we were in it. S was with the group from the Original Mackinac Island Butterfly House. He volunteered there last summer and loved it so much that he is working there this summer. He may not look 100% thrilled to be in that bee costume, but trust me he had a great time. It still hasn't really hit me yet that he is actually old enough to have a real summer job!

Photo courtesy of Straits Pride

I walked with Straits Pride - a new advocacy group for the LGBTQ community in the Straits area.  This was our first year in the parade and everyone was excited by how supportive the crowd was. As an ally, I'm thrilled to be on the board of directors of this nonprofit, and I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Busy

It may have taken me the better part of three weekends, but I finally have all the plants in the garden.

Some of them I didn't have to plant; they popped up on their own. Who am I to argue with Mother Nature? Now if I  could just convince her to send some lady slippers my way.

Summer

My classroom is all packed up and today summer officially began!

Not So Secret

After a wonderful tour of the hotel, my students and I set out to find Grand Hotel's Secret Garden. It was stunning. Though I am quite curious what will be there after the spring flowers fade. I guess I'll have to find my way back there later this summer to see...

Sweet

One of my former students snuck into the Teacher's Lounge during Teacher Appreciation Week and hung this up.

Such a sweet young man...