Fort George in Niagara-on-the-Lake Ontario

Fort George in Niagara-on-the-Lake was the third of 4 forts we would visit on this road trip.  Unfortunately for us, it was also the one fort that we only had an hour or so to visit, as we stopped by later in the day.  That happens on road trips through. 

This Fort is forever linked to Fort Niagara, on the New York side of Niagara River.  You can see each from the other.

Even with a handful of visitors at the late time of the day we were there, we noticed many friendly reinactors available.  One group sang period specific songs that soldiers would have known at the time.  All seemed eager to answer questions, or to offer a demonstration.

AND, after a kitchen demonstration, we were again offered cookies and lemonade!  Sorry America, but the Canadian Forts win again with those offerings!

Random Thoughts On Friday

Unless you have been in a coma, you know that a pretty big presidential election just went down.  I have a firm rule of not talking current politics here (there are literally millions of other sites that cover that).

BUT, I did visit Trump Tower in New York City earlier this year.  Man, it might be hard to visit it right now, and it could become more difficult to visit in the very near future.

As you know, I love visiting historic sites associated with the POTUS, and I am excited that I got to visit Trump Tower before it took on an entirely new level of significance.

I think that's a whole lot of the fun of traveling to places, visiting historic spots, and being a little part of a historic timeline.

I know we visited Florida several years ago before the Space Shuttle Missions stopped.  We got a photo of us in front of the shuttle getting ready to launch.  You can't have that experience anymore, and I really love the fact that we had that moment.

I could go on- the historic places that are still around...  I am glad that I have gotten to see the ones I have seen.... and I want to get to as many as I can before they change.

I think of the Be Good Tanyas song line, "you pass through places, and places pass through you, but you carry them with you on the souls of your travelin' shoes."

Balzac's Coffee in Niagara-on-the-Lake Ontario

ANOTHER great little spot in Niagara-on-the-Lake was Balzac's Coffee.  Man this place was cozy, and it just felt right hanging out there.  THIS place in particular really reminded me of some of the nice coffee shops we visited on our trip around Lake Michigan.  The word "perfect" comes to mind when describing it.

Balzac's Coffee is a small chain in Ontario, I would assume similar to Heine Bros. in Louisville Kentucky.  Yeah, its a chain, but it is strictly associated with one specific geographic location.


This Balzac's coffee feels so springy- check out those light blue and yellow colors!  Balzac's in Niagara-on-the-Lake has a very vibrant vibe.

Balzac's has values too.  From their website-

Balzac's values are infused with everything our customers experience in our cafés. Artisanal, Sustainable, Local and Natural are the four cornerstones of our business practices. Each product is thoughtfully and diligently sourced. While we endeavour to keep an eye on efficiency and affordability, we will not take shortcuts with our quality or preparation techniques. We strive to offer 'Slow Food' prepared quickly, not 'Fast Food'.
Balzac's has been offering Fair Trade Organic coffee, sugar and cocoa since 1997 and all milk used in our beverage service is organic and locally sourced.

Pretty well put, eh?  This is such a perfect coffee shop in a perfect town.  I can't wait to visit here again!

"Ghosts of Niagara-on-the-Lake" by Maria Da Silva and Andrew Hind

After visiting the spectacular town of Niagara-on-the-Lake Ontario, I wanted to find out more about it.  The town is classy and cool.  AND, according to several people I talked to, it is considered the most haunted town in Canada.

The whole "haunted" title doesn't impress me as much as it used to... but it does still get my attention.  And I do like good ghost stories- especially when history is attached to them.

Well, "Ghosts of Niagara-on-the-Lake" by Maria Da Silva and Andrew Hind covers the legendary ghost stories of the area, linking them to the history.  There is a nice "notes" section in the back, mentioning sources and more details to the stories.  Many books in this genre give wimpy sources, if any at all.

The first 15 chapters each cover one of the well known haunted locations.  Another chapter gives a short section to several more haunted locations that the authors could not fit into a fuller chapter.  They do tease that these locals might be researched more for a future volume.  There is a section with contact information and visiting details.

We did visit and pass by several of the spots mentioned in this book during our brief visit to the town.  After reading this book, I want to go back and visit so many more places in Niagara-on-the-Lake.  We parked right next to Angel Inn.  If I had known the terrifying story of Captain Swayze, and of his tragic end at the Angel Inn I would have had to have stuck my head inside!

I am not a golf fan, but I sure as heck would have checked out the oldest golf course in North America, which has remnants of an old historic fort on it!

I had never heard of Laura Secord before, but I love the odd tales of locals helping out during a battle..... even if she was helping the British against the good guys.  A visit to the Laura Secord Homestead will be a must on our next trip.

Oh!  There is one absolutely disturbing story about how some marks got on tombstones at the St. Mark's Cemetery!  It is one of the darkest tales I have ever read!

With that, let me say again that Da Silva and Hind do an outstanding job of telling a ghost story, and linking it to known history and locations.  This book will be enjoyed by skeptics who love dark history, and by believers who love scary ghost stories.  Add Niagara-on-the-Lake to your bucket list, and read this book to get excited about your trip there.  "Ghosts of Niagara-on-the-Lake" gets my highest recommendation.

Shaw Cafe and Wine Bar- Niagara-on-the-Lake Ontario

We stopped by the Shaw Café & Wine Bar for a very nice and relaxing lunch while we were in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

We ate very late on this day, and I was so hungry that I neglected to get some good photos, but we absolutely loved this place!  I have included a scan of a postcard I picked up- showing the front of this beautiful establishment.  We had great food, great service, and we loved how this open yet cozy spot looked!

Its funny though, I was looking the place up later to read more about it, and it isn't exactly the top rated place for a meal in the area.  This made me think that there must be some AMAZING restaurants getting better reviews than this place.  I also thought that maybe someone with a grudge is posting some bad reviews.....  I'm not sure, but the Shaw Cafe gets high marks from us!

Niagara-on-the-Lake Ontario

I think I mentioned before that a big part of our trip to the Niagara Falls area was to get Niagara Falls out of our system.  We wanted to officially and 100% be able to say "we have done the Falls!".

Well, we can say that, but.....

We discovered Niagara-on-the-Lake in the process.

Niagara-on-the-Lake is a very leisurely 40 minute or so drive from Niagara Falls.  The drive was nice and once you are a few miles away from the Falls, you are driving through beautiful Canadian country.

And then you get to Niagara-on-the-Lake.

I had read some on this little town and thought that it sounded like a nice place to stop.  Like most great little towns, reading about it just doesn't do any justice to the actual location.

We stopped by a great restaurant, and then enjoyed walking the streets.

I stopped by the local post office and had a great chat with a very friendly postal worker.  He told me that they had their own special postmark showing ghostly soldiers from Fort George!  A special stamp with the same image was issued too, AND a special Canadian postcard!  As a postmark collector, I really admire the Canadian Postal Service.  Oh, and at this post office, they had a great selection of postage paid postcards you could buy, AND they had an amazing selection of first day covers for sale!

Staying on the theme of the town's ghostly postmark, my new friend at this post office proudly told me about the town's haunted reputation!  He said that Niagara-on-the-Lake is considered the most haunted town in Canada!

We stopped into several shops and really appreciate all of them.  On small shop (I forget the name) had some jewelry and decorations.  The shop owner talked to us at length about some other great cities to visit in Canada.

I joke a lot that Canada is holding out.  They don't want the people living to their south to know how great a lot of Canada is!  Well, this is one of those great towns that should be better known to tourists all around.

I have a bit more to say about Niagara-on-the-Lake, but for now, enjoys these random photos!

Niagara Falls History Museum in Ontario

I would say that, on every trip we take, there is something unplanned we do that ends up being really cool.  Well, the Niagara Falls History Museum was that cool thing on this trip.

It was only $5 to get in, and they gave us each a cool pin!  Even more exciting was the fact that this ended up being a very nice museum.

On the first floor, they had a portraits exhibit.  "Faces" was the title, and it was a gallery full of portraits of locals.

Also on the first floor  were several artifacts from the War of 1812.  The Battle of Lundy's Lane pretty much happened right where the museum is located!

On the second floor, we were excited to see a large display on various souvenirs that have been sold at and associated with Niagara Falls.

It was a very short drive from our hotel right at the Falls to get to this museum.  This was easily the best dollar value experience we had in the area.  For about $16, two of us visited this nice museum for about an hour and a half, we learned a lot about the War of 1812 (a bit of a theme on this trip), we saw some cool relics relating to Niagara Falls, and we got several postcards and a paint your own toy dinosaur in the gift shop- not to mention the cool colorful pins they gave us when we bought our tickets!

If you are going to be spending time in the Niagara Falls Ontario area, make a point to get to this great museum.

Casa Loma- Toronto Canada Postcard

This postcard is unused, and there is no addition information about it on the back.

I took a road trip here back around 2005.  This place is amazing, and it is one of those places Canadians don't talk about much, because they don't want American's to know about all of the cool stuff up north.

They were filming an episode of a TV show while we were there, and I remember talking to a great older guy who worked there.  He told us about all of the cool movies that have been filmed there.

Kentucky Book Fair in Frankfort Kentucky

I THINK that the Kentucky Book Fair is held the first Saturday in November each year.  It is at the Convention Center in Frankfort.

I had to attend this year because there were several intriguing authors showing up.

I have been before, and I like this event a lot because it is very casual.  The vibe is friendly and relaxed.  Authors and readers aren't an uptight group for sure.

I had received an author list in the mail before the event and I immediately noticed several that I wanted to see at the fair.  The group was a pretty mixed bag, but there were some that jumped out to me.

Former professional wrestler Hillbilly Jim (Jim Morris) was there selling copies of his biography along with the books author Gary P. West.  I loved Hillbilly Jim when I was a kid, and I was super excited to say hi to him, and to pick up his book.

Jim was as nice in real life as his character was back in the day.  He is from Bowling Green, and we talked about our home towns.  He is very familiar with Owensboro, mentioning that he had wrestled at the Sports Center and done some stuff with WaxWorks in town.  Jim talked about his radio show, and his other interests.  He said something (I wish I remembered his exact quote) about trying to be the best he could be at multiple things.  It was very inspiring.

Hillbilly Jim is still a massive man.  You can tell that he works out and takes care of himself.  I just looked his age up on Wikipedia, and he could easily pass for a couple decades younger.

Someone else that I was excited about seeing at this event was Ian Punnett, former host of Coast to Coast AM.  I used to listen to Coast to Coast ALL the time, and I still enjoy catching it when I can.  Anyway, I thought it was a pretty big deal that Mr. Punnett was at the Fair.  He has just completed a book, "A Black Night for the Bluegrass Belle" which was available at the Kentucky Book Fair.  Ian was also as friendly as I hoped he would be.  I was glad to pick up his book about Verna Garr Taylor and the events surrounding her death in 1936.

Ian was very pleasant and talked about several topics with us, though he seemed just as curious about the people stopping by to see him.  He and Jim Morris both asked about us, what we did, where we were from, etc.  It was very sweet and sincere.

Ian even introduced us to his publisher from Acclaim Press.  I feel bad that I can't remember his name right now, but we ended up bumping in to him at nearly every other booth we stopped at- most of the books we bought on this day were published by Acclaim.

Setting next to Ian was Ronald Blair who has recently put out the massive volume "WILD WOLF- The Great Civil War Rivalry".  Blair is the great-great- nephew of Union Col. Frank Wolford who was a rival of John Hunt Morgan's.  Mr. Blair told me that his book is the result of sixteen years worth of work.  I picked his impressive piece of work up too.

The other person that I was really excited to see was Corky Withrow, who played minor league baseball for ten years, making it briefly to the majors in 1963.  Corky is from Central City and that's not too far from where I grew up.  Corky was lively and just a lot of fun.  We talked about growing up in western Kentucky, and when I told him that I met my wife at Berea, he had some Berea stories!

So, I have mentioned the four authors that I planned to see and pick up a book from, but there were still more interesting authors to visit with and books to check out.

We explored the convention center, and stopped here and there to talk to others authors who weren't on our radar, but maybe should have been.

We talked to Gerald W. Fischer who has written the book, "Battletown Witch" about an accused witch who was burned to death in 1840.  Her ghost has been seen in the area since then.

We also talked to a very nice and enthusiastic lady who told us about the Seckatary Hawkins Club books, which are being reissued.  They were originally published in the 1920s.  These sounded like very cute and fun young adult type books, that older adults might enjoy reading too.  I am going to have to look these books up a little more, because they sounded like great fun.

The book fair was a great event this year, and I look forward to attending next year!

The Big Wave in the Whirlpool Rapids, Niagara Falls

The back of this card notes-

The "Big Wave" in the Whirlpool Rapids as seen from the electric observation cars on Niagara's Great Gorge Trip.  This constantly recurring wave is one of the most photographed of Niagara's many spectacles.  An idea of its height may be had by comparing it with the cliffs, which are two hundred feet high.

This postcard is undated.

Aero Cable Car Crossing the Whirlpool, Niagara Falls, Canada

"Spanish Aero Car, Crosses the Whirlpool 150 feet above the maelstrom.  This is the longest aerial cableway in the world."

This unsent postcard is undated.

Whirlpool Aero Car in Ontario Canada

I wanted to make sure we were able to take an Aero Car ride across the Niagara River since this attraction turns 100 years old this year!

This cable car takes riders over the Niagara Whirlpool at over 200 feet up.  You cross between the US and Canada multiple times though the two connecting points on the trip are both in Canada.

The ride only takes about 10 minutes, but the view is great, and it is exciting taking a trip that people have been taking for a century!

Random Thoughts On Friday

So, I was watching the World Series....  Like everyone else.  This was one of those situations though, where I really wanted both teams to win.  I mean, how could you not want to see the Cubs win a World Series?

BUT, I lived in Cleveland for 10 years.  I have been to a lot of Indians games....  and I was even able to catch them earlier this year!  On an ironic side note, me and a buddy were planning a trip to Chicago to see the Cubs too, but that fell through.

So, I really would have loved to see the Tribe win since I have a long and somewhat personal connection to the team.

On a different note, I am not a huge TV watcher, but I really like several shows that have popped up recently.  I mentioned Timeless before, and I am really pulling for this one.  I enjoy the stories, and the effects are a lot of fun.  I really appreciate any show that goes back to some interesting historic sites and tries to recreate them.  They just had a very fun Alamo episode!

I like a couple of shows on the Syfy channel right now too.  We have been watching Aftermath- mainly giving it a try because of Anne Heche and James Tupper (we really liked Men In Trees featuring these two actors in a show totally opposite from Aftermath).  The show has a good horror vibe to it.

I'm pretty hooked on Channel Zero too also on Syfy.  This one is very weird too, and feels like a fun multipart horror movie.  Thumbs up to the Syfy Channel!

Niagara SkyWheel- Niagara Falls, Ontario

The SkyWheel at Niagara Falls opened in 2006, so it hasn't really been there that long.

We did take a ride, and it was fun, though the first minute or so is pretty disorienting.  It can freak you out too, being so high up and near the Falls.

It was cool though, and there is a lot to see once you get to the top. 

We only had to wait maybe 15 minutes after we bought our ticket to get on.  The ride was probably about the same length of time.