Niagara on the labor day weekend.

The best trip of my time spent in USA so far... Niagara Falls!!!

We decided to start at 5 am on Saturday, 5th Sept. As IST always works, we started our day at 830 am. Anyway, fresh and eager, we started and headed towards NIAGARA.

We luxuriously made a very very comfortable trip with many stopovers. We made it to the falls in the evening. We checked in at Holiday Inn and after freshening up, headed to our dream destination.

In the car, after crossing the bridge, we saw a white cloud in the distant. Within a few seconds, we guessed that it could be the falls. The men told us that they are the falls. WOW!

And as they say, the mist is the first thing you notice about the falls. We are glad that we did.

Parking is a pain! really! Lesson learned. Start early.

We saw the Niagara movie. We took the Discovery pass and Niagara Adventure Theater was our first stop. It was mostly TP. the funny part was the case of the widow who goes in the barrel with a black cat and comes back with a white one.
My husband says that it was a technical error, I personally feel that the cat got scared. :P

After this, we spent some time at the falls. the illuminated lights were soooo pretty. I like looking at the lights in the night and this was awesome. As we looked at the Niagara falls, we made our plans and hopes for the next day.

We also got to see some part of beautiful and pretty Canada.

 

We ate a very very big pizza. I love Pizza and this big pizza took care of the tiredness for the day.

We did our regular meditation for sunday and started our day. One of the benefits of traveling with like minded people. This was such a comfortable trip specially because of Ramky and Jaya. We couldn't have gone without them.

We decided to start our day with the Maid of the Mist. This is the famous Rainbow bridge that connects USA and Canada.

This is all of us. So happy and pleased to see the beautiful rainbow and ... just blessed to have the opportunity to be able to visit. I have a smile on my face as I am writing all this. It was a wonderful experience.

With my dear hubby and the rainbow. My hair is as independent as it always is.

and here we are with the rainbow bridge. Next stop - Maid of the mist.

All geared up and ready for the ride!

An interesting this about the maid of the mist is that the American side and the Canadian side work in harmony. It was fun to be on the American boat and wave at the Canadian boat and have them wave back at us. Such silly and innocent pleasures!

 

Here, all of us, enjoying the mist. You can see the Falls right behind us. What joy! We hadn't experienced the Cave of the winds yet so this was awesome!

I spent a lot of time holding my hubby's hand and absorbing the experience of it all.

After everyone got out, we finally got a chance to be at the side of the boat and get a decent pic. :)

I love the spunk their daughter Pranita has. She made the trip enjoyable for all of us.

We went to the observation deck and got a chance to click a pic of the American and the Canadian Horse shoe falls. Same place where we had gone the previous night.

We got tired :( and spent some time on the rocking chair. Lunch was delicious Indian food. It is amazing to know the diversity in the options of food this place has to offer.

Our next stop was the Aquarium of Niagara. My best friend from India moved to NYC few days after we moved to CT. I have met her at our meditation gatherings in NJ but meeting her and her whole family at the Falls was a delight. We didn't get much chance to talk but it was an awesome feeling to find the needle in the haystack.

The aquarium was another delight. Especially the Sea Lions! We had so much fun watching them. We spent a lot of time watching them with each other. They are so playful and fun.

Goofing around at the Aquarium.

We went to the Niagara Gorge Discovery Center. It was interesting to read about the different kinds of rocks and all. But honestly, we got bored.:( We then went to the cave of the winds. The last thing on the cards. Sadly, we had to wait for almost 2 hours in the line. We made the boys wait in the line and we girls sat chatting away while eating fries. What would life be without men ;)

Maybe it was the 2 hour wait or the fact that this was our last activity, this was the best part of the falls. If we would have known better, we would have gone here in the morning and then the maid of the mist.

The place that we are standing is where we could see the water coming right to us. There were few people there and as they moved, I went there. It was such a weird feeling. My brain was telling me that there is a railing and I will not fall off but seeing the water just gushing towards me was scary. It was such a weird feeling. We threw the water at each other and also tasted it. Pure joy! This place is the best part of the falls for me. I will never forget this experience in my life.

Our final wave to the Falls. We ended our day and our trip.

We got up luxuriously late the next day. Had some continental breakfast and left for home. Mid way, we stopped at the Corning Museum of Glass.

We were so tired and the museum has soooo much to offer. We couldn't do justice to everything. We attended all the workshops and saw many types of glass making. It was a good practical entertaining experience. Pranita enjoyed the most.

This was the trip. Exhausting but super fun! Worth going there once in life. I hope we can go to the Canadian side next time :D

Mansfield Hollow dam.

I was enjoying my afternoon siesta when my dear hubby woke me up to ask me if I wanted to go visit the hollow dam. If you know me and my husband, you know how much I crib about him not taking me out. So, when he asked, I honestly thought that I was dreaming. He asked again and told me to get ready if I wanted to go. I sprang to action and was ready before he could ask again. (I was afraid that he would change his mind)

We left with a bottle of water. Mansfield hollow dam is 10 mins from our house. We were there by 630 pm. The air was just right and the temperature perfect. You can see the words "Hollow dam" on the building behind us.

This is what the dam looks like from the other side.

 It has lovely trails to walk on. The information desk says that the trails have lovely sights to see of the lake and stunning shots of the woods.

 

We walked till the actual lake. It seems that the water comes from 3 rivers but I can't remember any. Stunning!

We walked till the point there is a lake, we found the level shallow and tried to experience it. Nice and cool.

There is an Indian restaurant nearby and close to the dam. All that walking made us hungry and I was craving for some spicy fried stuff. We ordered a vegetable appetizer platter and nothing else (much to the dismay of the manager) and enjoyed. He didn't ask us to eat much after looking at the smile of satisfaction on my face :)

3rd Thursday Street Fest at Willimantic

Willimantic is really a lovely town. I am so glad that we we were sent here. This town really has everything. Walmart, Family store, Home depot, Kohl's, Food coop and just everything really and the most helpful person I have met - Mr Paul who helps Foreign students with his truck.

Just when I thought that it really has everything, I came to know about the https://www.facebook.com/3rdThursdayStreetFest and got a chance to visit it too. I have never seen so many people in one place in Willimantic, not even in Walmart ;) 

Starting May, The third thursday of every month becomes the most eventful day till Sept.

Can you see the depth in the photo? There were soo many stalls, It took us almost an hour to walk and see it all. This site will give you more info if you like - http://willimanticstreetfest.com/ We saw it all, the food vendors, the free books, the promotions, the petitions, the lovely jewellery stores...everything. You can see the clicks on their facebook page.

There is one thing that I couldn't help not click. This!

 

There is one thing I personally didn't like. I was troubled my the loud noise of the bands but I am sure that it is just me who felt like that.

 Anyway, It is lovely to have such a beautiful community activity in the town and to meet some of the people.

Spring in Connecticut

As per the almanac, 21st June is the start of Summer in the USA. There isn't much change in the temperature yet but I am sure it will get hot gradually. So far, Spring was the best time I have experienced here. Spring is supposed to start from March 20th, but we had snow and though I can't remember when it started getting warmer, we had a good amount of fun. We went on a picnic, we went to NYC and NJ twice and also spent a Victorian day at Willimantic. 

Besides that, Spring gave us many beautiful pictures. The snow covered pond got a very beautiful fountain that made it easier to enjoy the evening walks.

Also, the beautiful sky has given me so many beautiful evenings. Incidentally, the blue sky I loved so much in the winter (that kept me company till my husband came) is still there but it now surrounds us when we sleep.

There are soooo many flowers during Spring. We have enjoyed many beautiful roses, peonies and daffodils. I saw tulips for the first time in real life and loved it.

The beautiful part is that the government plants many beautiful flowering plants in between junctions and they look lovely.

and where it doesn't, there are beautiful yellow and white wild flowers that grow and it is so lovely to look at while driving.

 Not just the plants, the trees bloom too. This is a picture of dogwood. The day we came from India, we saw a lovely cherry blossom and my husband and I both said wow. Sadly we have not been able to see it again but the trees are lovely too. I have not been able to click many pics of trees but I like it here.

Wonder what summer has in store for us!!!

Victorian day at Willimantic

Willimantic has had the most happening weekend. We had a Victorian theme happening, http://www.victorianwillimantic.org/ and though my hubby couldn't take me around on Saturday we did make it a point to visit a Victorian garden hosted by Master Gardener Pamela Wright and the very humble Jim Wright. Below is a pic of their house and a part of their lovely garden.

They are lucky to have a place close to the Willimantic river. Words will spoil the beauty of the experience.

Like any Victorian garden, theirs had wrought iron patio furniture, garden accessories and other garden decor.

and a beautiful and well maintained patio.

 We spent a few precious minutes at the garden.

and we also got an opportunity to click a pic with the lovely Pam who showed us around and gave us information on the victorian garden with so much love. It was so nice to see her in the complete Victorian dress

Until next time,