Dover to Niagara Falls

Our hotel last night was in a pretty nice spot, despite being just off the interstate. It was on the banks of a river and Damien took some photos of a goose and ducks this morning. We then drove about 30 minutes to the Amish and Mennonite Heritage Centre. We had a 30 minute guided tour of a hand painted mural, known as the Behalt cyclorama, which depicts the history of the Amish and Mennonite churches from the time of Jesus to the present. The mural is 10 feet tall and 265 feet in length and took it's creator, Heinz Gaugel, 14 years to complete. The tour was a bit of a whirlwind history but it was ideal for us who knew nothing of the story before.

From there we started our roughly 4 hour journey north through the rest of Ohio, Pennsylvania and into New York state. We then crossed the border into Canada, and caught our first glimpse of Niagara Falls, well actually the mist that is created by Niagara Falls! It's hard to describe, and I don't think our photos will do it justice, but it really is an awful lot of water!

We got to our hotel in the mid afternoon. Damien went to check in and was told that our room had been upgraded to one with a view of the falls. We were both pretty excited. We have spent a lot of time gawping out of our window and you can even hear the water through our closed windows. After dinner at the hotel restaurant we went for a short walk along one of the viewing paths. We then headed back to our hotel. Looking out of our window now that the sun has set we have also discovered that the falls are lit up from behind and that the lights change colour. It's really an amazing sight!

Our lovely waiter at the hotel restaurant, who has lived here all his life, chatted to us about the amount of change and development he has seen in the area as he has grown up. It's hard to believe that around 20 years ago there were parks where huge hotels now sit. He also gave us some great tips for things to do and places to visit tomorrow, so it should be a big and fun day.