There’s nothing like the cable TV available in a hotel room to force one to look beyond one’s usual favourites. How else to explain why I was watching the animated movie, The Lorax, on a recent trip to Niagara Falls?
Roy was a delegate to a national conference and I tagged along for a well-deserved break. During the evenings and in the time before the convention started we did the touristy thing. We had a spectacular view of the falls from our fourteenth floor room at the Embassy Suites.
We took the Incline Rail to get to the viewing areas at Table Rock. The incredible sight of rushing water, the roar of the falls, and the spray on our skin made this a truly sensory experience. We passed on the Maid of the Mist boat ride or walking behind the falls. I’d done that in the seventies.
We used (and loved) the WeGo transportation system that runs four popular routes around town. I scored a Coach bag and Danier wallet at the outlet mall on Lundy’s Lane. On another outing we walked the Clifton Hill district with its souvenir stores, wax museums, ice cream shops, and amusement area. Luckily we’re waaay past wanting imprinted t-shirts, shooter glasses, snow globes, and their ilk.
But the most fun we had was on Friday night. Pre-trip research revealed Creedence Clearwater Revisited was performing at the Fallsview Casino Resort. We scoped out the impressive complex with Galleria mall, gaming floor, restaurants, and Avalon theatre. We discovered the show was ?sold out? but if we checked back about half an hour before show time we may be able to buy tickets.
We chose to eat at the Grand Buffet in the casino. We didn’t have the pass that high rollers get, yet saved about five dollars each when the cashier saw the fifty dollar bill in my hand. Back in the casino we got a slot machine crash course from an employee. We ?invested? twenty dollars. At twenty-five cents a pop the money was poof, all gone, in very short order. As we headed out, I decided to spend five more dollars. The nickel slots I chose had a cash-out redemption slip sticking out of it. Twenty dollars and thirty-five cents just like that! I then played the five bucks until it paid forty dollars and thirty cents. Needless to say we grabbed the money and ran.
We were loitering around the theatre box office hoping to buy tickets when a woman approached and offered us her VIP Lounge tickets because she couldn’t use them. A private elevator, free food and non-alcoholic drinks, private washroom, and a plush upholstered loveseat with literally the best seats in the house prepped us for an incredible hour and forty-five minute show that took us back forty years to our youth. Our good fortune didn’t hold with the Lotto Max draw that night. Nada.
I worked in the room while Roy was in sessions. Dr. Seuss? The Lorax provided good company, from where I sit.
Hazel Anaka’s first novel is Lucky Dog. Visit her website for more information or follow her on Twitter @anakawrites..