The Thought that Counts...

After a few of the mishaps in New York, granted not necessarily my fault (other than the van dying), I was feeling a bit of pressure to give my in-laws a positive experience. So, as I mentioned previously, I cancelled our reservations at the Super8 at Niagara Falls, and picked the best hotel I could find in my AAA New York Travel Guide, the Hilton. Now, if you have some free time, take a look at niagarafallshilton.com and see if you can find anything wrong with it. I specifically requested a large suite on an upper level floor with a clear view of the falls. Good stuff, right?

I waited until we got to the town of Niagara Falls to tell them the news of the hotel switch and there was loud cheering and revelry throughout the van. I felt like a hero. It didn't even seem to matter when I took a wrong turn and drove up to the Canadian border (which they cannot legally enter) and then had to drive back down a semi-busy one-way road in the wrong direction. It felt good all the way up until the moment when I asked a local businessman for directions and was promptly informed that the Hilton (along with all the other good hotels) is on the CANADIAN side. This is when I hit bottom.

I sent JooYeon with them to the falls as I dejectedly tried to figure out what to do. I called Hilton right away and of course they informed me I could get no refund since it was my mistake. Then I looked around the American side (which I realized I had never been to before, nor should anyone go to) and eventually found a hotel which was only semi-dirty. I humbly walked back to the in-laws who kept reassuring me that it was fine, but I wasn't convinced. The funniest part (now, not then) was when the youngest and most enthusiastic aunt stepped into our hotel room which was dusty, smelly, dark, and hadn't been properly cleaned in awhile, and exclaimed, "Wow! This room is WONDERFUL!" in an attempt to make me feel better.

They were all very kind though and by morning we were in good spirits again, enough to do some luggage cart surfing and take a ride on the maid of the mist.

That was all followed by another stop at an outlet mall on our way to Ohio, which of course put the women in an even better mood, which in turn put me and JooYeon in a better mood.