Dead Zone Gazebo

Location: Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada
Address: Queen's Royal Park
Date: July 2016
Website:  www.notl.org/content/parks-recreation-faqs

   Niagara-on-the-Lake is a popular tourist destination.  The beautiful little town draws crowds year round.  One of the big draws is a gazebo that looks out over the lake from Queen's Royal Park.  The gazebo was actually built for the 1983 movie The Dead Zone and has remained in place ever since.  In the movie, Johnny (Christopher Walken) emerges from a coma to discover that he has the ability to see past and future events when he comes in contact with a person.

  Johnny touches the hand of a woman who has been murdered in the gazebo and suddenly he sees what has happened to her.  He sees the woman walking along the pathway that leads from King Street into the park.

  He sees the killer standing and looking out across the water towards Old Fort Niagara.  Old Fort Niagara is located in the United States just across the mouth of the Niagara River.  The fort has been there since the early 1700s.

  On a clear day, you can look across the lake and see the skyline of Toronto.  The distinctive CN Tower stands out above all of the other buildings.

  Johnny sees the killer call the woman up to the gazebo.  As the woman is attacked, Johnny tries to save her.  He is jolted out of his vision, but not before he sees the killer's face.  The killer is...

  We won't spoil the movie for you. You will just have to watch the David Cronenberg directed film or read the Stephen King novel on which it is based.  When you visit the gazebo you can be glad that it was only a fictional murder.  If that still makes you uneasy, you may also be glad to know that the original gazebo was replaced near the end of  2015.  What stands today is a much sturdier, wheelchair accessible replica.

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Map of Our World
Dead Zone Gazebo
Queen's Royal Park
Old Fort Niagara

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Post # 142

Upside Down House

Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
Address: 4967 Clifton Hill
Date: Jan 2015
Website:  www.upsidedownhouseniagarafalls.ca

  Things are getting a bit topsy-turvy in Niagara Falls.  You could be forgiven for thinking that something is not quite right as you near the top of Clifton Hill.  We were headed to the Upside Down House where the floor is the ceiling and the ceiling is the floor.  The entire structure sits on its roof and you enter the home through a door that has been cut into its side.  No one uses the front door as it is up in the air on what is now the second floor. 

  Even before reaching the Upside Down House we encountered the Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum which appears to have toppled over onto its side.  King Kong clings to the top of the tower which points the way to our final destination.  We finally reached the home, paid our admission and walked inside.

  The first room we encountered was the kitchen.  We looked up and there above us were a fridge, a stove and a breakfast table all defying gravity.  Don't try to hide the cookie jar from little hands by putting it in the top cupboard.  The floor would be harder for them to reach.

  The photo above is what the house would look like if it had a normal kitchen.

  We hope you don't think we just took a bunch of pictures and flipped them around.  If you notice the cars outside in the parking lot in this hallway photo, you can see that this photo is right way up.  In the wider photo below you can see the ceiling that we walk on to move around the house.

  The best part of the Upside Down House is the trick photos you can take.

 

  The upper photo is of the bathroom as it really appeared. If you take a picture of someone's arms reaching for the ceiling and then flip it around, it looks like you are falling from above.

  We had fun taking various pictures.  We found that if you take a picture of someone and they jump up in the air or bend over to touch the floor (aka the ceiling) you will get a great shot.  People with long hair should give it a flick to make it appear that gravity is taking effect.  Once you leave the Upside Down House you flip your photos upside down again and admire the results. ˙uoıʇɐɔɐʌ uo ɹǝʇʇǝq sı ǝɟıן 'uıɐbɐ ǝɔuO

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Map of Our World
Upside Down House

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Post # 133

Titan Arum (Floral Showhouse)

Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
Address: Queen Victoria Park, Niagara Parkway
Date: June 2015
Website:  www.niagaraparks.com

  We visited the Floral Showhouse in Niagara Falls in order to see one of  the largest unbranched flowers in the world.  The scientific name is Amorphophallus Titanium and the largest flower ever recorded was just over 10 feet tall.  The common name is Titan Arum or sometimes they are referred to as the Corpse Flower.  The Floral Showhouse has several Titan Arums which originate from the jungles of Sumatra.  The closed pod in front is named Clive and is expected to open up sometime in the week of June 21st, 2015.  The other tall stalk behind is a Titan Arum in leaf and it can grow over 20 feet tall.  We believe that plant is named Morph.  Both Clive and Morph flowered back in 2012.  It is normal for it to be from 2 to 10 years before a plant blooms again.

  Below is a chart that shows the cycle of the Titan Arum.  In the center you can see what Clive will look like when he is in full bloom.  The bloom may last only for a day or two.  Unfortunately, the bloom is also accompanied by a horrible smell.  The reason for the name of Corpse Flower is because it emits a smell like a rotting animal carcass.  This is designed to attract all kinds of bugs to the flower in order to help with pollination

  Just in front of the Titan Arum display is a little pond filled with turtles and koi.  These little guys may not be aware of what is about to happen, but we checked and both have an excellent sense of smell that far surpasses that of humans.

  So if you find yourself admiring the beauty of Niagara Falls, take a walk out of the mist and head further past the falls.  As you wander in the garden near the Floral Showhouse be sure to take a long deep breath.  If something smells awful then you just might be lucky enough to witness a rare Titan Arum in bloom.  Head inside, hold your nose and declare "One ticket please!"

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Map of Our World
Floral Showhouse

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Post # 58

Chocolate FX

Location: Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada
Address: 335 Four Mile Creek Road
Date: Jan 2015
Website:  www.chocolatefx.ca

  While we were visiting Niagara-on-the-Lake, we decided we could use a little chocolate to go with our wine.  Chocolate F/X offers tours of their factory to see the chocolate making process in action.  During the tour we were shown a cocoa pod which looks kind of like a football.  Inside rattling around you could hear the cocoa beans.  Our tour guide told us that the dark chocolate comes from the beans and white chocolate comes from the oils.
  On the other side of a big window was the factory.  A worker was there wearing ear protection, a hair net and a beard net.  We guess technically he was wearing two hair nets.  The guide told us that whatever is being covered in chocolate is put into one of the giant metal drums and then chocolate is repeatedly coated over it.  Sometimes it takes the whole day to get just the right thickness of coating.  Once the product is ready it is taken out of the drum and the whole drum is cleaned by hand to get ready for the next batch.  There were some hair dryers which they use to help melt the chocolate off the walls during cleaning.
  We were told that when the product emerges it is usually bumpy from bouncing around in the drum.  They then cover it in corn syrup to make it smooth and round like the public expects.  We say no need for the syrup.  Chocolate is chocolate.  Bumpy would be fine with us.

  In the hallway where the tour takes place there were two pictures.  The bottom picture was of a messy child covered in chocolate.  This picture also appears on some of the packaging so we assume it is someone associated with the business.  The other picture was of a monkey in a thorn bush so concerned with cleanliness that he was using one of the thorns to pick his teeth.  We purchased a few tubs of chocolate and using a voucher from our hotel we were also treated to a chocolate dipped strawberry after the tour.  We managed to keep the chocolate off our hands and faces and get it into our mouths where it belongs.

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Map of Our World
Chocolate FX

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Post # 36