The Skylon Tower – NIAGARA FALLS

Our visit to The Skylon Tower, in Niagara Falls, was long overdue! We’ve passed it many, many times for many, many years and each time we did, we would always say, “One day we’ll have to go up there”. Finally we did… and it was great!

The Tower at night

We had dinner up there, at the Summit Suite Buffet and the view, as was expected, was spectacular. I’m usually deathly afraid of heights but the ride up the tower I found, was too short and I remember wishing it would have lasted longer. I think it took under a minute to get to the top!

As we were heading to the top, I remember asking the guy who was operating the elevator: “You’re probably tired of doing this everyday?”, to which he replied, “oh, you get used to it”. He later mentioned he did this roughly over 50 times or more a day!

We also asked if he’s ever gotten stuck in these elevators but he quickly told us “.. things happen, but it gets fix quick though.” It’s just like any other elevator – it has it’s good days and bad.

The Skylon Tower is an observation tower that overlooks both the American Falls, New York, and the larger Horseshoe Falls, Ontario, from the Canadian side of the Niagara River.

It was interesting to note, those yellow elevators were the first of its kind during the construction of the tower.

The St. Catharines KIWANIS AQUATICS CENTRE & LIBRARY (+ 30 Photos)

It’s been over 2 years since the opening of St. Catharines Kiwanis Aquatics Centre, and its 7,000 square foot branch of the St.Catharines Public Library, the Dr. Huq Family Library Branch...

A Few Years Earlier...

 

Niagara Parks FLORAL CLOCK – NIAGARA FALLS (+ Photo Gallery)

It is said to be the most photographed attraction - next to the famous Falls…

It wasn’t the greatest of days in terms of weather when we arrived at the Floral Clock. It was an overcast day, but we were nevertheless excited to be there. Upon arrival, they were maintaining the grounds. The gardeners were busy looking after the rows of tulips that greeted you on your way to the clock and the lawns were being mowed. A bus had just departed, loaded with tourists and another would eventually arrive 30 mins later- something that has been probably going on for over 60+ years.

We were thrilled to finally get a view of this much talked about attraction and were even more excited when we discovered what was behind the clock itself.

The Floral Clock, a free attraction, was built in 1950 and is one of the largest floral clock in the world at 12.2 metres (40 feet) in diameter.

The hands of the clock are stainless steel tubing: the hour hand is 14.5 ft, the minute hand 17.5 ft and the second hand 21 ft long. Their combined weight is 1,250 pounds. An ivy-clad, louvered stone tower stands 24 feet tall and contains speakers that every quarter hour broadcast Westminster chimes. Under the clock, accessed by a door at the rear of the tower, the concrete foundation includes three small rooms – one for the clock mechanism and its driving motor, one contains switches to supply the electrical power, and one stores the tools required for maintaining the floral face. The clock mechanism runs in a bath of oil. The mechanical workings are driven by a 5 HP DC motor supplied from a DC drive. A tachometer is mounted on the motor shaft and provides feedback to the drive to control its accuracy. 

The Westminster chimes are controlled by a programmable logic controller. The sounds are simulated and are broadcast through 2-25 watt co-axial speakers mounted in the bell tower.

WIRT: GREASE is the Word - Your Toilet is NOT a Trash Can...

What I Read Today in a local newspaper, was not a news article or story but rather a PSA ad about dumping grease in toilets. I’m sure many of you are guilty of this - I am. With me it’s not in the toilet, but rather down the drain.

I actually feel quite guilty as I write this post and honestly didn’t think  I was doing any harm.

I like to make my own french fries which involves peeling a lot of potatoes and a great deal of deep frying. After awhile, when the oil is no longer needed, I would dump it, while it was still hot, down the drain. I figured it was still warm.  But now that I think about it, it wasn’t the smartest thing to do.

I no longer dump grease down the drain and now I’m asking you to do the same.

Did You Know…

DID YOU KNOW?... There Are Canadian Two-dollar Bills Worth 20 Grand?

** Update**

Rare $2 bill may NOT be worth $20,000

Well, this is awkward.

Last night we told you about a rare $2 bill that was expected to sell for $20,000 at an auction. But we now offer a mea culpa. We were mistaken.

The first problem? The story was from 2012 – a speculative piece about a bill potentially worth $20,000 because the wrong officials signed it. The second issue? A noteworthy serial number. The 1986 bills with the serial numbers prefixes AUG, AUH and AUJ should have contained the signatures of Bank of Canada governor Gerald Bouey and deputy governor John Crow, but a few of them are signed by deputy governor Gordon Thiessen instead. We only told you about AUH.

Finally, we speculated the bill could be worth $20,000. As it happens, the bill did actually sell at auction – but for only $10,000.