Newton and Wendy's Year in Toronto: March 2016

After 10 Weeks of teaching we finally have a one week holiday break. We packed the car and headed off on a 1500 kilometre round trip to Sault Ste Marie, Ontario and then to Frankenmuth, Michigan. We stayed 2 nights in Sault Ste Marie, meeting up with my exchange’s niece and her husband. Sault (pronounced Soo) Ste Marie is situated between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. They like their big ornaments in the Soo.

Lake Superior with Michigan in the background

Big Cows, Big Arrow, Big Loonie ($1 coin)


Big Bears, Big Moose We checked out how Maple Syrup is made. Had a serve of pancakes and fresh maple syrup. The lights made of antlers were hanging in the shop. Border Bridge After we had been processed and allowed to cross the border into the USA we drove over the Mackinac Bridge – the 5^th longest suspension bridge in the world. The bridge connects Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas. The morning was a little foggy so we didn’t get the best pictures. Frankenmuth, also known as Michigan’s Little Bavaria. We love this little town and would happily settle here. Only 5500 people, it is beautifully maintained. All the shops are of the same architecture – German style. Some of the homes are similar and all are well kept. Frankenmuth was the bucket list to do as it is home to the largest Christmas Shop in the world. Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland has over 50,000 ornaments and trims. Bronner's also has a replica of the Silent Night Chapel from Austria. (About 20 km north of Salzburg in the village of Oberndorf, the Silent Night Chapel (German: *Stille Nacht Kapelle*) marks the place where the beloved Christmas carol "Silent Night" was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818. From a small parish church in Tyrol, this simple Christmas carol conquered the world. To this day it has been translated into about 300 languages and dialects around the globe.) We also found a wonderful clock shop, they import all varieties of clocks and ornaments from Germany. Yes, we purchased a cuckoo clock to add to our collection. Frankenmuth has a gorgeous covered bridge made from Douglas Fir built in 1980. We found a few cutouts so had a bit of childish fun. Everything in Frankenmuth gets decorated for the different celebrations throughout the year. All the shops get involved, it really is pretty. These are some of the Easter decorations. Most of these tourist towns have horse and carriage rides which is really neat. We also has a storm come through. We will definitely go back to Frankenmuth in the summer. It is a truly beautiful town.

This place is just gorgeous, the pictures don’t really do it justice. It was freezing and we got wet walking through the mist from the falls but that’s half the fun. The view from the Skylon Tower is perfect, you can see how much more the Canadian side has been developed compared to the USA side. The Tower is 775 metres above the falls and it takes a minute to reach the top in the bug elevator. The huge volume of water never stops lowing, however, the falling water and mist create ice formations along the banks of the falls and river. This can result in mounds of ice as thick as fifty feet. We will definitely be going back to Niagara in the summertime.