Hillary's Wine Tour May 2008

This winery tour was picture perfect, and we have the pictures to prove it. The group was celebrating Hillary's bachelorette party. Friends and family decided that a winery tour aboard a Buffalo Limousine Limo Bus was a great way to travel in style.
We could not have asked for a better day. The sun was out and there were no delays at the border. We targeted wineries along the Lakeshore in the Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL) area and were able to visit four of them.

Our first stop was Stone Church Winery. We were able to have a tasting room set aside exclusively for our group. This was a relaxed environment in which we could taste and learn.
Our second stop was the venerable Konzelmann Winery. Hillary was treated to tasting the wine from a special crystal slipper. The staff here were loads of fun and kept our spirits high. The winery is quite picturesque and provides a viewing platform for better appreciation of Lake Ontario. We saw a four- masted schooner on the water, as well as an impressive lake freighter.
Not too far away, the Strewn Winery offers a connoisseur's delight. Strewn is a respected winery cooking school as well as a traditional winery. Strewn offers hands-on winery cooking classes in a beautiful contemporary facility. Our guide took us to the barrel cellar, treating us to a 'behind the scenes' tour of wine making.
The wonderful people at Palatine Hills Estate Winery greeted us at the last stop on our busy tour. For many years Palatine produced grapes, but did not make wine. Now they craft award winning wines and provide grape juice to home brewing enthusiasts.
Then it was back aboard the Limo Bus for the ride home. All the best of luck to Hillary and her sister Aubree in the upcoming months. thank you for choosing Buffalo Limousine for your bachelorette winery tour. I hope you had as much fun as I did.

Grady's Bachelorette Party

Life as a chauffeur is always interesting. When you pull up to a client's house, you never know exactly what you're going to find. That's why I was pleasantly surprised to host a group of young ladies who were celebrating the impending marriage of their good friend, 'Grady'.

We started out at a favorite local bar in Kenmore. Then we really accelerated the fun by heading to the Chippewa district in our 10 passenger stretch limousine. There were many highlights including Grady's attempt to ride the mechanical buffalo, as well as the dancing that transpired on top of the bar at the Bucking Buffalo Saloon.
We had a great time and made it home safe and sound. If there was a theme song for the night, it would be "Girls Just Want To Have Fun."

Frontier Senior Prom

We had a lot of fun at the Frontier Senior Prom. The day started out sunny and very hot--the group went to the Hyatt Hotel for the dinner and dance. Afterwards we headed for Niagara Falls and a little exploring of Goat Island. We topped-off the evening at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Amherst High School Prom

Had the good fortune of taking nearly 30 people to the Amherst High Prom last weekend. Here are a few of the highlights. Click the arrow button to start the slide show. Click on the caption button to see the comments that accompany the images:

Thank you for choosing Buffalo Limousine! I hope you had as much fun as I did.

More Foreigners find the Falls Fantastic

The Saturday of Memorial Day weekend the Falls looked more like the United Nations. I dropped off my group and then parked the Limo Bus. I couldn't park in the main lot (a first, as far as I know), so I had to park on the South end of the island and make my way back to the group. Along the way I saw people from all around the world and from several states.
The Niagara Gazette made note of the large crowds as well:

"Changes in foreign visitors to Niagara
By Don Glynn

Stroll through Prospect Park any day of the week — now that the prime tourist season is under way — and you’ll quickly come to the conclusion that there’s indeed a revolution in tourism.

In the travel industry, they’re known as the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and they’re coming by the bus loads — via the charter flights — to Niagara Falls. At present, it appears visitors from India rank No. 1 of the Big Four.

Not that the natural wonder here has just been discovered by the international set. Foreigners have been a major segment of Niagara tourism for more than a century but the UK no longer leads that list, tourism operators generally agree.

Locally, it’s virtually impossible to track the influx.

A large group from India or China may descend on the state park at any time and they often move swiftly — guided by a tour leader — to a specific attraction or vantage point.

Still, after you’re in the park for a half hour and maybe had a chance to observe the exodus from the Prospect Park tower, you’ll be convinced that some of the 47 million Chinese traveling abroad this year have included the Falls on their itinerary. And visitors from Indian and Pakistan are all around as well.

Of course, there was the credible threat that many Americans had been planning to cut back on their vacations this year because of the high gas prices.

That didn’t happen here, at least over the Memorial Day holiday. In fact, attendance in the state park was up more than 8,000 for the comparable weekend a year ago.

If you check out the license plates in Prospect Park and on Goat Island, you would have found visitors from as far away as Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Oregon — a lot more than a tankful away.

That combination — foreigners and Americans determined to go on vacation despite the gas prices — provided for a good start to the season.

Meanwhile, hoteliers and bed-and-breakfast operators will tell you that many foreign visitors — even some U.S. citizens who think the new passport regulations are already in effect — are reluctant to cross the international bridges because of the unwarranted concern they won’t be allowed to return.

It’s an ironic twist from the days when visitors couldn’t wait to clear customs because they were always told the view was better from that side."

My words of advice to people who are thinking about visiting Niagara Falls...DO IT! The American side, the Canadian side...the cultural attractions all around--there's plenty to do. Be certain to check out the Falls in a chauffeur driven stretch Limousine or Limo Bus from Buffalo Limousine. It's a great way to see the attractions and have a customized agenda.

Fearless Dare Devil to Risk Death at Niagara. But can he get Insurance?

Take a look at this dark video to see an extreme dare devil jump from the top of Niagara Falls to the gorge floor below while holding onto a rope:



The stealthy dare devil in the video is Dean Sullivan. He walked away from that stunt without a scratch, and was able to avoid Parks Police.
Now he wants to go legit. Sullivan would like to leap from the Skylon Tower this summer. His only equipment will be an ordinary climbing rope tethered to the structure. He's already scheduled to leap from a crane to promote a festival in Niagara Falls, Ontario this summer. Plus he'd like to leap out of a helicopter at Niagara as revealed in this article from the Niagara Falls Review:

Skylon Tower spokesman Lee Carr says the jump shouldn't be a problem, so long as Sullivan has the proper insurance. The Skylon has attracted base jumpers before, but no one has ever rappelled off the 160-metre tower. Carr believes it would be a hit with tourists, and a way to utilize the city's daredevil past.

"We have a history," he says. "There is a heritage of stunting in Niagara Falls."

Celebrate Old Downtown has booked Sullivan for two upcoming festivals: Springlicious May 30 to June 1, and the more apt Dare Devil Days Aug. 15 and 16. In addition to rappelling off a 200-foot crane near Queen Street, Sullivan wants to stage his coupe de grace - a 1,000-foot plunge from a helicopter.

Niagara Helicopters operations manager Rene Huessey says the stunt needs approval from Transport Canada and the usual insurance. But someone jumping from a copter with only a rope "won't be an issue."

Celebrate Old Downtown events co-ordinator Shane Sargent says stunting, for better or worse, will be forever linked with Niagara Falls, so why not capitalize on it?

"I don't think the event wants to celebrate daredevils, except we do want to recognize our unique history."

Doing a fully approved stunt will help Sullivan take the next step. Or leap.

"If he's part of the festival, it has to be all legal," says Sargent. "Or we just can't be involved. For his part, if he wants to be a professional that's what he's got to do."

"Every man will die, but very few will live ... that's a good saying. I forget where it came from, but it's true. At least I know I've done a few things in the world nobody else has done. And there's billions of people in this world.

We'll keep you posted on this story. Sullivan is scheduled to jump from a crane during the 'Celebrate Old Downtown' festival May 30-June 1.

Niagara Falls Review - Ontario, CA

Niagara goes "unconventional"

Niagara Falls Ontario continues to build infrastructure giving travelers another reason to stay in the region for more than one day. Planners unveiled the new logo for the convention center, and the Niagara Falls Review was there:

Niagara Falls Review - Ontario, CA

Tell us what you think of the logo

Posted By Corey Larocque

Niagara’s convention centre is borrowing a page from 7-Up. The soft drink company marketed itself once upon a time as the “un-cola” to separate itself from its competition.

Now the Niagara Convention and Civic Centre will promote itself as “unconentional,” putting an emphasis on delivering “unconventional experiences” to thousands of annual delegates.

“We are going to make sure the world knows Niagara Falls has a convention centre,” manager Kerry Painter said at a reception Wednesday to unveil the logo and slogan she’ll use to drum up business.

The logo has a series of coloured, vertical bars depicting “an original and fresh interpretation” of the world-famous falls, a press release states. Two blue, wavy horizontal lines represent the relationship between the falls and the Niagara River.

A crowd of civic and business leaders attended the reception at the Fallsview Casino to see the the logo unveiled to Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best” blasted over the sound system.

Sample ads with phrases “Be Unconventional” and “Meet Unconventional” were shown to demonstrate how the “unconventional “ brand could be linked to Niagara attractions like the falls, casinos and golf courses.

The new $105 million convention center is scheduled to open in 2011. It will be built on Fallsview Boulevard near Dunn Street. The convention centre is just one more reason to use Buffalo Limousine for your travel needs in the Niagara region.