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Friendly old foes: Niagara forts now under siege by tourists
© By Hans Tammemagi
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One spring afternoon I stood on the ramparts of Niagara-on-the-Lake's Fort George and, with the sun warming my back, gazed across at the stone walls of its old foe, Lewiston's Fort Niagara. The waters of the Niagara River sparkled with burnished gold as boats moved lazily toward the lake with their white sails billowing.
It was hard to imagine that two centuries ago on a fateful day in May 1813, this peaceful scene was a cauldron of fiery death. Fighting ships filled the water, cannons thundered, and red-hot grapeshot flashed across the river as fort fired on fort -- for they lie within easy cannonade of each other. The sturdy stone walls of Fort Niagara proved superior to the wooden palisades of Fort George, which were soon ablaze. When the sun set, the British were routed and Fort George was razed by the Americans.
But that was long ago. Today, the forts are still under siege, but by hordes of smiling tourists shooting cameras instead of muskets.
At first glance, the two forts appear to be mirror images of each other, defending opposite shores of the strategic Niagara River. As I was to learn on that sun-drenched afternoon, however, they have totally and delightfully different personalities.
First, there are significant physical differences. Fort George is wooden and Spartan. Roughly rectangular in shape, its walls are composed of wooden palisades supported by earthen embankments and ditches. Six bastions mounted with cannons provided the main defense.
In contrast, Fort Niagara is solid stone and has a distinct French flair. It consists of thick stone walls, a main citadel (referred to as the French Castle), two stone blockhouses or redoubts, and a formidable drawbridge. The French builders included beautiful stonework, massive wooden beams, delicate wood carvings, fireplaces and a chapel that have not lost any of their original elegance. You can imagine D'Artagnon and the three musketeers cavorting around with flashing sabres and flying capes.
The historical differences between the two forts are fascinating. Fort George, the Johnny-come-lately, has only been embroiled in one conflict, the War of 1812. It was built by the British from 1796 to 1799 to
defend the Niagara area against invasion by the new, aggressive nation, the United States of America, and the fort served as the military headquarters for the region under the command of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock. Captured by the Americans in 1813, Fort George was recaptured by the British later that year. After the war, the fort fell into decay and was abandoned in the 1820s.
Fort George was reconstructed and opened as a historical tourist attraction in 1950, under the care of Parks Canada. Today it offers a wonderful insight into yesteryear with soldiers dressed in period uniforms performing drills, musket firing, and battle reenactments. You can also enjoy a fife-and-drum band, cooking demonstrations, and craftsmanship displays in the carpenter's and blacksmiths shops.
Fort Niagara is far older and, in fact, is the oldest building on the entire Great Lakes. It has played a significant role in three wars involving much of the history of eastern North America. The site was first fortified in 1679 by the French to protect the portage around Niagara Falls during the early days of exploration and fur trade. The present fort was built in 1726. Although the massive stone walls with their slits for cannons and the overhanging windows are obvious signs that this was intended as a fortress, the French pretended to the Seneca that they were merely building a trading post.
The French ownership of Fort Niagara lasted for just over three decades. In 1759 British and Iroquois forces laid siege and captured Fort Niagara, and soon after the once-dominant role of the French in North America came to an end. The British added two stone blockhouses and other fortifications.
During the American Revolution, the fort served as the military headquarters for
the British. In 1796, however, the fort changed hands as it was turned over to the victorious Americans.
Fort Niagara played an important part in the War of 1812, toward the end of which it was attacked and captured by the British. Fort Niagara was returned to the Americans after hostilities ceased.
Today, Fort Niagara is operated as a historical museum on behalf of New York State by the Old Fort Niagara Association, and attracts about ten thousand people per year who enjoy the beautiful battlements, the museum, and the stories left behind by the soldiers of three nations.
Hans Tammemagi has written two travel books: Exploring Niagara - The Complete Guide to Niagara Falls & Vicinity and Exploring the Hill - A Guide to Canada's Parliament Past & Present. His work is often featured in Osprey and CANWEST papers.
Photo Credits
Hans Tamemmagi: Fort Niagara, Fort George, View of Lake Ontario from Fort Niagara, French army band re-enactors, Fort Niagara
Mike Keenan: Fort George photographs
If you go
Contact the forts to find out about special events including fireworks, symphonies, murder-mystery dinners, and battle reenactments.
Fort George is open from Victoria Day until the end of October, from 9 or 10 am to 5 or 6 pm, depending on the season. 905 468-4257; link from www.niagaraonthelake.com
Fort Niagara is open all year from 9 am; closing varies from 7:30 (summer) to 4:30 pm (winter). Phone: 716 745-7611; www.oldfortniagara.org
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Niagara's Soothing Spas
© By Mike Keenan
The old European spas in Baden-Baden, Germany, Bath, England and Hungary were once called "fat farms." They focused on losing weight. Modern spas have acquired a new cachet. They come equipped with nutritionists, personal trainers, guided imagery to combat stress and they focus on preventative health, the leading edge of health tourism. In the United States, some spas operate with "longevity centres" where clients receive a full medical work-up including blood tests.
Niagara-on-the-Lake offers some of the best spas in Ontario. The White Oaks Resort's Spa neighbours Niagara College which developed a partnership with Brock University at their Glendale campus vineyard and serves as a practical lab for students which motivated White Oaks to incorporate the burgeoning Niagara wine industry into their program.
Here, I sampled the "Nectar of Niagara" signature treatment, aromatic balm for the troubled spirit. They employ red wine by-products for facial exfoliation. Hernder Estates Winery agreed to allow the use of the clayish material that purifies wine by extracting sediment that clings to it - material that would normally be dumped. The natural acids remove dead skin. After a scrub, to replenish and nourish skin, antioxidant wine with poly-phenols mixed with honey containing amino acids and vitamin B for viscosity, is liberally applied. This scientific emulsion induces a smooth skin surface. It constituted a deliciously warm and fragrant massage.
With multiple local wineries and 19,000 acres of grapes harvested in the peninsula, the White Oaks "Nectar of Niagara" treatment is an appropriate innovation. Another signature treatment concocted features non-pasteurized, pure, maple syrup from sap loaded with anti-inflammatory ingredients.
At White Oaks, they pioneered hot stone therapy in Niagara, a massage with heated, flat, smooth rocks. The stones are used in a gentle stroking motion, therapeutic to tight muscle tissue. One stroke equates to ten of the regular Swedish variety. There are different sized stones for each body part including small stones employed for the sinus cavities and in between fingers and toes.
Other treatments include aroma therapy massage, employing soft, essential oils, touch and scent that clients find relaxing. For those who desire a vigorous treatment, there is deep tissue massage.
Spas Ontario sets the industry standards. Since 1999, there has been a 127 % increase in the spa industry. A spa has to have some water element to qualify for membership such as a Vichy shower massage. There must be a minimum of 5 treatment areas and hydro-therapy on the premises plus certain other professional standards. There are currently 36 member spas in Ontario.
Next I visited the Vintage Inns spas at the Pillar and the Post Inn and the Prince of Wales Hotel. Allen Gelberg, Director of Sales & Marketing notes that the Pillar and Post's 100 Fountain Spa has been successfully operating since 1995 and was recently voted one of Ontario's best spa resorts by Condé Nast Traveler magazine. "When we fashioned the Secret Garden Spa at the Prince of Wales, we wanted to compliment the services we already had. We developed seven treatment rooms decorated and themed after various flowers."
Spas have rapidly formed part of the contemporary Niagara lifestyle, catering to people from ages 19 to 80 with the 25-58 demographic forming the bulk of the market and male clientele now up to 33%, their ranks growing with the advent of corporate groups who visit spas to de-stress.
Inside the Prince of Wales' ornate Secret Garden Spa, I was treated to the "Soft PAC" signature treatment, one of only three in Canada. I was wrapped and floated on an amniotic surface releasing the pressure on joints and muscles. The lights were dimmed. Harps played in the background, and like Icarus gliding on a cloud (before his waxed wings melted), I mellowed for the rest of the day.
On a Saturday morning in the Pillar and Post's 100 Fountain Spa, the waiting area is crowded with white-robed patrons awaiting treatments. Many are in their mid-thirties from New York State,
taking advantage of the currency exchange rate. Four youngish ladies from Rochester willingly share their bliss; one freshly emerges from the heated outdoor pool. "We all live in the same neighbourhood. Coming here is far cheaper than anything back home. It's a treat and we deserve it!"
At White Oaks, clients do not feel rushed. They have installed a soothing meditation room for before and after treatments. The focus is on rest and relaxation. Fish lazily drift inside a large aquarium. The room is dimly lit, quiet and subdued. There are soft, comfortable sofas from where one may casually sip herbal tea or juice. Another reading room sports a gas fireplace.
"We want to take it to another level, involve the whole mind-body." Accordingly, soft coloured wallpaper with a tactile component allows clients to feel comfortable by appealing to their senses. All ungainly equipment is concealed behind stylishly-crafted cabinets. They have developed an inviting "couples" treatment suite. "Price-Waterhouse research discovered that most couples rearing children and working are lucky today to spend 8 minutes of quality time together each week. We are responding to that need."
An average 55-minute treatment at these Niagara spas costs approximately $110 with many options available.
Mike Keenan writes a weekly newspaper column for the St. Catharines Standard and has been published in the Globe & Mail,
Buffalo Spree, Stitches, West of the City and Pulse
Magazine. Mike is an award-winning poet and former President of the Canadian Authors Association, Niagara and
Vice-President of the national body. He belongs to the North American Travel Journalist Association and the Travel Media
Association of Canada.
He is editor of the zines, What Travel Writers Say:
www.whattravelwriterssay.com and Synapse Magazine: www.synapsemagazine.ca.
Photo credits
Pillar & Post 100 Fountain Spa, courtesy of Colin Sines, White Oaks Resort Spa, courtesy of Patricia Jones.
When you go
Niagara-on-the-Lake Spas
White Oaks Resort Spa: http://www.whiteoaksresort.com/spa.htm Ph: 905.688.2550
Prince of Wales Secret Garden Spa:
http://www.vintage-hotels.com/niagara-on-the-lake/spa/prince-of-wales.php
Pillar & Post 100 Fountain Spa:
http://www.vintage-hotels.com/niagara-on-the-lake/spa/pillar-and-post.php
Other Niagara Spas
Doubletree Lodge & Spa Fallsview: http://www.spalifeonline.com/1160.html
Oban Inn and Spa: http://www.obaninn.ca/
Senses Spa at the Americana Conference Resort: http://www.americananiagara.com/
Serenity Spa by the Falls: http://www.niagarafallsmarriottspa.com/
Spa on the Twenty: http://www.innonthetwenty.com/ott_spa.htm
The Spa Port Colborne: http://www.thespa-portcolborne.com/
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Waves, Wolves and Water Parks:
Getting soaked in Niagara Falls
© By Sherri Telenko
Every minute, six million cubic feet of water plummets over the crest of Niagara Falls. So it's about time people started getting wet - for the fun of it. The recent addition of three major waterparks in Niagara Falls gives us three more reasons to visit one of the most popular wonders of the world. Move over honeymooners, this town's big on family fun.
The elegant European-style Americana Conference Resort and Spa was the first to open an indoor waterpark in 2004. At the time, it was the only one of its kind in Niagara Falls and it made indoor pools look like bathtub puddles. Called Waves Indoor Waterpark, it hosts a beach-like wave pool, kiddie zone, hot tub and tube and body slides extending three storeys into the sky. Despite appearing intimidating, kids five and older love the slides. Who knew jumping on an inflatable donut and sailing through a dark tube of harrowing twists and turns could be so fun?
This park's reasonable size allows parents to see kids easily from a seat along the parameter or in the middle of the action near the café. The hotel provides waterpark passes with most hotel stays but allows day access to the park as well for $19.95 to $29.99 per person, along with Tidal Wave birthday party packages starting at $24.95 per person. With the addition of Senses Spa last year, the Americana is equal parts adult and kid creature comforts.
In 2006, the first Great Wolf Lodge opened in Canada. Owned by Ripley's Niagara Water Park Resort, this Canadiana-gone-mad themed-resort is more than a waterpark, although splashing about is definitely the highlight. Complete with spa, mini golf, ticket redemption arcade and five feeding options including pizza and a casino-style all-you-can-eat buffet, a Disney-esque resort like this one designed to keep guests (and their money) on site is long overdue in Niagara Falls.
Decorated to look like the inside of a massive wilderness retreat, the Great Wolf Lodge wows guests the moment they step into the lobby. The main entrance is dominated by a mega-fireplace and realistic-looking animatronics. A moose and bear that talk, tell jokes and offer morning and evening 'shows' greet visitors. This hotel is all about amusing family members, particularly the most fickle: young children.
Of course, no on-board experience is complete without a good soak. So don your swimsuit because the Great Wolf Lodge waterpark is huge
and you'll spend your time trailing the little ones or risk losing them. The park has 13 waterslides - four of them massive tube slides that weave in and out of the lodge walls, each slightly more daring than the previous; a four-storey waterfort with interconnecting ladders and walkways (with rail mounted opportunities to spray those underneath using hoses, buckets of water and mega spray guns); and the mandatory beach entry wave pool that barrages swimmers with walls of waves about every 30 minutes. A giant tipping bucket high on top Fort MacKenzie periodically dumps 4000 litres of water on unsuspecting victims below and, frankly, startles the bejeezes out of toddlers. But they can scamper into one of three kiddie pools or the more traditional activity pool with basketball nets.
One month after the Great Wolf Lodge opened its freshly whittled doors, Niagara Falls had another waterpark; this time claiming to be the biggest. Owned by Canadian Niagara Hotels, the Fallsview Indoor Waterpark is stacked atop the parking garage beside Casino Niagara in the heart of tourist activity. Fallsview services several properties including the recently renovated Skyline Inn, Sheraton on the Falls and Brock Plaza Hotel.
Open to the public on a first-come-first-serve basis (in other words, when the park isn't at capacity with hotel guests, passes are available), this facility caters to bigger kids and those too big to be kids. Complete with wave beach, one outdoor pool and tanning deck, climbing decks, 1000 litre dumping bucket like the other parks, this one adds eight slides several storeys high and eight more a whopping six storeys high.
Clearly, this is not the place for the slide shy. Here, you can plummet down vertigo- inducing body slides, race with a friend along side-by-side tubes, ride a sled-like rubber mat down a few others or raft slide along three more, including one that resembles a giant toilet bowl.
Finally, note that at these and any waterpark, the chlorine levels are high. It's recommended that you shower regularly during your water fun, especially if you are extra sensitive to chemicals. Sanitation aside, the ever expanding Niagara Falls now has more places for wet, wild, humid fun than you can shake a hose at.
Sherri Telenko is published regularly in Southern Ontario regional lifestyle magazines and won NATJA's Best Resort Article Award in 2005.
Photo Credits
Sherri Telenko: Americana Conference Resort and Spa, Great Wolf Lodge
If you go
Americana Conference Resort and Spa: www.americananiagara.com;1-800-263-3508
Fallsview Indoor Waterpark: www.fallsviewwaterpark.com; 1-888-234-8408
Great Wolf Lodge: www.greatwolf.com; 1-800-905-9653
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After the Falls: Niagara's Freedom Trail
© By Ann Campbell
If you're standing at the guardrail ogling world-famous Niagara Falls when a spry 75-year-old woman approaches and invites you to visit her church, I strongly recommend you accept. "I just want to tackle visitors sometimes," says Wilma Morrison with a mischievous smile. "I want to run up and say 'Have I got a story to tell you."
Morrison knows that most visitors to her hometown focus on the falls (actually three falls, the most spectacular being Horseshoe Falls). And rightly so. They are awesome, whether viewing from below on a Maid of the Mist boat ride, descending in elevators to see from beside and behind in the Journey Behind the Falls or simply standing on the rim at the Table Rock Complex. Even away from the falls there are umpteen diversions, from an engaging Butterfly Conservatory and worth-the-price IMAX film about Niagara Falls to a row of tacky museums and fast-food outlets on neon-lit Clifton Hill.
But there's another story in this town, one that Morrison and others are eager to tell.
It is the story of African Americans -- fugitive slaves, indentured workers and British Loyalists -- who came to this corner of Canada, across the Niagara River from the cities of Niagara Falls and Buffalo, New York, in the 19th century. Historians estimate 40,000 fugitive slaves crossed the international border, the majority by steamboat, ferry, and rowboat or by swimming across the Niagara River. Their rich history is captured in part through a collection of historical sites, interpretive markers and plaques known as Niagara's Freedom Trail.
My first stop on the Trail is Morrison's church, the Nathaniel Dett Memorial Chapel British Methodist Episcopal Church. "This church is the only thing that really states we've been here so long," says Morrison. It is a simple building, constructed by former slaves in 1836 on a site that was so bleak and windy that the congregation nicknamed it "The North Pole." In 1890, the building was rolled on logs to a more suitable parcel of land donated by Oliver Parnall, a parishioner who had swum the Niagara River to freedom years before. The church now designated a National Historic Site, still rests on those logs.
Next door is the Norval Johnson Heritage Library, a former cottage that now houses a 1,200-volume lending library and genealogical database where people can search for information on ancestors who may have escaped to Canada.
Morrison, a highly-respected authority on the region's Black history, acknowledges the challenges faced by those trying to find branches of their family tree in the tracks of the Underground Railroad. "Nothing was written down - that would have been unsafe for the escaping slaves and for those who helped them. To add to the difficulty, slaves took their master's last names, so when they were sold to a different plantation owner, their names would change." Still, many people find clues to their heritage in the library's records. Plans are underway to put the genealogical database on the library's Web site.
Following the advice of my guidebook (Owen Thomas' Niagara's Freedom Trail: A Guide to the African-Canadian History on the Niagara Peninsula, $7.20 US plus postage, call 1-800-263-2988 to order), I drive upriver to the town of Fort Erie. Here, steps from the river's edge, sits a plaque entitled "The Crossing." It commemorates the thousands of fugitive slaves who first arrived on Canadian soil, and so first tasted freedom, on this riverbank.
Although free, fugitive slaves were still in danger of being captured and returned to the southern states by roving slave catchers. My next stop, Fort Erie's stately 170-year-old Bertie Hall, is said to have been a "safe house" on the Underground Railroad, a place where refugees could hide until arrangements were made to move to safer quarters inland, away from the border.
It's difficult to imagine such a noble past when I first step through the front doors, for the main floors of Bertie Hall house the Mildred M. Mahoney Dolls' House Gallery, the largest dolls' house collection in the world. I wander past some of the 140 opulent houses filled with miniature crystal chandeliers and tiny antique oil paintings then descend a narrow staircase to a very different reality.
Here the air is dank, the floor covered in gravel, the space dimly lit. On one rough-hewn bedrock wall, a burlap sack marks the spot where, if you believe the old stories, a secret tunnel to the riverbank used by escaping slaves and smugglers once stood. A collection of utilitarian furniture - a bunk with worn, wool blankets, a small table, simple chairs and a pot-belly stove - sit in silent testament to a time when freedom-seekers hid in this underground room. I'm told that visitors are sometimes moved to tears or to song. I understand why.
I follow the Freedom Trail inland to St. Catharines and Salem Chapel, a British Methodist Episcopal church constructed in 1855 in the style of a southern Baptist church. The Chapel, now designated a National Historic Site, has served as a spiritual centre for the region's Black community for over 150 years. It was to here that Harriet Tubman, the courageous Underground Railroad conductor known as "Moses" (because of her repeated journeys south to collect slaves and then guide them to the Promised Land of Canada) brought many refugees. And it was here that Tubman worshipped for eight years prior to the start of the U.S. Civil War.
Rochelle Bush, the historical director of the church and a descendant of fugitive slaves from Virginia on her father's side and South Carolina on her mother's, is passionate about the men, women and children who had the intrepidity to run. "Our ancestors were the defiant, the rebels, the courageous," says Bush. She invites me to Sunday service at 11:00 a.m.
The next day, strolling beside Niagara Falls, I'm reminded of something else Bush said about the responsibility we all share to honour those who came before: "We are the keepers of the culture. We are the speakers for the dead."
I'm sure Wilma Morrison would agree. And truth be told, when I spy a group of camera-touting tourists stepping off a sightseeing bus, I want to run up and shout, "Have I got a story for you."
Ann Campbell is a freelance travel writer, based in Vancouver, BC. Her award-winning stories (she's received four travel writing prizes in recent years) appear in newspapers and magazines across North America including The Vancouver Sun, Oregonian, Georgia Straight, Globe & Mail, Western Living, AAA Living, Canadian Family and more.
Photo Credits
Ann Campbell: A safe house, one of the Underground Railroad sites on the Freedom Trail in Niagara Falls, Wilma Morrison, a local authority on black history, in front of her church that was constructed in 1836 by former slaves, Bertie Hall is said to have been a safe house for escaped slaves on the Underground Railroad.
If you go
Bertie Hall: www.angelfire.com/biz/DollHouseGallery/, call 905-871-5833.
Nathaniel Dett Memorial Chapel and Library: www.norvaljohnson.com call 905-358-9957.
Historical Fiction: Children visiting Niagara Falls will be entranced by The Last Safe House: A story of the Underground Railroad (Barbara Greenwood, $9.95 US, Kids Can Press, 1998). This fictional account of a St. Catharines' family who helps a young runaway slave offers up historically-accurate information, illustrations and engaging activities.
Salem Chapel: To organize a tour, call 905-682-0993.
Underground Railroad: Historical and touring information on sites throughout southern Ontario, including Niagara's Freedom Trail: www.ontariotravel.net, search "Black Heritage Route."
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