R7D54-59 – Weekend Away, Injuries And Reviews

Let’s start at the beginning.

Friday was Max Recovery since I had made a discovery that I had never actually done an Insanity recovery workout. It wasn’t too tough, although less of a challenge than I expected and the next day I was sore which tells me that I am not stretching enough during my regular workouts. Saturday we headed out to Niagara Falls and the weekend looked like this:

Friday – Max recovery
Saturday – RKC in the room
Sunday – Off
Monday – RKC on the deck (injury?)
Tuesday – Chest and Back

The workout on Saturday was brief but tough, it was only 30 minutes but I did 34543 ladder with some swings and some snatches thrown in to make up for the lack of chinups. Saturday night we went out to the Casino after a Keg dinner that was tasty but pricey. Sunday was spent on the jet boat tour and in the casino with an amazing dinner at Copacabana Brazilian Steakhouse  to follow. We all ate way too much but the food was pretty spectacular. Each time a guy came around with a huge spear of meat it was simply impossible to say no. After 90 minutes of hedonistic meat gorging we wandered back to the hotel and I for one passed out in a meat coma. Monday we drove back to Toronto and spent the day relaxing without the baby which was really odd and tough to get used to. I did a RKC workout on the deck that looked like this:

With 45lb KB

3 rungs with chinups
10 wallball shots
4 rungs with chinups
20 swings
5 rungs with chinups
10 wallball shots
4 rungs with chinups
20 swings
3 rungs with chinups with 70lb KB
20 swings with 70lb KB

At the time I felt pretty good, I had a pretty high workload I thought and I felt fine. In fact, according to Firstbeat, it was the toughest workout I have done with the exception of the day I ran almost 5k in 40 degree heat just to see if my new foot pod worked. The next day however I was very sore, in fact, my body was out of alignment like it is when I have a nerve impingement which made me think that maybe I was going to need another week off. I decided I should work out anyway, taking it easy during my Chest and Back workout and to my relief, my post workout stretch proved tight but also a huge relief. By the end of the day my back was fine and I was back on track.

So what of the reviews?

The Keg – Niagara Falls, Ontario

It’s lobster summer which usually means an attempt to cover their insanely overpriced meals by adding lobster and giving them fancy names. However, nothing, even lobster, is going to soothe the sting of paying $45 for a plate of middle of the road restaurant food. The restaurant was packed, but we were seated quickly and our waitress was very attentive, friendly and happy to get 50% of our order right. Actually to be fair, she did put in the order correctly we can only assume that the kitchen messed up the thing. 2 of our 4 dinners were correct, but Nicole got a salad with no dressing (although she had asked for balsamic dressing which THEY DON’T HAVE!)  and another of our party got a baked potato with her sides nowhere to be found. The problem wasn’t only with the order being wrong, but also with the fact it took 10 minutes to get put right. As I rightly predicted, the manager apologized and offered to pay for desserts for the whole table which we gladly accepted. As far as the food goes, I had ordered the scallops wrapped in bacon followed by the steak topped with lobster seafood mix. Both dishes were acceptable, there was a total of 2 tiny claws of lobster on my lobster dish which was a total rip off but all in all the taste was good.

For dessert I had the cheesecake but in retrospect I wish I’d had the creme brulee. I don’t know about you, but for me the Keg gives me the same feeling every time, the food is good, just good enough that you don’t wan’t to complain about the price but once you leave you realize you just got ripped off. I’m not saying the quality is bad, it’s not, but the prices are all about 20% too high.

 Whirlpool Jet Boat Tours Niagara Falls Ontario

This was an amazing outing. About 45 mintues of the best laughs and thrills you can get while getting completely drenched in river water. Make sure that you plan on a warm day because even with the water being 80 degrees it was still chilly for some. The boat is a massive 3 engined 1500 HP beast that can do 360 degree turns and run level 5 rapids like they are nothing. We learned a bit about the area, the falls and the rapids themselves but the highlight is running downstream through the rapids as the boat scoops thousands of gallons of water over you. It was a great adventure, something I would recommend to anyone going to Niagara. It’ s only $60 per person so it’ s well worth the price, just remember a change of clothes!

Copacabana Brazilian Steak House Niagara Falls Ontario (Website down)

There are plenty of bad reviews for this place but we decided to go anyway since the lure of the place is too strong for a meat freak like me. The only real complaint I had is that the idiot woman who seated us complained that we couldn’t have the table instead of the booth since “everything” was reserved. Obviously she was not thrilled to have to work, didn’t care about us or the way she treated us and was basically your typical asshole twenty something stick insect who thinks the world owes her something because she thinks she is hot. Anyway, the place was pretty fun, loud and filled with good looking waiters and waitresses obviously catering to a younger crowd. The process is that you get some sides from the buffet area and wait for the meat guys to come around and cut meat off their giant skewers onto your plate. There are 17 different kinds of meat on offer and I think we tried them all. As long as you don’t expect a quiet restaurant to chat with friends and you don’t mind a fast paced and energetic vibe you should enjoy yourself here. The meat itself was, for the most part, very good. They have encrusted meats, cheese stuffed meats and good quality steaks on offer. The meat was, I have to admit, salty but not to the degree that it was offputting. The cheese stuffed prime rib was fantastic and I had at least 3 servings of bacon wrapped sirloin! I would definitely recommend that you go at least once, it’s very much like being on vacation in a tropical island, it’s loud, the wait staff are sometimes forgetful but always happy and the place itself is like a tiny getaway. I think we would try the one in Toronto to compare experiences but next time I will have to remember to 24 hour fast before hand. It did take me 2 days to get over the amount I ate, but that is a sign that we all had a great time!

Doubletree Hilton Niagara Falls Ontario

We have stayed here before and obviously since we returned we liked it enough! The room this time was a little bizarre and since we had 4 of us in one room utilizing the pull out couch for 2 of us it was a great experience. For the other 2 however, they were sleeping on a pullout that was barely a double and filled the extra room completely. There was only a single bathroom for all of us and the main room had fixed curtains that blocked the corner windows which I found bizarre. Last time was better, I have to admit, but this time was cheaper overall. I think for the future though it would be worth getting separate rooms. We had breakfast in the hotel on Sunday and once again the buffet was well stocked, had an omelette maker at their own station and the food was good quality, hot and well prepared.

 

 

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