We've got a little over 100-miles to travel today and most all of it is due north to Youngstown, which is located about 30-miles north of Buffalo. Youngstown also happens to be the location where the river connecting Lake Huron to Lake Ontario terminates.
What I've been skirting around telling you is we're headed to Niagara Falls State Park. I was here 40+ years ago in the early 1980s, but Tricia has never been. The Falls are still the same as I remember them, although the crest of the waterfall does recede about 12" a year.
Niagara Falls State Park is the oldest State Park in the United States, created in 1885 to rescue it from the declining look of all the privately owned industrial plants that were surrounding the falls. The land was bought back with public funds and the industrial plants were shut down and torn down to return the area to a more natural and less polluted condition.
Because we are currently camped in a New York State Park, and therefore have already paid our entrance fee, we were able to not pay the $15 parking fee at the Falls.
With so many different sightseeing opportunites here at the Falls we had to select something to do first, so we picked arguably one of the two most popular attractions.
CAVE OF THE WINDS
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At this point, depending on which way the wind is blowing, it feels like walking in a heavy fog.
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Once you get around the corner and descend down the stairsyou'll be at the base of the American Falls and experiencing the power of all that water.
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At this point you're still relatively dry and can turn around and head back out "OR"climb more stairs to get up close for a better look at the falls. We moved forward!
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We were surprised to find all this greenery surviving at the base of the falls.
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Now that the sun was out we saw a small rainbow at the base of the falls.
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About halfway up the stairs you'll find yourself within a few feet of the water.
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More of that greenery found among the rocks.
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At this point the water is actually sloshing over onto the deck...
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...but we're not done yet heading up towards Bridal Veil Falls.
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It looks like those people are actually under the waterfall, but they're not.
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This little corner of the deck is as close as you can get to being under the falls...
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...and one of us was brave enough to attempt it.|
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When you're at the ticket booth preparing to buy your tickets for Cave of the Winds there are signs everywhere that warn you that "You Are Going To Get Wet" on the attraction. Even wearing the flimsy rain ponchos they give you they were correct with their warnings!
After our elevator ride back up to the top of the falls, Tricia headed over towards Luna Island. It's a narrow piece of land between Bridal Veil Falls and the American Falls that you can access by crossing over a short pedestrian bridge.
It still took us about 15-minutes to get over to the ticket office for our next adventure, but at least we didn't have to walk all the way over here just to stand in line.
Judging by the crowds, the most popular attraction in the park is what we're about to embark upon now, the Maid of the Mist boat tour.
MAID OF THE MIST
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Waiting for the elevator on the observation deck we could see our desintation far down below.
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We weren't first on the boat, so we selected the back of the boat for our ride.
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After leaving the dock you could see exactly how tall that elevator shaft is.
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We read that all of the "Cave of the Winds" decking is completely disassembled each winterand rebuilt the following spring. I guess ice is more destructive that mere water.
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Brand new this summer is "Air Balloon Ride" which just opened in June.
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Ever wondered what it looks like while in the mist of the Horseshoe Falls?
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It's hard to see much of anything while you're in the middle of the ride.
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That was fun, but it wasn't what we were expecting.
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The "Rainbow Bridge" has connected Niagara Falls, NY to Niagara Falls, Ontario since 1941.
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That walkway in the foreground is currently closed and is being developed into an alternativeway to return to the top of the falls, instead of waiting in line at the overloaded elevators.
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The Canadian version of the Maid of the Mist uses red ponchos for their riders.|
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After our Maid of the Mist ride it was time for lunch. I decided to ride the trolley back to Goat Island where the Top of the Falls Restaurant is located. Tricia decided to take the 15-minute walk back to the restaurant and with me having to initially wait for the trolley to arrive and then endure two stops before arriving at the restaurant, we basically arrived at the same time.
After lunch we walked the short distance out to Terrapin Point where you can get a close look at Horseshoe Falls. Horseshoe Falls is located almost entirely inside of Canada. Only a few feet of the actual falls and most all of the rapids leading to the center of the horseshoe are in the U.S.
I think that's enough sightseeing for our first full day here! Let's head home and get ready for tomorrow. I think we're going to take it easier tomorrow.
We are headed to downtown Buffalo to the corner of Main Street and North Street where since 1935 they've been serving Buffalo Style Chicken Wings.
Frank and Teressa's Anchor Bar is where the Buffalo Style Chicken Wing was born. While there are currently 16 additional Anchor Bar locations in 8 different states, this one in downtown Buffalo is the Original.
with Iced Tea and Lemonade = $102.76 including our $18 tip.
It was tasty, but was it $100+ tasty? FYI - We did have leftovers to take home!
On our way home from Buffalo we stopped at the Rite Aid Drug Store in Niagara Falls to pick up our Amazon package we had shipped here. Once inside the store we immediately noticed this place was different!
With the exception of the beverage coolers, where they sold soda and water, plus a few short isles filled with snacks and potato chips, EVERYTHING ELSE in the store was under lock and key. How does anyone even "shop" in a store like this?
The Amazon Locker was in the rear of the store next to the pharmacy. After we retrieved our packages from the locker an older gentleman standing in line commented that he too uses the lockers for delivery because packages were constantly dissappearing from his porch.
Leaving the store I now noticed that the parking lot was near empty and yet right across the street was a Walgreens with a dozen or so cars in their lot.
Curiosity got the best of me, so I went into Walgreens "to buy a bottle of tea" and check out the shopping conditions there and found something closer to normal.
Yes, the smaller expensive stuff, like perfume and sunglasses were behind glass, but here I could grab items like a new hair brush, a bottle of Pepto Bismol and even a huge package of diapers without needing assistace, unlike across the street at Rite Aid.
I'm not sure which security measure will show more profit, which let's face it, in the end that's what it's all about. I suspect that Rite Aid has made a poor decision here and will soon find that out for themselves.
The feature we were interested in most was their Back Barn Cafe with a fairly large offering of breakfast choices.
I chose to eat two farm fresh eggs (scrambled), fresh baked rye toast and fresh cut home fries with a small serving of sautéed peppers and onions. I topped in off with an apple juice, sadly not fresh pressed, however they do have several varieties of apples out in their orchard.
Tricia ordered a breakfast burrito with all kinds of fresh vegetables and two eggs. She topped her meal off with some fresh brewed coffee.
The "key" word to describe our morning breakfast was "fresh". However, delicious and inexpensive also come to mind.
With full bellies we then headed over to the Old Fort Niagara location to explore the fort and learn some history.
Outside of the local Indian tribes, the French were the first to occupy the little point of land at the end of the Niagara River on Lake Ontario. They are the ones responsible for erecting the large rectangular building that served as a fort. The Indian leaders only allowed this because in their words "it couldn't look like a fort". Built in 1726, it is the longest standing structure in the entire Great Lakes region.
Eventually the British would come to control this very strategic location in 1759 and then it would change hands for the final time in 1796 when the United States won control. When the Erie Canal was completed in 1825 the new water route west bypassed this location and it was no longer important to control.
Today the entire property is owned by the State of New York, but since 1927 the fort itself is being restored and operated as a museum by a non-profit organization.
OLD FORT NIAGARA
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Approaching from land at ground level there isn't much to attack.
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You're not going to be scaling these walls in a single bound.
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Don't forget those cannons way down there are aimed right at you.
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The most reasonable way to enter the fort is through the front door, we did!
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Of course there were a half dozen cannons pointed at us there too.
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We made it through without a single shot being fired.
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This building is the 1726 French built Fort Niagara.
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The brick building on the left is the "powder room", black powder that is.
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A peek inside of the "powder room". No Smoking, please!
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The black powder is what's used to ignite the cannons.
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Inside the long building there were several dioramas depicting the fort at various times.
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This was the earliest version and my favorite.
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Through a side door in the fort you can see the modern day Coast Guard Station.
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This furnace was used to heat the cannonballs so once they were firedthey not only destroyed whatever they hit first, but also caught it on fire if possible.
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The smaller building in front is the fort kitchen and the smaller one in backwas thankfully a modern day bathroom.
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From this vantage point you can see a tanker out on Lake Ontario.
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The kitchen had plenty of firewood and water stored just outside.
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Inside there was a rock hard "more than a day old" loaf of bread on the table.
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Inside of the fort we found the officers dining room.
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These inside hallways must have been plenty dark "back in the day".
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Any guesses who gets to sleep in this luxurious accommodation?
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And has their very own private dining room?
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The center of the second floor in the large French built fort.
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This is what the enlisted mens quarters looked like.
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An important room in the fort was this chapel.
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One of the two main lookout towers of the fort.
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On the first floor of the lookout tower were these bunk beds...
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...and then up to the second floor we found...
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...the rest of the sleeping quarters.
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Also on the second floor was the dining and kitchen area.
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The top floor was all about keeping watch for the enemy.
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From the top floor of the tower we had a pretty good view of the entire fort.
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Our tower watches over Lake Ontario and the second tower watches traffic on the Nigara River.|
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