Daily Archives: September 24, 2009
Niagara Falls – For Trudy…
Today we drove about 30 miles from our park to visit Niagara Falls.
The title of today’s blog says ‘For Trudy’. Trudy was Jan’s Mother who died in 2007. She always wanted to visit Niagara Falls, but never got the chance.
So Jan said “This visit is for Mom”.
After following the signs coming into the city of Niagara Falls we ended up on Goat Island, the home of the American side of Niagara Falls.
Goat Island and the Falls make up the Niagara Falls State Park. Established in 1885, it’s the oldest State Park in the United States.
Even before we got to the Island, Jan saw the mist rising from Horseshoe Falls, named because it’s shaped like a big horseshoe, of course.
But before we could see the Falls, Jan had to feed the a squirrel a Kashi bar.
Squirrel 2
Squirrel 1
The 2nd squirrel had this deal where he would lay flat on his belly and then slowly crawl toward you begging for food.
Walking over the small and looking down on the Falls was amazing. BTW Most of these pictures can be seen larger. Just click the picture. If there is a larger version, it will come up. Click the Back Arrow to get back to the blog.
Niagara Falls 1s
Niagara Falls 2s
You can walk right to the edge of the falls and look right out at the water going over.
Niagara Falls 3s
And then looking straight down thru the spray and the rainbow you can see the Maid of the Mist heading into the base of Horseshoe Falls. Looks like fun!
Niagara Falls 4s
After spending time at the Horseshoe, we walked over to the other falls, the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls.
Niagara Falls 5s
Niagara Falls 6s
Niagara Falls 7s
Niagara Falls 8s
Niagara Falls 9s
After stopping to look at the many flower beds, we got in line to tour the Cave of the Winds.
Niagara Flowers 1
Niagara Flowers 2
Cave of the Winds is now kind of a misnomer. The actual cave, named because the sound the wind made blowing off the falls, disappeared when the ceiling collapsed in the 1920’s.
What you have now is an elevator that takes you 180 feet down to the base of the American and Bridal Veil Falls and lets you walk on a wooden walkway thru part of the falls themselves. They give you plastic ponchos and sandals to wear, but they don’t really keep you dry.
You will get wet!
Cave of the Winds 1s
Cave of the Winds 2s
Cave of the Winds 3s
Cave of the Winds 4s
Here’s Jan standing where part of the falls comes over the walkway. Jan said she looks like a banana. I think she looks cute.
Cave of the Winds 5s
This is the Hurricane Deck where you’re actually standing in the Falls. I went up there while stayed kind of dry on a lower level. It’s impossible to get pics up there. My camera’s not that waterproof.
Hurricane Deck 1s
Here’s what the walkway looks like from the Maid of the Mist.
Cave of the Winds 6s
One amazing thing about this is that workers disassemble the walkway every fall and rebuild it every spring, otherwise the winter ice would destroy it.
Here’s what the area looks like in February.
Niagara Ice 1s
After drying out we rode the trolley over to the Maid of Mist dock. These boat tours have been running since 1846, almost 40 years before the place was even a state park.
The boats take you right into the whirlpool at the bottom of Horseshoe Falls, fighting the current all the way. It’s like being in the middle of a hurricane.
Niagara Falls 10s
Maid of the Mist 1s
Maid of the Mist 2s
Maid of the Mist 3s
Maid of the Mist 4s
Maid of the Mist 5s
One thing I found interesting on the boat trip was the remains of Nikola Tesla’s Niagara Falls power plant, built in 1896.
Tesla Power Plant 1s
This plant was the first to harness water flow to generate electricity, and demonstrated the superiority of Tesla’s AC electrical system over Edison’s DC system. Many people don’t realize we owe our entire electrical to Tesla. But back in the late 1800’s, there was a big legal war going on between Tesla and Edison over whose system was better.
By the early 1900’s Niagara Falls was lighting New York City.
Leaving the Maid we walked out on the observation tower
Niagara Tower 2s
to a fantastic view of the entire Falls area.
Niagara Tower 1s
A fitting end to our great day at Niagara Falls.
Walking back to the toad, we saw something I’d never seen before.
Black squirrels.
Black Squirrel 1
Black Squirrel 2
And they were very aggressive. When I turned and walked away, and then looked back, they were following me, stalking me.
Leaving the Falls area, we drove down to near Buffalo to eat dinner at one of our favorite BBQ restaurants, Famous Dave’s. We always have great leftovers.
Then it was home for the night.
Tomorrow is an errand day.
More tomorrow…
