Forced Family Fun - Niagara Falls Edition

Last year I entitled the blog posts for our abbreviated family vacation "Forced Family Fun", because that's what it felt like.  The boys didn't want to do any of the touristy stuff we did while in the North Country, but we did it anyway because it's important to get out into the world, see new things, and learn some history.  And, if it's that bad, it's not a bad side effect to learn some patience and endurance in the process.  We have all had family vacations with boring or exhausting patches, and yet we survived and it probably made us more tolerant people in the long run.  I think specifically of my family's trip to Washington DC when I was nearly 10.  As a whole I liked the trip and definitely appreciate now all that we did.  But I recall a few moments where the drive lasted forever, it was hotter than heck, and certain historical things ended up a little more boring than I would have liked.  We crammed a ton into that trip, though, and I'm sure I had moments where I just wanted to be back at the amazing indoor-outdoor pool at our hotel.  I may have whined here and there, to no avail, but I appreciate my parents slogging us through so we had a chance to see so much--and now those memories have had to last me over 30 years since I've never been back.  But every time a Washington attraction pops up in news or culture, at least I've been able to say I was there.  

Pretty much the only family vacation that the kids might fully consent to under normal circumstances is a trip to Disney.  Obviously that's not happening right now for a ton of reasons, so if we want any sort of adventure this summer, it has to stay rather local.  I know it's not exciting, but I've pretty much hit my limit of everyone sitting around playing Fortnite, and even the pool only holds so much enjoyment right now.  So, with my last day of two straight weeks of furlough, we headed off to Niagara Falls.  I figured it might be a good spot since most tourists can't come visit right now, either due to the border being closed or travel bans and quarantines minimizing much travel into the state.  But I guess you never know, especially when locals are bored out of their minds and outdoor activities are preferred right now.  Of course, it ended up being a brutally hot day, well into the 90s, which was both good and bad--good for part of our day, and not so good for the rest.  Originally, my plan was to do an easy hike down to the whirlpool in the Niagara Gorge (which we've never done) and then go back to the main tourist area to walk across Goat Island to Terrapin Point, which overlooks the Canadian Falls from the American side.  I think Craig and I may have made it over there once many years ago, but it was the middle of winter and much of that area is blocked off due to ice from the Falls' mist.  The last time I was there in good weather may have been in college.  But with the weather looking like it was, I decided maybe we'd benefit most from doing the Maid of the Mist, the famous boat ride up to the Falls.  That I hadn't done since I was maybe Carter's age.  I did it once with my family and once with my friend's family, but never since.  I figured it would be a nice counter to the 90 degree temps, at the very least.  

In our usual fashion, we got a bit of a late start.  Craig had some work to do and Jacob took forever getting ready, so we didn't get on the road until well after 11am.  Then we had to stop at the mall (first day open!) to pick up water resistant footwear for all the males.  Jacob had outgrown his last pair of slides, Craig's flip flops broke a couple years back, and Carter didn't have any sandals either.  And no one really wanted wet feet from the boat ride.  So we stopped at Old Navy and got sandals for all three, then got gas, and finally got on the road.  We had to grab lunch on the way, and in the middle of that (three of us got Mighty Taco and Craig was picking up Tim Horton's while Carter made a potty stop), I realized that we just weren't going to have time (or the energy) to do the whirlpool hike.  Since we were planning on eating our food at the park, we then needed to find a place to eat our drive-thru food outside.  It was a little convoluted to change plans at that moment, but it worked out okay.  We just went back across the street to Mighty Taco, where there were outside tables.  

Our first stop was the Maid of the Mist.  We put on the new footwear and discovered pretty quickly that Carter could barely walk in flip flops.  Ugh.  But we somehow made it from the parking lot to the entry intact.  We had to wear masks for the entire experience, which definitely didn't feel great in 90+ degree weather.  However, we got in with no wait and took an elevator down to the docks.

When I did this as a kid, you had to wear heavy, smelly raincoats.  Nowadays they use disposable ponchos.  We opted to keep our ponchos off until we were on the boat, for obvious reasons.  Unfortunately, a boat pulled out just as we got down to the waiting area, which meant we had a full half hour wait in the hot sun.  It was definitely hot and sweaty, but at least there was plenty to see.  

One of my memories of riding the Maid of the Mist as a kid was that the ride down to the docks was my favorite part.  That's because on the Canadian side (which no longer has the Maid of the Mist but does have a different boat operator), they use an incline railway to take you down to the gorge.  I though that was super cool as a kid, and you could see it very well from our vantage point.

Here's a look at the elevator we had to take down on the U.S. side.  That tower used to look very different but was renovated a number of years ago.  It's an admission-only observation deck, as well.

Hard to tell here, but it's covered in green glass.

For reference, this is how it looked when I was in college.  

It's on the left, almost matched up with half the bridge.

We looked longingly at Canada, pointing out the hotel we stayed at a year and a half ago and the waterpark we visited while we were there.  I definitely miss Clifton Hill this time of year, since it was a family tradition to go over there on a hot afternoon once a summer when I was a kid.  I laughed later in the day when the kids were complaining about the heat and the walk, because my family would not just walk around Niagara Falls, but we'd walk to Canada and back!  We'd park on the U.S. side, walk over the Rainbow Bridge, go through customs, and then do a hot walk up and down Clifton Hill, if not all the way down to the Horseshoe Falls, as well.  We might get an ice cream or something but would rarely get to stop in any sort of air conditioned tourist trap or shop.  We did usually get a little time in the mall (now a casino) that was adjacent to Maple Leaf Village, the now-defunct amusement park, but once we hit Clifton Hill or the walk to the Falls, that was little help.  So, I guess that's why I had little sympathy for my kids on a day like this!

It was finally our time to get on the boat, and so we dutifully put on our ponchos and readied for the ride, masks and all!

Once the boat started moving, the breeze and mist were refreshing.  Craig took this picture of Carter as it started to get really windy on the boat, the closer we got to the Falls.

First we passed by the American Falls.  It was quite a view from down below after years of seeing them from the top of the gorge.  

I loved getting a closer view of Cave of the Winds, the other tourist attraction we could have done.  I did it in college and it was pretty amazing.  The hurricane deck (I think the one you're seeing at the top) is quite an experience.  The water and wind created by the rushing Bridal Veil Falls is overwhelming but exhilarating.  I saw it on TV once and the camera man couldn't keep the lens clear of water for even a second!  A friend of the family was there with her kids that same day, and her son lost a Croc to the Falls!  Haha!

Looking up--we'll be back up there soon enough!

When we approached the Horseshoe Falls (the "Canadian" Falls), the wind and mist really picked up.  I heard Carter making noise behind me, and despite his mask I could tell he was giggling uncontrollably from being pelted in the face with the water!  He was loving it!  

There it is...

Getting closer...

So huge!  Too bad the mist obscures a lot!

The five minutes or so right at the base is a very wet, full sensory experience.  The power of the Falls is amazing, and the constant (refreshing) onslaught of mist left everything damp.  Luckily I was purposely using Craig's old phone, which is water resistant, because it and my hands and face were all really wet with no easy way to dry anything.  I had to hold on tight just so I didn't drop the phone.  But it was such a cool experience, so much better than I remember as a kid--although I didn't like getting wet or splashed back then, so I was probably a little preoccupied with that instead of enjoying the Falls!

Once we pulled back out and got some distance, I could focus on the section of the Falls on the Canadian side, which mostly drops straight down without too many rocks at the bottom, unlike some other areas.   

This is looking back up the gorge toward where we started.  It's amazing how calm the water is here despite the ride it just took.

Back at the American Falls, I marveled at the build-up of rocks.  Erosion causes the rocks to fall over time, though it's hard to say if it really gets worse.  I found a picture from about 1979, and it looks about the same.

Now...

...and 1979!  Note the old school Maid of the Mist boat in the bottom left, with no top deck!

We've had a little special place in our hearts for the Maid of the Mist since Jim and Pam got married on it on The Office, which I couldn't help but think about as I looked toward the front of the boat and remembered them knocking on the window to summon the captain to marry them.

We looked up at the Rainbow Bridge, the one I used to walk across, and marveled at its emptiness.  Usually it's crammed full of traffic and a number of pedestrians this time of year, and now, nothing.

We'll never see it like that again--at least, I hope not.  Cool to see it from below, though.

The last time I had a view of the bridge like this was more than two years ago when Carter and I went with my dad to see another spot in the gorge where the power plant used to be.  That was a cool little adventure, too.  

Our only other wait for the day was to get on the elevator to get back up.  Due to social distancing, I think they were cramming far fewer than usual onto each elevator, so we probably had a 10-15 minute wait.  At least it was pretty...

This is the view from the top of the elevator, near the observation deck.

We walked back to the van, with Carter barely making it in his flip flops, and took a little break in the air conditioning while we changed shoes and drank some water.  Then it was back off to explore.

This was a Civil War memorial monument in Niagara Falls State Park.  It definitely had added meaning with all of the monument destruction we've been seeing lately.  It told when and where soldiers from the area died, which was sort of different but very interesting. 

We walked across the bridge toward Goat Island, which gives quite a view of the rapids as they come from the main part of the Niagara River and split off around the island to the American Falls.  They really get rockin' and rollin' there.

Pardon the fence.  There's a whole apparatus on the bridge to support it prior to repairs, and it's very hard to shoot around!

I find it really cool to see the water transition to slightly more settled just as it approaches the falls.  This little area looks deceivingly calm.

This area is heading toward the Bridal Veil Falls and felt oddly non-indicative that one of the biggest waterfalls in the world was just up the way.

I saved the boys some walking and didn't force them over to the observation area between the main American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls (as seen from the boat previously), but the view near the brink of the Bridal Veil Falls was cool nonetheless.

Seriously, how peaceful does this look just upstream?  You'd never know you could turn the other way from the view above and see this.

In order to bribe the kids to keep walking, we had to hydrate with lemonade.  They liked it so much I bought lemons today to try to recreate it at home!

We walked over Goat Island to Terrapin Point, on the brink of the Horseshoe Falls.  In a sign of the times, notice the garbage bagged binocular viewers that can't be used due to lack of sterilization.

In the winter, pretty much from this point forward tends to be all snow and ice from the mist.  By this time, after a very sweaty walk, getting back to the mist was welcomed.

There was this funny spot near the edge, where the water is blocked from flowing over, but sometimes spills a bit.  It's just a rock platform.  There are lots of coins here, and Jacob wondered if anyone ever jumped down there and hung out.  I wouldn't doubt it...it's quite the view!

This shot isn't that much different from the next one, but I included it to show how far around the Falls wrap.  They go in a big horseshoe all the way around to the area below the first visible hotel.  They are huge!

I laughed in looking through my parents' pictures, because that weird looking tower on the right stood alone in this area back in the 70s.  I have no idea why it took so long for high-rise hotels to go up in that area (maybe into the 90s?), because those views are awesome.  Still none in this area on the American side, though there is a restaurant.  I'm guessing it's because it's still park of the state park and would disturb things too much.

Here's a wider view showing that rock platform in relation to the brink.  You can also see more of the curve of the Falls heading closer to Canada.  

I've seen this stuff dozens of times in my life and it never really gets old.

Here is the other direction, looking back toward the bridge.  It's so scenic no matter where you look.

Craig remembered while we were there that there had been a news story months back that a fierce windstorm that came through the area dislodged an old barge that got stuck in the rapids more than 100 years ago.  I never knew it was there until that story broke.  It moved about 55 yards that night but got stuck again.  We looked out into the river and with the help of my camera's zoom (God bless that "old" technology), I think we found it!  I'm not sure exactly what angle this is, but it definitely looks like an old rusty barge to me!

On the walk back, we wandered past this statue.  Turns out it is of Nikola Tesla, whose technological discoveries enabled hydroelectric power to become so important to this area.

It was a long, hot walk, and I can't say the boys were great about it, but we got through it.  I hope they took in bits and pieces of the day and one day look back on them fondly when the sweat and sore feet wear off.  Carter did give the Maid of the Mist an 8 out of 10, so that's something, since not much impresses him these days.  Jacob gave it a 5, but he's not much of an adventurer and he worries too much about his hair--so much so that he almost brought gel with him!  It felt pretty good to get back in the van and blast the A/C, I will admit, but it felt even better to get out in the world and experience something much different from our norm.  I needed it, for sure.

On the way out of town, we drove by one more landmark from the wedding episode of "The Office", the exterior they used for the hotel everyone stayed in.  Interiors were done in California, sadly, but it was fun to see this place in person!

We finished off the day with a short but pleasant stop at my parents' as a crazy storm blew through, and then finished up with an outside patio dinner at Anderson's, a Buffalo favorite that offers gluten-free buns to complement their famous roast beef and custard (separately, of course!).  Ice cream for the ride home was a much-enjoyed treat!

Oh, and I will say that it was an interesting exercise in what felt okay in this new world of social distancing.  There were stickers for waiting in the boat line and we had to wear masks anyway, so that felt okay despite the number of people.  The boat wasn't crowded but it was still hard to distance during the good parts, though I trusted that our masks and the fresh air would be enough.  Out in the scenic areas we usually didn't wear masks because we could distance effectively.  However, if I get COVID from this, it's probably from walking up to an area of railing where someone else just stepped away, but I did tend to keep an eye out for who was wearing masks and felt better moving to those areas unmasked once they were done.  Maybe if it wasn't over 90 I would have worn the mask more, but it was so hot and it really wasn't that crowded, so it felt okay to me.  Between this experience and the zoo, it's clear to me I'm not going to be doing any amusement parks or other all-day-masked activities in the heat of summer while this virus is still an issue.  It's still weird that this is our new reality, but if that's what it takes to get us out in the world, I'm fine with it. 

Unfortunately, I only have a week of furlough left (not this week, but the next) and vacation time will probably be really limited after that, so we may not have many more fun adventures like this before summer ends.  I'm sure going to try to think some up, or at least plan a couple weekend things that we can do, maybe even into the fall a bit.  I need this stuff right now--some adventure, some beauty, some non-argumentative-sibling time--so it's definitely still going to be a goal of mine as we make our way through this weird summer and into a very concerning and unknown fall.