Thursday, October 7th

Our plane landed in New York just before 1:00pm. Unlike Hartsfield-Corrupt Mayor International, the Buffalo airport is an average sized complex with everything within easy walking distance. After gathering the bags, we headed over to the Hertz counter to pick up our rental car. Deciding to opt for functionality over luxury, we had reserved a Ford minivan. It had been years since Gary had driven a minivan (or anything with a Ford badge, for that matter) so there were concerns. But the van was clean and had plenty of room for 5 adults and our luggage. The only real complaint was the annoying warning bell that constantly ordered us to buckle our seat belts. Over and over and over. Somewhere, a Ford design engineer needs to be smacked.

With Gary at the wheel and Richard navigating, we made the twenty minute drive to Niagara without incident. Formerly a center of industry in the early 1900's, the town has a very unusual makeup. The tourist district consists largely of older buildings which have been converted into hotels and nightclubs to cater to the millions of tourists who visit every year. Like Myrtle Beach or Ocean City, it's really kind of tacky (with a capital T). However, the area surrounding the falls is beautifully landscaped with large green spaces and walkways. We parked the van and headed towards the thunderous noise and rising mist of the falls.

We boarded a trolley which carried us around the park, then over the river to Goat Island and Bridal Veil Falls.


Despite predicts of rain, the weather was beautiful throughout our stay and rainbows were numerous.
Richard urged Sherri to get a closer look as Linda, wise to her brothers antics, stayed a safe distance back.

Niagara Falls actually consists of three different falls. The American Falls, the Canadian (Horseshoe) Falls and the smaller Bridal Veil Falls, which are best viewed from Goat Island. In fact, the best views of all three falls are from Goat Island, which many people unfortunately bypass (we did our first time here). The small island can be easily reached via bridge and is usually far less crowded. The overlooks are mere inches from the falls (especially Horseshoe) and with a brisk wind blowing, it wasn't long before we were soaked by the rising mist.

From Goat Island, Richard and Sherri pose with the American Falls behind them.

Evening was approaching as we returned to the van and made our way across the Rainbow Bridge into Canada. In a post 9/11 world, we expected a long wait at the border crossing. To our surprise, the questioning process took all of 20 seconds. Stifling a "thanks, eh!" we collected our passports, waved to the guard and rolled into Canada. Like the American side of the falls, the Canadian side is an overly commercialized tourist wonderland. The main difference is everything's much newer, with cleaner streets and brighter lights. Every building seems to be either a hotel, restaurant, souvenir shop or casino. Think Las Vegas, on a smaller scale.

We had reserved a room at the Embassy Suites, the newest hotel on the Canadian side of the falls. It was a large, three room suite with plenty of room for 5 adults. For the most part it met our expectations, but there was one drawback; it had only one bathroom. This minor inconvenience was more than made up for by the spectacular view. Located on the 29th floor, the suite featured ceiling-to-floor windows overlooking both the American and Canadian falls. The panoramic vistas were gorgeous, but leaning against the windows you couldn't help thinking "Is this glass really as strong as it looks?"

The view from our hotel suite as the sun sets over Horseshoe Falls.

After unpacking, we discussed where to go for dinner. As you might imagine, Niagara Falls is not known for its fine dining. Fast food and theme restaurants cater to families, but five-star meals are few and far between. Luckily, Richard and Sherri did some advance scouting and secured reservations at the Skylon Tower. Located 775 feet above the ground, the restaurant revolves once an hour, giving diners a leisurely view of both the falls and the city. Shortly after we were seated, Frances demonstrated remarkable prowess with her menu, dispatching a wayward fly in one swift whack. With our beginning point marked on one window by the deceased pest, it was easy to tell when we had revolved completely around. After two revolutions, one beautiful sunset and an excellent meal, we headed back to the hotel.

   
Dinner at the Skylon Tower was quite an experience. Similar to the Sun Dial in Atlanta,
the restaurant slowly revolves, giving diners a birds-eye view from 70 stories above the Niagara region.

There were lots of other things to see between the restaurant and hotel, but it had been a long day. Richard and Sherri did take a walk through the Niagara Casino, but everyone seemed ready to call it a night. We ended the first day of our trip looking out our hotel window to the falls, which are illuminated at night. The lights that played across the water and mist changed colors every few minutes, adding to an already magnificent sight. Seeing the falls from both sides of the border had given us a better appreciation for the beauty of Niagara, but tomorrow we intended to experience the falls up close.

The Niagara Power Authority, which has several power generating facilities along the river,
uses a battery of 20 colored searchlights to illuminate the falls in spectacular fashion every night.