The Events of Sunday, September 26, 2010

What I expected to find at Niagara Falls was a really large waterfall. Silly me! Like so many destinations on this trip, the Niagara Falls area surprised me in its rich history. Today we continued to take advantage of our Discovery Pass by visiting the Niagara Gorge Discovery Center. There we learned that for many years the gorge itself was a huge attraction. A trolley system provided scenic transport on both the American and Canadian sides of the gorge, for a distance of about ten miles downriver. We also learned that erosion has caused the falls to recede seven miles since Europeans first discovered them in 1678! And I did not have any idea that this gorge was the site of the first hydroelectric power plant in the world (http://www.teslasociety.com/adams.htm).

After about an hour there, we packed up a picnic lunch and set out on a walking trek. We walked past Prospect Point, across a pedestrian bridge, to Green Island (named after a hermit, Mr. Green), and on to the largest island in the area, Goat Island. (A farmer took his livestock to winter on this island, hoping to protect them from predators. It was an unusually severe winter, and the lone survivor was a stubborn male goat.) We walked by a bride and groom finishing their wedding ceremony, and then we stopped at the edge of Horseshoe Falls for our lunch. Abby chose this opportunity to lose a tooth while biting into an apple. After taking some photos, we walked on to the Three Sisters Islands. This is the only place around where touching the Niagara River is not specifically prohibited. So we touched it. We also found some large rocks worn dark and smooth by the rushing water. We continued to walk around the perimeter of Goat Island and passed back over the American Rapids Bridge. We spent a few minutes on the Rainbow Bridge, dancing back and forth across the U.S.-Canada border. Finally we visited the Aquarium of Niagara, an undersized little place with its own sea lion training show. 

Now I pause for two reflections. What was it like to visit the Niagara Falls? My experience there reminded me of other sites of huge scale like the Grand Canyon and Denali. The Falls are simply awe-inspiring in size. Photos have no chance of communicating this. The IMAX-style film did a decent job, especially with its intense soundtrack heavy with powerful percussion.

My other surprise was the people visiting the Falls. We learned early on that this is considered a great place for a honeymoon. So the many newlyweds were not a surprise. Given its worldwide fame, I was also expecting visitors from all over the world. And indeed, we found people from Mexico, Europe, Russia, Asia, and the Pacific Islands. What did surprise me was the huge number of visitors from India. I would say at least half of the visitors were of Indian descent. Some might have been American citizens, but many were not. Why do the people of India travel to Niagara Falls?!

We left the falls and drove north about an hour to the perfect dinner spot. Pam wisely ignored our senile GPS (it seems to be losing its sense of direction and has a hard time staying on-task) and parked us at the Oak Orchard Lighthouse in Point Breeze, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. While Pam whipped up an excellent dinner of meatloaf and sweet potatoes, the kids and I watched the sun set from yellow to orange to pink. While eating dinner, it went red and then dark. As we were preparing to depart, I noticed a reddish light on the eastern horizon. At first doubting my sense of direction, I called the family out to see this strange sight. Then I realized we were watching a moonrise. Wow! Pam suggested I try to photograph this, and at first I refused, having had little success in moon photography. However, she persisted and I relented. See our photo album for the spectacular results. From there we drove on to Webster, NY, a suburb of Rochester. There we found the smallest WalMart I have ever seen. This is where we spent the night.