The grounds at the Falls are beautiful, lush and green. We queued up to get Maid of the Mist tickets, down the lift, donned the blue plastic ponchos and on to the boat. They play a recording as you go with such facts as the first person to go over the Falls in a barrel was Annie Edson Taylor who said she was 43 but she was actually 63. You have to ask why - not that she was 63 but why do it in the first place. And whether she did it complete with hat and gloves as the photos would suggest!
Went past the American Falls which were mighty impressive...
Then onto the Horseshoe Falls, which were amazing. As you get to the best part, the recording pauses and says ... "THIS is Niagara Falls!" And it is pretty spectacular.
I went straight to the Cave of the Winds next - there is no cave and it's not overly windy but anyway... Put on their sandals, down another lift, don another parka - this one is yellow, and along the side of the American Falls - right up to it, you can touch the water. And when the water sprays out, it more than touches you! The top section is called Hurricane Deck where you can almost stand and shower in it. I did not do this.
Got saturated and had forgotten to tie up the bag they give you to put your shoes in so they were wet too. Had to carry them around for a while til they dried off - damn shame, that. Back to the top and wandered to the various viewing spots. Amazing place.
Off to the Finger Lakes. Passed a bevy of school buses - not sure why I like them so much...
We went to the middle Finger - Cayuga. Stopped first at a quaint winery where you could taste local wines and/or fudge. The lake was huge and lovely, in a state park. We hiked up to a waterfall, obviously small compared to Niagara but beautiful just the same and the walk was lovely.
Kristina (German tennis playing tourist) had been in New York for a week and said it was so nice to get to nature. Daniel and Elana are still a bit shell shocked by the fact we could drive for eight hours in a day and not have got very far on a map! "We'd be off the end of the country back home..."
Left the park, with its helpful signs...
On to Ithaca and the Trip Hotel. - lot of thought went into that name. Drove into town for a Thai meal. The town was gorgeous, fabulous homes. Passed some frat houses - I didn't know they were old mansions. One had the pi kappa alpha symbol on the door. I'd be happy to go back to Ithaca to explore more.
Back to the hotel.
Saw deer today - two groups, just out doing their thing. Second group had a foal!
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