Niagara Falls

Well, it’s been a while since we’ve been on the road. Our last trip was in February 2020, right before lockdown, when we toured Charlotte, Atlanta, Naples, Savannah, and Washington D.C. Read about it here!

Our latest was short and sweet, April 5-7. Trees still bare, but we lucked out with beautiful weather, clear, high 50s, low 60s, good for walking.

Buttermilk Falls

We left our home in Westchester County about 10 a.m. and stopped at about 2 p.m. at Buttermilk Falls, Ithaca, for a picnic lunch and a walk. A beautiful mini waterfall, foreshadowing the big one to come.

In past years we’ve walked the Gorge Trail, spectacularly steep and close to the water. This time it was closed for workers, dangling from ropes, knocking off loose rocks. We walked the Rim Trail, not quite as spectacular but very pretty, with views of the gorge.

Worker dangling and knocking off rocks over Gorge Trail

Out of Ithaca we took a pretty route: Scenic Byway 89N along Cayuga Lake, west on Ernsberger Road (Rte 128) and north on 96, through farmland and vineyards, through the historic town of Waterloo, the “Birthplace of Memorial Day.” The first Memorial Day was observed there in 1865 for the Civil War dead, and in 1966, the U.S. Congress, by resolution, officially recognized Waterloo as the birthplace of the national holiday. Read all about it here. After Waterloo, we enjoyed more of scenic 96, traveling northwest to I-90, not so scenic for the rest of the way to Niagara Falls.

Okay, this is strange. Whenever I hear “Niagara Falls” the Three Stooges pop into my head. Their routine must’ve made an impression on this little girl in the fifties. If you’re curious, here’s the YouTube link.

We arrived in Niagara Falls at dusk and checked into The Red Coach Inn, a historic bed and breakfast hotel. Highly recommended! Located in Niagara Falls State Park, you can walk to everything worth seeing. The place is a hundred years old, with solid vintage furniture, very well maintained. They advertise (accurately) a “warm English country ambiance,” along with the fact that Jim and Pam of the TV series “The Office” had their honeymoon there.

Every suite has a name. Ours was the Sheffield Suite with a view of the rapids. Had dinner in their restaurant both nights of our stay. Breakfast is included in the cost of the room, a REAL breakfast, anything on the restaurant menu. Delicious.

We spent a full day walking the entire park (I did get a few blisters—well worth it). The Observation Tower, Goat Island, Terrapin Point, Three Sisters Islands. Saw ruins from the Schoellkopf Power Station disaster of 1956. We also took the trails north of Rainbow Bridge as far as the ruins of the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge, with a memorial to Harriet Tubman, noting that the Underground Railroad followed this route into Canada.

From the river basin up to the ridge, we climbed a stone stairway built by Tahawas Trails and others. Kevin built stone steps like this at Bear Mountain and other parks in our area when he worked for the New York/New Jersey Trail Conference. Here are some nice photos of Kevin in Niagara Falls.

You know what? Not nice for the economy but nice for us that tourism is so slow. No crowds, huge parking lots entirely empty, almost no one in the 50-stall restrooms. Look across the river at Canada and NO one. The Canadian side is built up with high rise hotels and amusements, all locked down. We are thankful that things are opening up here.

Our first day, Cave of the Winds was sold out (very few allowed down there due to distancing restrictions). We bought tickets and went the next morning, before leaving town. Felt like we were in Hitchcock’s The Birds, thousands of screeching seagulls. Winter ice hadn’t melted yet, and the formations were so interesting. Workers were replacing the wood steps and platforms. A worker there told us they do this EVERY year. All that water eats away at the boards.

On the way home, we took a very long, scenic drive on Rte 20 east. How could you miss out on blue lakes and sweet little towns with names like Skaneateles, Cazenovia, and Pompey (pronounced Pom-pee or Pom-pay?) Okay, the drive added a few too many hours, but we enjoyed most of it. After hitting the big city, Albany, we got on the Taconic State Parkway south the rest of the way, stopping off at exit 47B to have “dinner” (read that: ice cream) at Zoe’s Ice Cream Barn, Route 55, LaGrangeville. Moo!

Home again, back to days with Dana Hargrove on my screen. I’m about halfway through the sixth and last novel of the series. Stay tuned for further announcements!

A bird sitting with us at table in Niagara Falls