Saturday, March 17, 2007
photo slideshow
Last December Ann and I decided that, instead of exchanging gifts this past Christmas, we would go somewhere for a long weekend later on instead. In the end we decided on this weekend, mostly because I have the next 2 ½ weeks off for spring break, and chose Niagara Falls as our destination because it’s relatively close and we haven’t been there in almost seven years. I had high hopes for the trip when we last Wednesday was sunny with temperatures in the low 60’s… so naturally on Friday the temperature dropped into the 20’s and the 2nd biggest storm of the winter hit the Albany area.
After digging the front walk and the car out first thing Saturday morning, I had an uneventful drive out to Rochester. Not long after I got there, we loaded everything into Ann’s truck and headed for Niagara Falls. After another uneventful drive and a quick and easy pass through Customs, we found our hotel and very spacious suite (seriously – this was one of the largest hotel rooms I’ve ever stayed in!) and then headed down the hill to the falls.
We came out right across from the American Falls, which were particularly impressive because of the amount of ice and snow that had built up in between the streams of water going over. Someday we’ll have to go to the state park on the U.S. side and see the falls from that vantage point. From there we walked along the river gorge to the Canadian, or Horseshoe, Falls.
Very scenic indeed, with the advantage that you can actually get closer to the top of the falls. The sheer volume of water that goes over is incredible, and the non-stop spray and mist has coated everything nearby (trees, buildings, railings) with a thick layer of ice. Actually, that spray was a mixed blessing. On the one hand it caused a series of incredible rainbows, but on the other it obscures the center of the falls.
At that point the sun was getting lower in the sky, and with the wind blowing down the gorge it was getting pretty darn cold. So we hiked back up the hill, found a very expensive Applebees to eat dinner, and made the cold, windy walk back to the room, where we thawed out in the jacuzzi.
JMH
