Niagara Falls

The seeds to this trip were sown sometime during the last trip to Kentucky. Over some dinner, we casually talked about visiting the Niagara falls before winter hits off in State College.

And there we were, one cold morning, on our way to the Niagara falls, exploiting the long Labour day weekend. We boarded the early Fullington bus and got down at Buffalo. From there, we booked an Uber to reach our hotel in Niagara Falls Boulevard.

It was around noon on a Saturday when we checked in to the hotel. The hotel provided us with bus passes valid for a day that would allow us access to the Shuttle service to the Niagara falls. One of my friends had already booked online tickets for around five events and our strategy was to complete them in around two day's time.

The main tourist destination was typical – busy. There was sun, simmer and long stalls of food, clothes and drinks. We visited the Information Centre to help us optimize the plan for that day and the one after that. Thereafter, we decided to complete the “Cave of the winds” that day and started walking towards the Trolley point that would take us to our destination. During this walk, we could get a sense of the Falls nearby. There was an ascent in the chill in air, the lyrical flow of water and an air of excitement. The rails bounding the Niagara falls were lined with people and in a situation like this, I have long ago learnt how to give up peeping through the gaps. So I just walked along till I could get a vacant spot from where I could have a glimpse of the water. I was around half a mile ahead of where the Falls actually begin and so the river was more tamed. I stood there for sometime just gazing into the water and gradually the magnificence started to sink in. The first few minutes of my encounter in this quieter terrain is difficult to justify in words. The hustle-bustle in the background grew distant and all I remember is one particular rock where the water was swirling in the same fashion repetitively. This was hypnotic and I simply could not gaze away from that. Amidst so much of opulence, I felt quieter and without any reason sadder, hypophrenia. Despite that, I was magnetically attracted to this motion. I do not know how long this stupor lasted (I am guessing not very long) and I am not aware of how this spell ended but in no time, I was walking closer towards the Falls. 

The drop is thunderous to begin with. The untrammeled motion is in sharp contrast to the quietness a few inches back as though it has suddenly decided to let go and how! 

After a few photo shoots, we continued to the Trolley point (which resembled a mini version of Toy train) that took us to the "Cave of the winds". None of us had any idea what the Cave was about but seeing people coming out all wet, we had our guesses. We were given yellow ponchos and slippers. We descended a lift and walked downhill to our destination and lo and behold! we were just at the end of the Falls gazing up above at the mighty Falls. For safety, there were wooden fences and it was frenzy there. There were spots where one could just gaze at the Falls but we decided to anyway go closest to where we could and the result – a mighty shower from above draining us to our veins. I gave up any attempts to protect myself from the water as there was absolutely no point. No matter how hard one screamed there, it was drowned beneath the gusting of water and the howling of the winds. 

Cave of the winds

Ah! The nomenclature - “Cave of the winds” now made so much sense. While heading out, I still felt overpowered by the water which made me speechless (Good relief to my friends who were relieved from my blabbering at least for a short time). We grabbed some hot drinks after that and boarded the Trolley back. During dinner, a friend suggested that we visit the Seneca Casino. As we entered the Casino, it was not very different from my imagination. We decided to play in one of those machines for the sake of it. I borrowed a 5 dollar bill from one of my friends and just randomly selected a Game. This Game was to bring as many Cleopatra pictures as possible in one row an all-in-all luck game. The only input it took from you was how much higher stake do you want to take. I started with a low-risk input. We won 35 cents after which my friends joined for a few more trials. After a few minutes, we had lost some money and got down to some 2 dollars. It was then that I took the seat again. We won some cents in the first go and by that time, I was tired of this puny play and therefore decided to take the risk. I maximized the stake and then in a matter of seconds, we heard loud clanking of coins. The counter on the screen started continuously rolling and at the end of this, we had made a clear win of 20 dollars. We got a receipt for that and ecstatic as we were, decided to cash it. Imagine the look on the Cashier's face when I walked in all-smiles and claimed mere 20 dollars! He double-checked to make sure it was indeed 20 – sure? but what makes you so happy?

Maid of the mists

Next day, we had a lot to do. We first decided to venture into the “Maid of the Mists”. This time, we had an idea of what was coming up. We would be taken over to the American side of the “Horse shoe Falls” - the other is the Canadian side – in a ferry. That day too, we were given blue ponchos. The American side was blue and there was another ferry on the Canadian side – the red one. We went as close to this Falls as we could and as the ferry took a turn, one could view the entire Horse-shoe shape of the Falls engulfed in mist! 

Our next task was helicopter ride over the Niagaras. That morning owing to weather conditions, the helicopter ride had been suspended. By afternoon, it had resumed. At the Helipad, what was impressive to me was that people of all ages were readying for the ride. I especially noticed an elderly woman accompanied by a man (extremely cute and quiet – dangerous combination) probably in his late 20's. And then there was another group of white-haired men. It makes me content to see people not having their fun-spirit dampened with age.

Helicopter view

Inside the Helicopter, we were now summarizing the entire landscape from this panoramic view. I was in the front seat of the helicopter just next to the pilot and my legs were reaching this strange looking box in front of me. The Herculean task for me was not to kick any button by accident which, given the excitement, was very likely. The pilot also maneuvered the helicopter to take sudden steep drops which added to the rush we were in and finally after a 15-20 minute ride, we deboarded and moved for lunch. After lunch, we went to a theater and a site where there were some geographical goodies on display - some Discovery Centre. We ended our day with another theater (that featured fables – my type) and finally had a sense of completion about the trip. Phew!

The next day, we went to the Aquarium in the morning. While other sea animals like seals, sea lions and starfishes were regular to me, what was new to me was this long Pinocchio-like nosed turtle. Pretty cool genes I must say that made this adaptation. This visit got over quickly and in the end, as it always happens, I could not help but feel sad for all the animals in captivity (topic of another discussion). We then grabbed extensive lunch and headed on our way back to State College. In my mind, promising to watch the movie featuring Marilyn Moore and apparently shot in the Niagaras (which of course is yet to happen).