Day 15: Second chances, saying goodbye, butterflies

Day 15: Tuesday August 9th, 2016.

Niagara Falls, ON to Niagara-On-The-Lake, ON (round trip). 31.1 miles.
By Victoria Curran

Since we'd heard so many wonderful things about Niagara-on-the-Lake, and we were bound and determined to make contact with four of the five Great Lakes,  we decided to make the journey.  Equipped with a brand new contact lens for my left eye, we set out on our mini-adventure to Lake Ontario.  Along the way, we passed by the landing pad for the helicopters that fly tourists above the falls.

It boggles the mind how much this wonder of nature is plumbed (pun intended but more on that later) in so many ways for financial gain.  You can pay to be flown in a helicopter.  You can pay to walk behind Bridal Veil Falls (Wind of the Caves), to be boated to the face of the falls (Maiden of the Mist), or to be lifted in an elevator to a tower to overlook the falls (Skylon Tower).  Not to mention the hotel and casino industry that has sprung up all along the falls, so much so that we honestly felt we could have been in Las Vegas or Times Square the night we walked down to see the splendor of Niagara at night.  

But I digress...as we pedaled on, we saw two familiar figures ahead of us.  The first clue was the trailer behind the bike, the next was the little yellow flag.  Yup, sure enough, it was Erica and Chris, the couple we'd first met in Frankenmuth!  

We pulled aside into the shade to chat briefly and to exchange contact information.  It appears that Judd and I are not the only couple with, shall we say, different perspectives on cycling.  As you've likely noticed, Judd's posts tend to be devoid of any mention of challenge or mishap, mine are more, uh, balanced, between the dark and light sides of touring.  In talking about her own blogging style, Erica said, "my mom reads this blog."  Well, so does mine, as does my mother-in-law and other folks who know and worry about me.  This fact is ever-present in my mind, but for better or worse, I share the "good" and the "bad" knowing that life is full of both and its all in what you do with it that defines who you become.

After a while, it was time to move on. Chris and Erica were about to cross the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge to continue their journey to Boston.  How fortunate we felt to see them one last time to wish them safe travels before parting ways.

After we said goodbye, I thought it a pity that they crossed the bridge only miles before reaching Niagara-on-the-Lake.  Judd and I talked about this a bit and contemplated why he hadn't come here on his last trip.  Soon after, the road got quite steep and soon I was able to see that this sidetrip might not be quite so enjoyable if fully encumbered with loaded panniers.  When we rolled to the bottom of the first hill, we came upon this house.   It is the home of Laura Ingersoll Secord and her story reminds me a bit of the one we grow up hearing about Paul Revere.  During the war of 1812, after learning abou plans for an American attck on British forces, Laura walked 20 miles out of American-occupied territory to warn of the attack. 

A little further on, we came across the McFarland House.   It is one of the oldest structures in this area as it survived the burning of Newark (what this area was called at the time) when American forces that had been occupying Fort George retreated from the area in 1813.  Built in 1800, from bricks John McFarland and his sons made in a kiln on the property.  During the war of 1812, the house was used as a hospital by both American and Briitish forces.  You can now visit the McFarland House for high tea.

After our brief stop at the McFarland House, we decided to head down to Lake Ontario to make contact with the fourth of the five Great Lakes.  The access into the lake was perilous as the lakebed was full of rocks that were covered in algae making them slippery.  Fortunately, Judd was there to make my entry into the water a more stable one.

And here we are with the bikes!  At one point, we walked away from the bikes.  When we turned around, we found a woman posing with them.  Poseur!

Niagara-on-the-Lake is a very genteel community and its citizens clearly take pride in it.  Every median, parkway, and light post was filled with gorgeous flowers in a riot of colors.

The architecture was beautiful, including that of this old hotel.

And, lest you think that the town only considers the needs of it's human citizens, check out this watering bowl for dogs.  Both bowls are sterling silver, the food platter has a lid, and the tray even has flowers on it.  What dog wouldn't be impressed?

Hungry once again, Judd and I headed to the Angels' Inn at the recommendation of a merchant at a local coffee shop where we'd stopped to get cappuccinos.  We don't have pictures of food this time, but Judd returned from the men's room with this photo.

"Check this out, Victoria!  They put a soccer goal in the urinal!"  He assured me that he'd scored a lot of points.  

Ready to head back, we made our way to do a little wine tasting.  We had seen some other touring cyclists turn into Inniskillin on our way so we took that to be as good an endorsement as any.

I love the smell of grapevines in a large vineyard.

Once inside, we availed ourselves of the tasting room.  We had a nice chat with Donald, our wine server.  He taught us about ice wine, which is similar to a sauterne but not quite as syrupy.  They let the grapes sit on the vine until they freeze.  Then, they squeeze the tiniest amount of juice from these frozen grapes which is big in flavor but low in alcohol content.  It is very expensive to buy because it takes 10 times as many grape vines to make a single bottle of ice wine as it takes to make a bottle of "regular" wine.  The conversation turned to our tour, and then to Niagara Falls.  Donald bemoaned the fact that the falls have grown so quiet over the years.  What?  How could the falls have gotten quieter?  Well, the answer to that question lies further in the blog.  Hint, it is not because other things around it have gotten louder.

Saying goodbye to Donald, we hopped on our bikes once again and headed up the hill to return to our B and B in Niagara Falls.  We passed several fresh fruit stands like this one

And briefly stopped at a couple until we found one that would allow us to buy just two pieces of fruit since pedaling a big,beautiful basket like this one just isn't feasible.  Finally, we were allowed to purchase 2 big apricots for a dollar.  I was so excited since I have been on a quest for a tasty apricot since I was a kid and picked them off the tree in my backyard.  Sadly, the quest continues.  Our apricots were big and beautifully colored, but mealy and tasteless.  Sad.  

Heading further up the hill, we passed by the hydroelectric plant.  That's right, hydroelectricity.  Niagara Lake, and the falls, are being used to power parts of Canada and New York.  In the late 1800's, Nicola Tesla (yes, that Tesla) and George Westinghouse partnered together to build the first hydro-electric power plant in the world at Niagara Falls.  At the opening ceremony, within his speech, Nicola Tesla said, "It is a monument worthy of our scientific age, a true monument of enlightenment.  It signifies the subjugation of natural forces to the service of man..."  Holy moly.  So, there you have it, friends.  This is the biggest money maker Niagara Falls offers, and it is why Niagara Falls run quieter now than they once did.  Water is being diverted from the falls to power cell phones, light bulbs, computers, refrigerators, and air conditioners.  The water and power authority controls how much water goes over the falls at any given time.  Between April 1 and October 31, the water flowing over the falls is at 100,000 cubic feet per second during the day, but after dusk, it is reduced to 50,000 cubic feet per second.  Between November 1 and April 1, the water flow is 50.000 cubic feet per second 24 hours per day.  This absolutely blows my mind!!  Before I learned of this, I joked with Judd that I had been so influenced by my mechanized world that I half expected the falls to shut off at night.  Little did I know.  And, did you know they actually HAVE shut off the falls and plan to shut them off again??  https://www.wired.com/2016/01/new-York-is-going-to-turn-off-niagara-falls-here's-how/

So, now that my mind has been totally blown with this information, we make our way back toward the botanical gardens where they had a huge butterfly exhibit.  There were so many beautiful butterflies everywhere!  They really did a wonderful job here and have filled this space with lots and lots of plants for them.  

And we both got lucky!  First, this guy came and landed on my shoulder (I didn't even notice it until Judd pointed it out)

Then, about 5 minutes later, another one (?) came and landed on Judd's shoulder. The two look so similar, and the positioning so much the same, it appears that this was staged (this, I believe, is another effect of our brains being hijacked by mechanization) but these were both truly spontaneous visits.  

What a full day!  We got back to our B and B fairly late and had to find a restaurant that was open after 8pm.  It surprised me that places closed so early, but there you have it.  So, we decided on a little place called Moose and Pepper.  We were greeted by an extremely harried waitress who hurriedly led us to our table and rushed off promising water and bread.  About 10 minutes later, a waiter approached our table and took our order.  The first thing we were served was this yummy housemade focaccia with some type of oils drizzled on the plate for dipping.  

Then, we both had a delicious salad and pasta.  Over-full, with sweets awaiting us back at the B and B, we decided to forego dessert and walked home.  What a wonderful, exciting day!!