Niagara Falls, ON & NY. 0 miles.
By Judd Curran
Today's agenda -- exploring Niagara Falls. We woke up earlier, had a wonderful breakfast served by our BnB hosts, and were on-foot headed to the falls before 9 am.
First up -- to descend into the Niagara gorge for a short river cruise to the base of the falls. On the American side, the "Maid of the Mist" boat can tow tourists donned in free, blue plastic ponchos (bags with a hood) upstream to feel the force and hear the sound, the vertical wall of water slamming against the rocks at the base of the gorge with such great force that a corresponding horizontal blast of water and air at hurricane strength hoses down tourists on the cruise.
We weren't about to sign up for that. Instead, on the Canadian side, Hornblower has a cruise that virtually does the same thing, but was easier to access from our location and was a little cheaper with the favorable USD to CAD currency conversion. The one big difference was that we were wearing Canadian red ponchos instead.
We descended to the bottom of the gorge in a bank of elevators, one of four that swooshed fresh passengers down at the same time soggy tourists came up. The whole operation was incredibly orchestrated to take advantage of every movement without a moment of wasted time.
We were herded into a line that fed the hungry elevators. As the door opened for us to enter, dripping-wet tourists inside exited through the back doors of the elevator. We had already been segregated into groups that were just the right size to fill up the elevator completely. As soon as the door closed behind us, we dropped swiftly into the depths of the ravine. A moment later, both sets of doors opened up, a line of post-cruise passengers stepped in behind us in the same motion as we stepped out, like a short gust of wind blowing through an open corridor, only interrupted by the doors closing at just the right moment.
We were both excited about the idea of seeing and experiencing the falls from below, and up close.
We continued to march in-line back and forth down the ramp toward the boat. Two boats were running. As a boat was returning, a freshly-loaded boat was departing, again not wasting a moment of opportunity to cash-in on the throngs of tourists desperate for a natural shower.
Our momentum stopped just short of loading onto the boat in front of us, the boat now calculated to be at capacity with the remaining customers in front of us waiting to board. That turned out to be a great thing, as another boat was approaching, and we would be among the first to board and get our choice of positions on deck.
We moved straight to the front of the boat on the top deck, with an open 360 degree panorama.
The perspective of being on the river, floating on water that just seconds before survived a violent free-fall, was mesmerizing.
We waited about ten minutes for the boat to be packed full of red-bagged people before feeling a few light jolts that indicated we were being released from the dock. Immediately, we could feel the river carrying us downstream, towards Lake Ontario.
That was, until the motors revved up to counter the current. The view downstream was magnificent, with a span of steel arching over the gorge, joining two nations together.
Watching Victoria soak up the grandeur of the falls flooded me with joy. She arrived here by the work of her own motions, just as the water also arrived here by its own motions, the water we had been following was now putting on a grand celebration in her honor.
The captain of the boat veered over toward the right bank to first get up close to the American falls. All the while, the showers of horizontal water droplets collecting on the lenses of our sunglasses made it difficult to see for brief moments.
The captain then applied the throttle as we pulled away from the American Falls and headed upstream, directing our focus to the grand Horseshoe Falls.
Named for their "U" shape, Horseshoe Falls surrounded us as the captain held the boat steady with forward propulsion of the engines to counteract the strong current. A constant horizontal blast of rain, drops too large and consistent to be considered mist, drenched the entire boat and it's occupants.
A slight change of wind direction gave us a brief reprieve, allowing for a few photos with the Canadian side of the falls in the background.
On this very hot and humid day, our boat cruise was the perfect way to cool off. We took the elevators out of the gorge and changed out of our wet sandals and back into dry shoes.
Wanting to get a zoomed-out perspective of the falls, the river that feeds them, and the continued journey of the Niagara River downstream, we walked on foot to the "Skylon Tower", a 775 foot elevator journey to an observation deck with a spectacular view of the region.
On the way, we walked through English-style gardens exploding with color in the Niagara park corridor along the falls.
Steps led us up through a short section of forest to the observation tower. The shade of the forest was a welcomed reprieve from the hot sun.
Atop the Skylon tower, we traced the path of our entry into the region, following the water's edge from Lake Erie along the Niagara River to the Falls.
The boat we had just cruised on appeared at the base of the falls as an artifact, like a dirty spot on the camera lens, so out-of-place that it seemed as though it was photo-edited into the scene.
The zoomed-out view provided an additional context to what we were witnessing, one that was orders of magnitude greater.
Who knew that watching water flow all morning would work up such an appetite. Off we went to a highly-rated and reasonable Greek restaurant. We decided to walk the short 7/10ths of a mile to the restaurant, away from the casino and IMAX core of the tourist zone, and into what felt like the behind-the-glitter local area. It became quickly evident that walking was a mistake. The heat and humidity combined with a lack of shade along our path made it very uncomfortable.
We decided to duck out of the sun and steal some air conditioning for a few minutes along the way at the "Portage Bakery". Among other things, the sign read, "Italian Bread, Assorted Rolls, Pastries, ...". This could be good, I thought to myself.
We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. First, the blast of cold air as Victoria swung the door opened was enough to satisfy us. But, then, the smells of fresh-baked goodies overwhelmed us. Two long rows of glass cases held great treasures, caloric wonders, fanciful delights.
I couldn't believe my eyes. We walked into a gold mine of sweet delectable. There was an entire case of fresh biscotti.
Two cases of cookies, some dipped, some sprinkled.
Some were stuffed, and filled, and dusted, and glazed, and sugared.
Some had eyes, peering down at any children that might walk in.
Two small boxes and $18 CAD later, we walked out grinning with springs in our steps.
Fortunately, the Greek restaurant was on the next block. The food was fantastic, and the somewhat dark and cool dining area, with cozy booths surrounded by brick and wood, were a welcomed hideaway from the heat.
We summoned an Uber driver to take us back to the falls after lunch. This time, we planned to head across the bridge on foot to the U.S. side to get the American perspective.
Inserting the 50 cent bridge toll per person into the turnstile, we walked quickly to minimize exposure to the sun, stopping only briefly at the center of the bridge for a few quick pictures on the International boundary.
In the photo below, I couldn't make up my mind whether Victoria looked more Canadian or U.S. American.
It soon became clear however, when she said, "Let's get out of the sun, eh?"
The walkway along American Falls pushes the limits, snaking right up against the flow of water, providing an up-close look of the 90 degree turn in river orientation as the water wraps itself over the edge of the escarpment before transforming into a fuzzy blur.
The occasional breeze pushed a little mist in our direction.
We made our way across the section of river feeding the American Falls, and headed to the edge of Horseshoe Falls. After standing in the path of the mist for 10 minutes, we felt our expedition to experience Niagara Falls was complete. The afternoon sun and heat eventually became more than just uncomfortable. We decided to retreat to the Canadian side and call it a day. Passing through Canadian immigration was a breeze, and the doors into Canada open up facing the Hershey store across the street. Victoria had some fun pulling the slot-machine-style handle to dispense a few familiar treats.
The fun we had together exploring the falls was significant. It represented the culmination of our journey by bicycle along a thin thread of exposure across the landscape of Michigan and Ontario, connecting the waters of lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. The dangling carrot always in front of us, encouraging us to pedal on, was knowing that we would witness the grand performance of this water we had been following at Niagara Falls.
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