Niagara Falls, New York: It’s been a bucket list destination all my life and I’d never made it there (until last week, that is). Susie and I flew back east, picked up my sister Eileen, and headed west again. Niagara Falls is the largest waterfall in the United States, with more than 6 million cubic feet of water going over the edge every minute. But I’ll get to Niagara Falls in a minute. First, I’d like to tell you about the B&B in nearby Buffalo. The InnBuffalo is where we stayed and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
Originally built in 1898 by Herbert Hewitt (a wealthy industrialist), the InnBuffalo is impressive. Good buddy Joe Lettieri and his wife Ellen bought the place a few years ago and converted it to a B&B. Joe and Ellen kept things as original as possible, with awesome original interior decor and a comfort level that is off the charts. Take a look at these photos:
Niagara Falls is a short 17 miles from the InnBuffalo. As we approached the area, my sister pointed out the rising mist in the distance. She correctly identified it as coming from the Falls, but I thought it was just steam escaping from a factory. Nope, my sister had it right. The mist is visible for quite a distance. It was a hint of what was ahead.
You can view the Falls from either the New York or the Canadian side. Folks say the view is more spectacular from Canada, but with the Covid restrictions in place we didn’t want to screw around with medical tests and crossing an international border. Our visit was on the US side and it was great.
We took the Maid of the Mist boat tour to the bottom of the falls, and with 6 million gallons per minute cascading down (the highest flow rate of any falls in North America), we experienced the obligatory soaking. Even the tour boats are interesting…they are electric and fully recharge in 7 minutes between each tour. If you make it up here, the boat tour is something you ought to do.
The Niagara Falls State Park area is interesting, too. There’s no admission fee, although there is a fee for the boat tour to the bottom of the Falls. Within the Park, you can get very close to the Niagara River water rushing by (you can see how close in the big photo at the top of this blog). That part was a little unnerving, you know, seeing all that energy rushing by. You wouldn’t want to fall in…it’s not likely you could get out before going over.
Di Camilla’s Bakery is a good spot to stop for lunch (my sister knew about it and she was right…it’s wonderful). Di Camilla’s is located in the town of Niagara Falls just a couple of minutes from the Falls. Try the broccoli pizza (it was exquisite).
Even though we visited in mid-October, the weather was comfortably in the mid-70s. Joe Lettieri explained that temperatures are milder in the Buffalo area than they are further south, which suprised me. I wouldn’t plan a motorcycle ride through the region in the winter, but Buffalo wasn’t the icebox I anticipated.
The roads in and around upstate New York are impressive. There are several roads in the Buffalo and Niagara Falls areas worthy of exploration. On the Canadian side, there’s the Niagara Parkway (also known as River Road), which parallels the Niagara River both before and after the Falls. On the US side, there’s the West River Parkway. And then there’s upstate New York and its plentiful two lane roads. You could take the interstates into Buffalo and then Niagara Falls, but you’d be missing the best parts of New York and the northeastern United States. Folks think of New York as New York City and its massive traffic. Get out of the city, though, and New York is amazingly bucolic, rustic, and all the other favorable adjectives that apply to this area. The great challenge is arriving late enough in the year to take in the changing autumn leaves and their reds, oranges, yellows, and browns, but not so late that you run into winter snow and ice.
One more thing…while you’re in Buffalo, don’t make fun of the Buffalo Bills. I told an old joke about how the Bills got their name (“Boy I like to lose”) and I somehow managed to escape with all my teeth. But it was close. These folks take their football seriously.
More reviews on interesting parks? They are right here!
