I have wanted to share my recent adventure to Niagra Falls. Honestly, for a while now. However, with everything going on in the world, I took a moment and hit the imaginary pause button. Tapped the brakes, if you will.
Well, not just here, but on all social platforms.
Let’s call it a time out. A sanity break. A mental health deep breath.
After reflecting I have come to an easy conclusion. Knowing that sharing fun stories and moving landscape photos can bring a welcome distraction, I decided to start writing again.
I am returning to the travel journal to maintain sanity. Go figure.
Let’s take a step back to last month. It was early October and my wife Debbie was bound for Cleveland, Ohio and a work conference. While she was busy meeting with industry leaders and decision makers, I had other plans.
I had reached out to kid number two, my daughter, and suggested we meet for a father-daughter trip of our own, much like my September adventure to Chicago and Wrigley Field with my son.
However, this trip was not centered around a sports experience. My daughter decided we should meet in Buffalo, NY and experience Niagra Falls. Her choice was perfect. The destination had been on my bucket list for years.
This was a terrific opportunity for an adult father-daughter trip to experience something amazing together.
When the day came, I flew from New York’s Laugardia Airport. She landed in Buffalo’s International Airport about 20 minutes after I did. We met at her gate and our adventure began.
We walked to the car rental desk and picked out an SUV. From the airport we drove northwest for about a half hour, using Apple maps as our unofficial guide. It was an easy 25 mile drive. We chatted away, each taking turns catching the other up on the latest news.
Niagra Falls was the focus for the five-day trip. In planning for this, a few of my daughter’s friends told her it was nice please, but not really worth more than a day to visit. We had other plans.
The Falls sit on the boarder between New York and Ottawa, Canada. We would first spend some time on the American side and the remainder on the Canadian side.
There are three waterfalls within the area that is considered Niagra Falls. American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls rest on the American side of the divide and Horseshoe Falls is on the Canadian side.
After arriving, we made our way to the Niagra Falls Tourism Authority and welcome center where we received great information, maps and resources for our visit.
![Niagara Falls, Tourism, Welcome Center](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6174e5c5-ebb2-4ad2-a370-7f93c4acfbab_1575x1289.jpeg)
![Niagara Falls, Tourism, Welcome Center](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0bcd284e-ea72-451d-a317-31e88a03a9fb_2016x1512.jpeg)
I was advised by my father during the planning phase to make time for the boat ride. Beyond getting wet, the boat takes you about as physically close to the falls as you can get. For you planners out there, there are boat ride attractions on both sides of the falls. You can sign up on the American or the Canadian side. On the American side the attraction is called Maid of the Mist.
You can also differentiate which boat belongs to which country by the color of the ponchos provided to protect tourists from the falling water and mist.
We passed on this experience and chose another — suggested by my good friend Lois. Word of mouth works. We chose Cave of the Winds.
This attraction is located on the American side. My suggestion — Pass on a guided tour. I do not think you’ll need it. The ticket to the attraction included a short video which provided an excellent history of Niagra Falls. Fro there we were on our own to experience a walk along the water and had a close up experience with a section of the Falls.
While there were many people battling for photos, we patiently waited until I could capture shots like this below.
and this one as well.
The photograph above captured the power, beauty and magic of this portion of the Falls. I also wanted to share this brief video from the same area so you can see how powerful the water really is.
The photographs below is father and daughter enjoying the falls experience.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4dc60122-719e-4ce1-80d8-71f5b2079221_1544x1158.jpeg)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc1e1f47a-f8ce-4587-a56c-09556128ad2e_2016x1512.jpeg)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7ce471ec-2c50-4f3b-be0a-91f173870a01_2016x1512.jpeg)
The best vantage point from the American side, in my humble opinion, is from Goat Island. At night.
Once the suns sets, the Falls light up in colors and make for some amazing photographs. Here are two samples.
And a rainbow version.
Finally, I will share one more, captured on the Canadian side. It is a long exposure photograph.
I will have more to say in another post, but this was an experience neither one of us shall soon forget.
In case you missed recent past posts, here are links:
Raise your hand if you’ve been to Gaza: I have