We left Albany, NY for Niagara Falls on Wed the 17th, driving through beautiful rolling farm country. After a 5-6 hour drive, we arrived at our hotel early enough to take a walk to the Falls. Just the sheer volume of water is incredible! The roar of the water can be heard long before you can see the Falls. We walked through misty rain over to Goat Island to Bridal Falls.
We decided to tour the American side of the Falls the next morning. The tour took us back to Goat Island to experience the Cave of the Winds. They provided us with plastic slickers and sandals, which were definitely needed (not just for the rainy weather...). The tour took us down an elevator almost to the bottom of the American Falls, where wooden walkways allowed us to walk very close to the falls. Up on one platform, the force of the wind from the falling water was incredible. The tour driver took us to explore the Three Sisters islands, which extend out into the upper Niagara rapids, and are connected to the mainland by small walking bridges. Again, the force of the water was really impressive. We then took the Maid of the Mist boat trip, which takes you up into Rainbow Falls on the Canadian side. The boats are in close enough to feel the mist as the falls curl around on 3 sides.
We toured the Canadian side in the afternoon. Except that the tour driver was so knowledgeable, we could have done without that one. The Behind the Falls "experience" was not much of one, and the view from the top of the Needle was partly obscured by the low clouds. The one bright spot was the Floral Clock. This is a working clock, about 30 feet across, that is planted with a different flower design each year- very beautiful. After dinner that evening, we attempted to stay out at the Falls until dark to see them lit with different colors. Since sunset was not until after 9pm, it was just barely dark enough by 9:30 to see the colors. You know us Sun City folks- if we are not in bed by 10p, we are at least thinking about it, so we gave up and went home to bed.
We left the next morning for Michigan and Mackinac Island via Canada. The road through Canada ran along Lake Ontario. The land is quite flat and open, with lots of farmland. The Canadian portion of the trip took about 4 hours, the worst part of which was returning through customs at Port Heron. I suppose you want you border guards to be thorough, but the removal of apples from the car in front of us doesn't really make me feel safer... The trip through customs took us almost 30 minutes.
We drove north through the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and spent the night just south of Mackinaw City, one location for the ferry trip to Mackinac Island. One roadside chuckle- a billboard saying " Need a car? Got stinky credit? Contact poopycredit.com" Wonder who thought of that one?
Mackinac Island is in Lake Heron, about a 15 minute ferry ride. Its "claim to fame" is the restriction against motorized vehicles, which has been in place since the late 1800's- they were banned because they frighten the horses. The only 2 motorized vehicles currently on the island are the ambulance and fire truck. There are only about 500 year round residents, but summer can be very busy. There is a cute downtown area with lots of shops and restaurants. We took the carriage tour of the island (other options are the drive-it-yourself carriage, horseback and bicycles). I can't imagine how they deal with all the bicycles during the summer season. There were hundreds to be rented, the island is very hilly, so you have to watch it on the downhills. We spotted yellow Lady Slippers while on our tour, which neither of us had ever seen before. The horses are everywhere, used for transportation, hauling people and products, and even street sweeping. The streets are paved -thank goodness- one big drawback of so many horses is all the horse poop, which would be a disaster with dirt roads and all the rain...
After the tour, we had lunch and headed back to the mainland. From there, it was back to MA.
When we resumed our trip yesterday, we decided not to repeat the exact route we had taken previously. We crossed NY state on the southern route, entering PA near Erie. We then skirted the southern shores of the Great Lakes. We have ended our long day today just northwest of Chicago- our first time zone change! We head for Duluth tomorrow.
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