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Tuesday July 12

After the excitement of yesterday, and that tomorrow was going to be such a long day, we decided to have a quiet day. We had a trip into Portsmouth, to look round the shops. And for Noah and I to go to a place called the Holodek to play video games. Unfortunately for me, I wore my sunglasses that day, and there was little lighting inside the gaming place. Heaven forbid the kids get some colour. So, I played without glasses. And that is what I am blaming on my pitiful showing. We played for a couple of hours, but in truth my interest waned after an hour: there are only so many times you die before it becomes boring. Still, Noah loved it, which was a good thing.

We decided that on the way back from Niagara Falls, we would like to call in at the Ben and Jerry’s ice cream factory in Vermont. Realising to do this as well as the trip back, we booked a hotel in the Adirondack Mountains.

Wednesday July 13 The alarm went off at what seemed way too early this morning: half six. And after some last minute packing, we were on our way. I think what I will never get used to is the sheer size of this country. We drove for three hours just to get across New Hampshire and another hour and a half to get across Vermont. And we drove through a few scattered villages, most seemingly surviving of passing antique hunters. Every town had a handful of antique ‘barns’ or some other such names place.

In-between the towns were miles and miles of nothing. Well, trees, hills, river, lakes. And it all looked the same; we could have driven in circles for hours. But in time we came to the town of Bennington, in the far west of Vermont. Bennington had an impressive collection of Moose. Yes, Moose. Painted moose, which the town was hoping to sell for charity. Quite what someone was going to do with a life size painted moose is anyone’s guess, but they did look pretty. There was one at the foot of the Bennington memorial.

The memorial is for a decisive battle in the War of Independence. It is marked by a stone needle, Cleopatra style. But, instead of stairs, there is a lift to the top, which was fine by me. The view from the top is of, well, trees. What else? We had a picnic on the grass surrounding the monument, one of Marcy’s ideas, and a good one. A few miles away was the state line with New York. New York carried on with the trees and hills for a while, until it was time to take the New York Crossway. And interstate that as its name suggests goes across the state.

I wish I could say it was an interesting drive, but the highway just went on forever. And on either side were nothing but corn farms. Can Americans really eat so much corn? I guess so. The one bright spot, was the idiot in a sports car that cut us up doing hundreds of miles per hour, 5 minutes later having being pulled up by the highway patrol. Oh, how we cheered.

After some ten hours of driving, we arrived in Buffalo, NY. Buffalo is really an ugly town. And it gets uglier as you near Niagara Falls. Once off the free way, you drive through miles of gas stations and oil refineries, and they all look so run down. Even downtown Niagara Fall, NY is on the skids. Or hotel was one of a couple that appeared to be in the middle of a ghetto, Or on the edge of it, anyway. Luckily, our reservation was good, and we unpacked the car. And then set out to see the falls before darkness fell. We followed the roar, and found a national park. Down a flight of steps, and we found ourselves at the edge of a fast flowing river.

A hundred yards to the right, and the river just disappeared. One’s first view of the falls is a breathtaking experience. The falls in front of us were over a hundred yards across, and an almighty amount of water poured over it every second. And through the spray of this, the American Falls, the spray and mist of the Horseshoe Falls could be seen about a couple of miles away. I guess the water vapour in the air made it feel all the more humid. It was also very hot, much hotter than in New Hampshire, and just walking around was hard work.

We were hungry, and looked around the American side of the falls. There was a Hard Rock Café, but it was queued right out the door. Other than that, there were a handful of fast food joints. So, we decided to go into Canada to see what there was on offer there. For some reason, we had to pay $2.50 to cross the quaintly named Rainbow Bridge. The views of the falls were stunning, a much overused word, but apt.

I turned into what looked like downtown Niagara Fall and found and Italian place called Tony’s straight away. Worryingly, there was no one inside, so I parked up to see if they were open. Indeed they were, and we all sat down. The food was very good, and quickly served. It was a bit off-putting to have the staff either eating on a nearby table, or cleaning the rest of the place. But, they said there was no rush, and the owner. Presumably Tony could not have been nicer.

By the time we finished, we were all very tired; we had been up some 17 hours, so we decided to return to the hotel to get some sleep. Going back across Rainbow Bridge, floodlights cast a myriad of colours on the falls. Getting back into America was not easy: we got twenty questions. Do you know these children, how did you meet this man, how long did I plan to stay in America, where had we been. It went on and on. Finally, he accepted that we had just been to dinner, and through the magic of the internet, we were friends.

Thursday July 14

During the night, there had been a massive thunder storm: though we had mostly slept through it. So there was hope that the storm had brought the humidity down a few notches. A few seconds outside quickly proved that is was going to be every bit as hot as the day before. Instead of taking the car, we agreed to walk into Canada, as it has the best views of the falls.

Setting off, it was the usual lottery crossing at intersections, even with crosswalks. Getting out of America was easy, Canada seemed to like everyone. We were hungry once again, and looked for somewhere to get breakfast. Soon we found an Italian café place overlooking ornamental garden. We did the full breakfast thing, eggs, hash browns, bacon and pancakes, along with a bucketful of coffee. Marcy had luckily seen we would soon be hot enough and decided we should sit inside instead of baking on the sun terrace. The full length of the gorge on the Canadian side is lined with gardens, and has a wide promenade on which to walk. Situated at convenient spaces were cold drink stands.

After about a mile, we came to The Maid of the Mist offices. The queue was horrendous. We decided to try later. On the other side of the building were more kiosks, and no queue. Great! We paid our money and descended to the quay. There was a large queue, again, but we only had to wait 20 minutes or so, and soon we were filing on board one of the Maids of the Mist. There are more than one. We decided once again to flout convention, and not were the blue plastic wind cheaters, and let the falls do their worst. It was so hot, we would soon dry off. And it was great to see the portly Germans sweating already under the plastic.

Even before we got close to the falls, the view was spectacular. And as we got close, the roar of the falls got deafening, and the falls towered over us like a tsunami wave. It must have been the same feeling for Moses as the Red Sea parted.

The spray was soaking, almost like rain. And fearing for damage to my cameras, I put them away, wrapped in plastic to prevent water damage. At the base of the American falls there are numerous large boulders which mean it is not possible to get too near the water, although we were almost within touching distance of the boulders themselves.

The Horseshoe Falls were something else: spray fell like heavy rain, and we got to within feet it seemed of the falls. The falls surrounded us on three sides, the feeling was amazing. We waved to those standing beside the falls over a hundred feet above us. And soon, it was time to return to land. And we were soaked to the skin, but as we suspected, we soon dried out in the blazing sun.

We walked along the promenade. It took about an hour, and we did stop for drinks several times. At the end is a visitors centre. It is beside the Horseshoe Falls. The falls curve away from some low railings, and it is possible to look right down as the water heads earthwards. I think it is the sheer size of the falls that is amazing, and that the flow of water is incredible. Once again, spay filled the air, and we got soaked. But it all seemed so magical.

We slowly walked back along the promenade: the hot sun taking its toll on us, making us walk slower and slower. At the bridge, we once again got asked a multitude of questions, and had to pay fifty cents each to get back into America. Quite what this charge was for is anyone’s guess. We headed back to the hotel, so Marcy could take Max swimming, and Noah and I get a shower.

Afterwards, we headed out once again into Canada to find somewhere to eat. We explored a little further beyond the Falls. It was a fairly run down place, like its American neighbour, but much cleaner. Something that Marcy was the first one to notice. Once we discovered that there was nothing of interest, we turned back. One thing we did agree on, travel went quicker when the distances are in km rather than in miles.

Behind the casinos and branded super hotels that overlook the falls, we found a nice drive in place called My Cousin Vinny’s. We went in, and it was really good, they even had Stella on draught. When we came out, it was dark, so we decided to have a walk, and found the aptly named ‘Street of Fun at the Falls’, or something. There were the usual fast food places, trinket shops, and a Ripley’s Believe it Or Not.

We went in, and it was ok. They had some of the barrels from successful and unsuccessful attempts at going over the falls. They really were mad. After eating such a big meal, having to pass by all the cotton candy and candy apple stalls was really quite vomit inducing. After a while, the bright lights were really too much, so, we headed back once again to the hotel, once again having to brave the interrogation at the American border. Thankfully, they believed our story, and we were let in.

Friday July 15

We slept in fairly late. Marcy took Max swimming in the pool again, whilst Noah and I lay in bed, although not together! It was going to be a long trip, and I think in truth, we were not really looking forward to it.

Heading into Niagara Falls, we must have took the wrong turn, and headed through an even more down at heel area. All the factories and motels were long since closed, windows boarded up. It was of some relief when we at last came to the on ramp of the interstate. As we crossed the river, looking to the right, we could see for the last time the mist that marked the location of the falls.

We had left without having breakfast, thinking that we would stop on the way. However, the service station we called in at, was crowded beyond belief, and just like in England, overpriced. We made the decision the drive off the interstate and find a place in a town. The lucky town was Baldwinsville, NY. It had the feel of a quiet farming town, it had the usual malls and drive through banks, as well as leafy residential areas.

We stopped at a Pizza Hut. There was a just a young family in there with us. We had just missed the buffet dinner, so we chose a pizza each. Service was good, so, I thought I would tip the waiter well. I think in the end it amounted to something like 40%. The look on his face, and then the toadying that followed was really quite funny. Nothing was too much trouble, and is there anything else I can get you?

Seemingly hours later, we turned off the interstate, and headed off into upstate New York. At first the land changed little, but then low hills began to rise, and the fields of corn gave way to trees. The road began to twist and turn, at times swooping beside narrow lakes. Apparently, the area was discovered by people with little imagination, we passed First Lake, Second Lake and so on. Thankfully, once passed Seventh Lake they had switched to names again. At just before 5, we stopped for drinks at an old trading post at Wolf’s River. Outside was Adirondack chairs made from every conceivable type of woods. Inside, a treasure trove of hand made crafts. I bought a bottle of hand made lemonade, ‘made with real lemons!’ We drove on through denser forests. Oh look, trees! Oh, another lake! And road signs warning of bumps in the road that never came.

As darkness was falling, we came into Lake Placid, once home to the 1980 Winter Olympic Games. We had to drive down the main street of the town to get to our hotel; it looked a wonderful mix of craft shops, and wine shops, with a sprinkling of restaurants. Our hotel was on the shores of the lake, and came as a culture shock to walk into the lobby to see the large picture window with its views across the lake. The concierge said that all they had left were rooms with a lake view. I smiled to myself. I tried to make out it was an awful place, but the others quickly saw how wonderful it was. Our room not only overlooked the lake, but had a balcony. Once again, we were hungry; it had been some 8 hours since we had eaten. Attached to the hotel was a good restaurant, so we went there. Once again, it had views across the lake, as well as good service.

Afterwards, we walked down the main street: looking inside some of the craft stores, and buying a bottle of wine to drink on the balcony when we returned to the hotel.