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Niagara Falls Day Trip

Yesterday we went on a day trip to Niagara Falls, NY. We almost didn’t go. I didn’t sleep well on Saturday night, woke up at 6:00 am with a headache, and didn’t feel like getting out of bed. We had planned to leave for Niagara Falls at 7:00 am. I told Bob that I changed my mind about going to Niagara Falls and went back to sleep.

I rolled out of bed at 7:15 am. After taking a shower, I felt better and asked Bob if it would be okay if we went to Niagara Falls as planned. Bob agreed to the trip. I ate a quick breakfast (Bob had eaten breakfast earlier). We departed home, en route Niagara Falls, around 8:30 am.

About an hour into the drive we discovered that neither of us had remembered to bring our U.S. passports. When we planned this day trip, we talked about walking over Rainbow Bridge into Canada for picture-taking opportunities and to pick up whiskey at the Duty-Free Shop. The walk into Canada will have to wait until another day.

Yesterday was our first use of the Empire Passport that we purchased earlier this month. Without the Empire Passport we would have had to pay $10 to park at Niagara Falls State Park. Initially we purchased one passport. We discovered upon receipt of the passport that it had to be permanently affixed to our vehicle. At least half of the year we travel by motorcycle, so we decided to purchase a second Empire Passport for our motorcycle. If we visit Niagara Falls State Park twelve more times before the end of March 2016, we will break even with our purchase. I am sure that we will break even before then, though, as we plan to visit as many NY State Parks as possible in a year.

Our first destination upon reaching Niagara Falls was to see the falls from the Observation Deck.

Observation Deck view of the falls

When I took the photograph of the falls shown above, I was standing on this observation deck.

From the Observation Deck we walked to Prospect Point and then along Niagara River and across the bridge to Goat Island.

Prospect Point

Niagara River, just before it rushes over the brink of the American Falls

Looking across to Canada from Goat Island

From Goat Island, there is a lovely vista of the American Falls. The photograph shown above is a close-up picture of the impressive snow and ice sculpture on top of the American Falls from the Goat Island Overlook. The photograph shown below is a wide-angle picture of the same vista.

From the Goat Island Overlook of the American Falls, we walked to Terrapin Point.

This was our first look at Horseshoe Falls, as we were walking to Terrapin Point.

Terrapin Point Overlook of Horseshoe Falls

What a wonderful day it was for a day trip. Sunday started out snowy, but the sun came out before we reached Niagara Falls. The sun shone rest of the day. The bright sunshine didn’t do much to warm up the day, though. The temperature stayed in the low 20s throughout the day.

Niagara Falls Weekend Getaway (Sunday)

Since Monday I have been sharing photographs and details of our Niagara Falls weekend getaway.

On Sunday, February 22, after eating a hot breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and made one last trek to Goat Island.

The sun was shining, when we began our walk to Goat Island.

By the time we had reached the island, though, the sun was being covered quickly an icy mist.

See that white circle in the sky? That’s the sun!

I had hoped to capture a photograph of the American Falls with a blue sky as a backdrop. Unfortunately, a heavy icy mist surrounded the falls.

Goat Island Overlook of American Falls

We stayed at the overlook for a few minutes, hoping that a puff of wind would push the icy mist over to Canada. It didn’t happen.

On our way back to our car in the hotel parking lot,
Bob asked me to take his picture beside this tree.

When the snow is gone, Bob wants to stand by this tree again to show how high the snow was in the park.

If accuweather.com is accurate in its weather forecast for Niagara Falls, that snow is going to stick around for a while (at least through the month of March)!

We returned to the hotel parking lot, hopped in our car and began our drive back home. We were on our way back home by 9:00 am.

Niagara Falls Weekend Getaway (Saturday, Part 2)

On Saturday, February 21, we visited both the Canadian and American side of Niagara Falls. I shared photographs from our visit to Niagara Falls, Canada, in yesterday’s blog post. In today’s blog post I will share photographs from the American side of the falls.

On Friday afternoon we had walked from our hotel to Prospect Point to the brink of the American Falls. Because of a heavy icy mist the falls were barely visible during that visit. On Saturday morning the view was so much better!

American Falls at Prospect Point

While at Prospect Point, Bob photographed me with his buddy, Binnie Ocular.

From Prospect Point we walked along the Niagara River and crossed a bridge onto Goat Island.

Goat Island Overlook of American Falls

While on Goat Island, we also viewed Horseshoe Falls from Terrapin Point.

Horseshoe Falls

From Terrapin Point we walked back to our hotel.

See the squirrel? It was perched 5 stories high on the ledge of our hotel building. We saw it climb up the side of the building. Crazy squirrel!

We were back in our hotel around 10:00 am. We warmed up and relaxed for a couple hours.

Our next trip outside was to go to lunch. We ate lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, which is located a block from our hotel (Comfort Inn The Pointe). We each ordered burgers. Bob ordered the Mushroom & Swiss Burger. I ordered the Hickory Barbecue Bacon Cheeseburger. French fries accompanied our burgers. Lunch was good and very filling. After lunch, we returned to the hotel.

Our last trip outside was to go to dinner. We ate dinner at Legends Bar & Grill, which was located halfway between the hotel and the Seneca Niagara Casino. For less than $25 we dined on 12-ounce strip steaks, accompanied by tossed salad, onion rings and broccoli. Dinner was very good; service was okay.

We walked back to the hotel after dinner, where we stayed for rest of the night.

Niagara Falls Weekend Getaway (Friday)

I awakened on Friday, February 20th, to temperatures below -20 degrees for the second time in less than a week! It seems this month we have been experiencing either frigid temperatures or chilly temperatures and snow. A warm-up is forecast for Saturday, with snow in the forecast.

As if we haven’t had enough of the cold, we headed north for the weekend to see the partially frozen Niagara Falls. Our weekend getaway was planned as an early celebration for my birthday. My actual birthday is today, February 23rd.

Bob came home from work at noon, which is customary for Friday. We were on our way to Niagara Falls by 12:30 pm. We made one stop at Tim Hortons in Fredonia, NY for coffee/tea. We arrived at our hotel, Comfort Inn The Pointe, at approximately 3:00 pm. We checked into our hotel room, a two-queen bed room on the fifth floor with a park view. After I changed into long johns and we bundled up, we walked the short distance to the brink of the America Falls at Prospect Point.

This Niagara Falls mural is located near our hotel. Bob took my picture here, on our way to Prospect Point.

It was very, very cold with temperatures barely above 0 degrees Fahrenheit. The sun was shining, and the sky looking away from the falls was a deep, brilliant blue.

Snow- and ice-coated trees creates a winter wonderland!

Snow- and ice-coated trees along Niagara River

The view was markedly different, when looking toward the American Falls. The falls faded in and out of an icy mist. The mist contained ice pellets, which bombarded us the entire time we were in the vicinity of the falls. My glasses glazed over with ice, making it difficult to see!

I did take one picture of the American Falls. I wasn’t even sure if the falls were visible, until we returned to the hotel and I looked at the pictures I had taken.

The American Falls emerging out of an icy mist

Soon after taking the photograph of the falls, we returned to the hotel. After we had thawed out, we bundled up again and walked the three or four blocks to the Seneca Niagara Casino. We ate dinner at Thunder Falls Buffet. Dinner was good but more expensive than we expected. We paid $29 each for dinner, when we were accustomed to spending $16.95 each at the Seneca Allegany Casino. We learned that the Seneca Niagara Casino charges $3.05 more than Seneca Allegany Casino for its buffet dinners. On Friday nights crab legs are added to the buffet, and dinner was $29 each. We don’t eat crab legs. There were plenty of food selection, though, and dinner was good. I ate too much, which is usually the case when we eat at an all-you-can-eat buffet. We did have an opportunity to get back some of the money we paid for dinner, as we each received $15 in casino dollars for eating at Thunder Falls Buffet and paying cash. Luck was not on our side. We did know enough, though, not to put any of our own cash into those one-arm bandits!

I noticed the moon as soon as we stepped outside the casino. I didn’t have my camera with me. As soon as we returned to the hotel, I took pictures of the view through our hotel room window.

View from Comfort Inn The Pointe hotel room

If you stay at Comfort Inn The Pointe during a visit to Niagara Falls, be sure to ask for a park view room. You can’t see the falls; however, the view is still picturesque..

The crescent moon was so pretty hanging in the sky above Niagara Falls.
The planets Mars and Venus illuminated the dark side of the moon.

As you can see by the two evening photographs displayed above, it was a clear night. We did consider for a moment making another trek to Prospect Point to see the falls illuminated . At -1 degrees Fahrenheit, though, we opted to not make that trek!

My Birthday at Niagara Falls

Bob and I celebrated my birthday (February 23) in Niagara Falls.

We opted to spend the night in Niagara Falls, rather than drive up and back the same day. We spent the night at Comfort Inn The Pointe in Niagara Falls, NY. The hotel is centrally located. We were one block from the Seneca Niagara Casino, and the entrance to Niagara Falls State Park was right outside our front door. We were within walking distance of several restaurants, both in New York and in Canada.

Soon after checking into our hotel, we went for a walk.

This mural was painted on the side of a building near our hotel.
Can you tell how happy I was to be in Niagara Falls on my birthday?

We went for a short walk to Prospect Point, where we viewed the falls from two different vantage points.

Vantage Point 1 was at the brink of American Falls.

Vantage Point 2 was the view of the American and Horseshoe Falls from the Observation Tower.

We went for a short walk because it was lunch time, and we were hungry. We ate lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. While we were eating lunch, Bob asked if I wanted to walk over to Canada. I thought it a good idea; however, we did not bring our passports with us. Well, little did I know! Bob did bring the passports with him.

After lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, we walked across Rainbow Bridge into Canada.

American Falls and the Observation Tower

American Falls

So, Saturday was my birthday. Are you wondering how old I am? In Canada, after taking a couple photographs of the falls, Bob and I walked toward the corner of Clifton Hill and Falls Avenue — the location of a clothing store in which I wanted to shop. As we approached a crosswalk, a lady caught my eye and smiled at me. When I smiled back at her, she told me that she liked my hat. The three of us ended up walking in the same direction for a while. I learned that she was from Australia and in Canada on business. She thought Bob and I were from Canada because of the hat I was wearing. I told her that we were from Pennsylvania and that we purchased the hat in Canada. In fact we were on our way to the clothing store in which I purchased the hat. I also mentioned that we were spending the night in Niagara Falls to celebrate my birthday. She asked me how old I was. When I told her that I was 57 years old, she did a double look at me. “No”, she said; “you don’t look a day over 40!” Such a sweet lady!

The Australian lady parted ways with us at the clothing store on the corner of Clifton Hill and Falls Avenue. We made a small purchase in the clothing store. When Stacey first saw my Canadian hat, she wanted it. Now, Stacey will have her own Canadian hat.

Our final stop, before walking back over Rainbow Bridge into New York, was at the duty-free shop. I took these two photographs from the parking lot of the duty-free shop.

The bridge you see is the Rainbow Bridge.
The tall building to the left of the bridge is the Seneca Niagara Casino.
Our hotel was to the right of the bridge, near the tall brown building.

One last glimpse of the American and Horseshoe Falls

Bob purchased a bottle of Maker’s Mark at the duty-free shop. It was a 1 liter bottle of whiskey that was priced lower than what is available at home in 750ml bottles. This was the first time that we made a purchase at the duty-free shop, while on foot. One of the shop attendants walked us to the border crossing, ensuring that we left Canada with Bob’s bottle of Maker’s Mark.

Bob took this photograph of me, soon after we returned to New York.
It had been at least a couple hours since we had sat down.
It felt good to sit!

Later in the day we walked to the Seneca Niagara Casino. I had hoped for some birthday luck. No such luck. The one-armed bandits were not kind to us.

We ate dinner that night at TGI Friday’s.

Bob spoiled me very well for my birthday by spending the night in Niagara Falls with a birthday lunch AND a birthday dinner. I am a lucky girl to have such a sweet man for a husband. Thank you, Bob, for a wonderful birthday weekend!

It’s SO Pretty, Honey!

I must have said those words at least a dozen times yesterday. Bob and I spent the day in Niagara Falls, NY. It was a spur of the moment decision to go to Niagara Falls. The decision was reached at 6:30 yesterday morning. It was the first time either of us had seen the falls on the American side in the wintertime. I exclaimed, “It’s so pretty, Honey!”, several times to Bob.

Prospect Point

Bob, alongside Niagara River. Prospect Point is behind Bob.

View of American Falls from Goat Island
LOVE the rainbow!

Close-up view of American Falls from Goat Island
LOVE the frosty tree in the foreground!

Terrapin Point
In other seasons you can view Horseshoe Falls from this lower observation area!

Me, with Horseshoe Falls in the background

Besides seeing the falls, we ate lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. Eating at the Hard Rock Cafe is a treat for us. The only time we eat there is when we visit the falls. We each ordered one of their 10-ounce Legendary Burgers, served with onion rings. We had a wonderful day at the falls!