Niagara Falls, New York

We spent two full days here. We stayed at Four Mile Creek State Park. Nearby is Fort Niagara, located where the Niagara River enters Lake Ontario. Fort Niagara (photo) is the longest continuously occupied military site in the country. It began as a French military post in the 1600's. It was captured by the British in 1759 during the French and Indian War. It became a US Army Post in 1796, and served as an Army post until the 1960's. Nearby was a cemetery containing the remains of soldiers from the French and Indian War as well as from the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Photo of monument. Our primary reason for coming here was, of course, Niagara Falls. First we went up to the tower on the US side where we walked way out over the river on an observation deck. Photo. There we met a woman who asked us to take her photo. Steve said "yes" if she "would take our photo too." She misunderstood and thought Steve said he would take her photo for $10! After we got that straightened out, we spent the rest of the time at the observation deck and Maid of the Mist boat ride with her and her friend. Photo of Pat and Mary Ellen. Turns out Mary Ellen was very familiar with Paso Robles as her son lives there, she frequents the area, and is a wine club member at Tobin James Winery....and so are we! Both women have been at Lake Nacimiento as well! Small world!! The Maid of the Mist boat ride was fun. They gave us blue ponchos to protect against the water as the boat went right up next to both the American falls and Canadian falls. We definitely needed them. Photos. We then walked across the Rainbow Bridge (photo) into Canada and rode up the Skylon Tower in an outside elevator 775 feet above the ground where we had a nice lunch with an amazing view of both falls, the river, and the surrounding countryside. Photo of the tower and the falls from the tower. Steve had some misgivings before riding up on the outside of the tower, said he would do it only with eyes closed, but kept them open all the way up and had no problems with the height. Richard, of course, was disappointed they did not have a bungee jump off the roof! After lunch at the top of the tower, we came down to earth and walked along the beautiful flower lined walks. We were able to stand right next to the top of the falls, and captured a rainbow in the mist. The mist was very strong. Richard loved it...since it was quite warm. Photo of that. We had a great time at the falls, and highly recommend it to those who have never been there. The next day, we took a boat ride on the Erie Canal. The Erie Canal connects the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean at sea level with Niagara River and the Great Lakes at 570 feet above sea level. The 363 mile engineering feat was dug by hand between 1817 and 1825. The construction of the canal was an extremely important factor in the westward settlement of the country, and also was very important in making New York a commercial center. Originally, 83 locks were used to raise and lower boats. Lockport, NY, where we were on the canal, was the location of the "Flight of Five" double locks. Photo...the one showing the very narrow locks. Enlarged in the early 1900's, Locks 34 and 35 still allow boats to be raised and lowered 49 feet to overcome the elevation of the Niagara Escarpment, the same rock formation that forms Niagara Falls. Several photos of the locks, full and empty, the gates, and the canal itself. In addition to going through Locks 34 and 35, we passed under the "Upside Down Bridge" (Photo) and two "lift bridges." The Upside Down Bridge is so called because the steel structure which normally is on top, is actually below the bridge. The lift bridge differs from a draw bridge in that the entire bridge is moved straight up on a level plane. We enjoyed learning how the locks work and how they differ from the original locks. An interesting fact is that more people traveled to the West on the Erie Canal than later went through Ellis Island. Later, we toured the Lockport Cave. This is a 1600 foot water power tunnel blasted out of solid rock in the mid 1800's. The Hydraulic Tunnel provided water power to several industries in the town. The tunnel was the invention of Birdsill Holly, a mechanical genius whose inventions were manufactured using the water power provided by the tunnel. Holly's inventions include the fire hydrant, central steam heat, and the rotary pump. We entered the tunnel through a large pipe (photos), walked several hundred feet into the cave (no longer filled to the top with water, instead a small stream). We then took a boat ride the remainder of the tunnel to view stalactites and wondered at the tremendous work involved in chipping and blasting through the rock.