Right now, we are only about 80 mi. away from NYC, in Poughkeepsie, in a Residence Inn Hotel. It's been a long day: we got up before 7 am, drove 400 mi (640 km) from Niagara Falls to the south, partly on backroads, and arriving at 3:45 pm at the hotel, a tourism rep was already expecting us in the lobby. We threw the luggage into our 2-bedroom-suite and out we were again. Back to the hotel at 8:45 pm - that's why we are getting aggravated when somebody is calling this kind of traveling "vacation". So tired,,, but back to our adventures at Niagara Falls.
On Wednesday evening we had arrived in Niagara Falls and checked in The Giacomo Hotel, a 40-room boutique hotel in an Office Building from 1929 in beautiful art deco style - the tallest skyscraper in town. Rooms are nicely furnished and equipped, but best was the view from our corner room towards the high-rises on the Canadian side and the Falls (see pic before).
Krystina from Niagara Tourism picked us up at 6 pm - we had about half hour to "rest" - and she drove us to Lewiston, a town with an attractive main street, situated on the Niagara River, just across the river from Canada. Many thousands of years ago, the famous Niagara Falls has eroded nearly 7 miles south from Lewiston to its present location in Niagara Falls. We had a superb (and quiet) dinner at Carmelo's: duck breast with a heavenly maple syrup sauce and NY strip steak with a delicious mushroom-spinach concoction for Peter accompanied by a glass of local Riesling. Though it was getting late, we still enjoyed the view towards the illuminated falls from the hotel lounge on the 19th floor.
Cold - we've been told later it's been the first frost in the area -, but sunny - the next morning. How fortunate we were: blue skies and, also, to have Krystina to drive us around. She picked us up at the hotel and after breakfast we explored the Niagara Falls State Park, first the "Cave of the Winds" (a walkway down to the Falls) with its new "The World Changed Here"-Pavilion, whose exhibitions and film deals with the history of the Falls and famous people involved in the "Free Niagara Movement", like Frederick Law Olmsted (planer of Central Park), Mark Twain, Rockefeller or Nikola Tesla (1856-1943). Tesla (statue on picture) is nowadays known for his electric motor, but originally this Serbian-American inventor experimented with generators to create hydro-power at the Niagara Falls. We have been to the Canadian side of the Niagara Falls several years ago. We regarded the town and its infrastructure as extremely "touristy" and kitschy. Here in the U.S.A. it's not as much about big attractions and show elements, but about the Falls themselves (both falls, Canadian and American, on the pic above).
On Goat Island you get really close to the Canadian Horseshoe Falls (above), on Luna Island you stand between the Bridal Veil (the smaller) and the American Falls (wider) and Prospect Point is another point where you can almost grab the water of the American Falls (below). Much much closer than in Canada, and, free, with the exception of a parking fee! The skyline to be seen on the pics is on the Canadian side, no real highrises on the American.
By mutual agreement, we skipped lunch and just had coffee at the cozy little Cat Coffee Company in Lewiston, before we headed out to Youngstown for Old Fort Niagara. What a beautiful location, even with a direct view of the skyline of Toronto in the far distance, across Lake Ontario! The history of Old Fort Niagara spans more than 300 years: in 1726 France erected a permanent fortification with the construction of the impressive "French Castle" at the mouth of the Niagara River. Britain gained control in 1759, after the French & Indian War, and expanded and fortified, to yield the fort to the U.S. in 1796. Fort Niagara was recaptured by the British and went back to the U.S. again after the War of 1812. It became a barracks and training station for American soldiers throughout both World Wars and was restored 1926-1934. Highly interesting, though the history is very complicated, but they do a great job in explaining, also, with the help of costumed interpreters and demonstrations, among them Iroquois (pic), who settled first in the region.
The Becker Farms & Vizcarra Vineyards in Gasport, our next stop, started out as a self-pick fruit farm, but now is a multi-purpose complex, with shop & café, vineyards & winery, brewery, event space etc. Thanks to Krystina being flexible, we had a chance to check out another winery in town after Vizcarra - called "Flight of 5" -, whose wines were delicious. Different varietals in Niagara than in the Fingerlakes because of the much rougher climate. Before dinner at Shamus Restaurant in Lockport, we checked out the reconstructed historic locks at Erie Canal (opened in 1825), now a recreational canal (pic below). We enjoyed steak (Peter, again) and sea scallops with some nice local beer before Krystina brought us back "home".
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