Niagara Falls US side: Intro and Day 1

Niagara Falls is famous world over though Iguacu and Victoria falls top it in beauty and other parameters.  Eleanor Roosevelt had exclaimed on seeing the Iguacu "Poor Niagara, it's a leaking faucet compared to this!"

I've already posted about our visit to the Canada side.  Report of our visit to Niagara falls Canada side in Sep 5, 2017 is at

http://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2017/10/canada-trip-report-days-13-4-niagara.html

We visited the US side of the Niagara falls in May 2012.  Here's the report of our US side visit.

Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls - American falls,  Bridal Veil Falls, Horse shoe falls - at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the US state of New York and the Canadian province of Ontario. 

The falls are 27 kilometres (17 mi) north-northwest of Buffalo, New York, and 121 kilometres (75 mi) south-southeast of Toronto, between the twin cities of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Niagara Falls, New York.  

WHEN TO GO:

Peak visitor traffic occurs in the summertime, when Niagara Falls are both a daytime and evening attraction. From the Canadian side, floodlights illuminate both sides of the falls for several hours after dark (until midnight). There are fireworks in the night over the falls.The number of visitors top 28 million. The main attractions of cruise boats below the falls [called Maid of the Mist on the US side] and the Cave of the Winds which is a deck just below the Bridal falls and jet boat rides are all closed during Nov-Apr. The precise opening dates in May are subject to the weather in the particular year. In 2019 for instance Maid of the Mist opened only on May 24. But in 2012, all attractions opened in the 1^st week of May and our dates of May 3-6 proved GREAT! It was 3 nights stay, however sight seeing was just one full day in the middle with 2 half days bookending it.

We only missed out on Fireworks.

The sunset is only at 9 PM in these parts in the beginning of May. so combined with no crowds as it was the beginning of the tourist season  our timing was ideal

LOGISTICS:

Research showed parking was very difficult at the Falls , so we chose a hotel at walking distance. This was not necessary at the time of our visit as there was absolutely no crowds. We would have been better off hiring a car at the airport and using it during our visit.

There is no Canadian embassy in Houston and for visa, we have to send our passports to LA and wait for a month or more. Since we had our trip to Brazil and Argentina in April 2012 we did not want to risk sending the passports to LA for a Canadian visa. Another main reason was that we did not commit to our Niagara visit till the dates for opening of Maid of the Mist, Cave of the winds, jet boat ride etc were announced a month ago, after assessing current trend of weather.

So we did not cross over to the Canada side to see the falls from that angle during this visit. It's of course preferable to do both sides at one go.

DAY 1, MAY 3, 2012, Thursday:

We boarded Southwest airlines early morning on Thursday and reached Buffalo, New York.at 2 PM. The flight had involved 3 changes, we deboarded once but all the transfers were swift and did not tire us. From the airport Niagara Falls city is 30 km.

Chose this hotel Rodeway Inn Fallsview because it was a 5 minutes walk to the falls. Looked a seedy locality but thankfully we were fine.

After a quick meal, we were off to the falls.

GOAT ISLAND:

Walked on the deserted roads and reached the pedestrian bridge to Goat island in 10 minutes... Caught our 1st sight of the rushing Niagara river.

 The road we had come by to reach this bridge had been totally deserted, in fact we were a little scared for our safety.

Cherry blossoms were in full bloom... they bloom only for 2 weeks or so. In Japan from where these have been sourced, the cherry blossom festival is highly popular... people travel from far and wide to catch the sight.

 Here's a map of all sights

Goat Island is located between the American & Canadian Falls. Accessible only from Niagara Falls New York. Niagara Falls State Park stretches over 400 acres, with close to 140 acres of that under water. It's the oldest State Park in the U.S.A. We walked the trails in Goat island to reach the falls.

 John Stedman - an early pioneer and miller - kept a herd of goats on the island. The animals all died in the terrible winter of 1780, but gave the island its name.

Augustus Porter in the middle 19th century recognized the long-term value of the falls as a tourist attraction. Porter purchased the island and allowed a group of Tuscarora Native Americans to live on the island and sell their crafts to the tourists who came to the falls by stagecoach and early railroads. In spite of pressure, Porter refused to tame the environment on the island. In 1817, he built a toll bridge to the island for tourists. It was swept away by ice, so another was built the following year downstream. Basil Hall called it "one of the most singular pieces of engineering in the world". Almost seven hundred feet long, it soon became the best-traveled walkway in the region.

In 1885 the island was included in the Niagara Reservation State Park and is the oldest state park in the U.S.A.

The Niagara River splits in two above the falls, creating two sets of falls, one on either side of the island...the American falls and Bridal Veil Falls

 The waters immediately around Goat Island are relatively shallow and studded with islets and rocks,

 This is the American Falls (between Prospect Point and Luna Island).

There are 2 more--the narrow Bridal Veil Falls (between Luna Island and Goat Island)

and the huge Horse shoe falls or the Canadian Falls (between Goat Island and Table Rock).

American falls. and Bridal Veil Falls are at the Northwest point of Goat Island.

After the Iguacu experience, Niagara did feel a little underwhelming. 

 The season had just begun. We had the advantage of the Maid of the Mist and Cave of the Winds having opened but the crowds had not yet started pouring in. Niagara Falls attracts some 12 Million tourists each year.

A couple of weeks later these tulips may not survive the heat.

The famous top of the falls restaurant is right behind but it had not yet opened.

 We ended day 1 at 9 PM when the sun set. It had become cold and there were swarms of mosquitoes much to our surprise.

An interesting fact: The flow over the American Falls was stopped completely for several months in 1969. The idea was to determine the feasibility of removing the large amount of loose rock from the base of the falls to enhance its appearance. In the end the final decision was that the expense would be too great.

Next day report is here:

https://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2020/06/niagara-falls-us-side-days-2-3-maid-of.html