SLOWLY I TURNED … STEP BY STEP … INCH BY INCH …”
Here’s the explanation for that: Ever since my best buddy, Alps, and I were kids, we loved the comic team of Abbott and Costello. You know, of “Who’s of First” fame. Well, one of our favorite routines they did involved Costello being unjustly thrown in jail where he shares a cell with a crazy man who goes nuts on Costello anytime Lou accidentally mentions the words “Niagara Falls!” It’s a very funny bit. So for almost 60 years, whenever Alps and I are together and hear somebody mention “Niagara Falls!,” we both crack up and loudly exclaim, “NIAGARA FALLS?!” and then go into the routine. It’s a guy thing, a very stupid, yet funny, guy thing. Hence, this week’s intro to our newest blog site, Niagara Falls …
NIAGARA FALLS! SLOWLY I TURNED …
Wait, where was I? Oh yeah, the blog. Sorry for the momentary lapse of sanity.
This week we’re going to abandon my usual blog-history lesson for a week of natural beauty here in Niagara Falls … well, OK, … maybe a little history.Our RV goal when we started this thing was to RV-camp in all 49 states (we haven’t quite figured out how to do Hawaii yet). We keep track on this color-coded map: “yellow” states are ones we made it to in 2013; “green” states are ones we’ve camped in this year; and “blue” states will be colored in once we visit them in 2015. Not sure yet what color 2016 will be: maybe “mauve,” whatever that is. It just sounds delicious. Our state total so far is 28: 17 in 2013 and 11 so far this year. Pennsylvania next week will be number 29.
Tolls to go across most of upstate New York Sunday were a more reasonable $34 on our way to Niagara Falls. We camped at nearby Youngstown, NY, established in 1854 and named after John Young. I wonder if he’s the same as “Mighty John Young” who played first base for my senior softball team, the Buzzards. Could be. I think they were both born in the 1820’s.
Trying to relive my vague memory of my only other trip to the falls 51 years ago when my mom, brother, and I saw everything from the Canadian side, we hurriedly set up camp and then made our way down to see the power of the falls at night under the ghostly lights shining down upon the raging river. In the dark, our best view was of the dimly lit American Falls. At 184 feet, they’re the highest of the three sets of falls.
That evening as we got ready for bed, Diedre cautioned me to be extra careful when I would inevitably get up in the middle of the night and begin my search for the bathroom. An evening ankle sprain who be especially crushing, because tomorrow would be the day I was on tap to break my record for walking three-miles a day. Tough to do on a sprained ankle.
The three falls (American, Horseshoe, and Bridal Veil) together are an incredible force of nature. Their combined waters pour over the edge at the rate of 1.5-million gallons … PER SECOND! That’s about half of what it used to be since they now divert a fair amount of the river upstream for electrical power.
Privately held by businesses for many years, the falls were reclaimed for public enjoyment in 1885 through the creation of the Niagara Reservation. In essence, it became the nation’s first state park.
We celebrated day 935 with lunch at the falls. Diedre then tried some “falls yoga.” She was almost the first yogi to go over the falls on a yoga mat. We really lucked out during that afternoon’s falls viewing. The sun hit them at just the right angle and created a double rainbow which we were able to capture on film … uh, computer … uh, digitals?You know what I mean.
To highlight the record breaking day, we then had dinner at the legendary “Anchor Bar,” a restaurant I had thought about visiting since my introduction to that delicacy of the sports TV set: the Buffalo Wing.
Yes, the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, open since 1935, is the site where on a cold day in 1964, owner Theresa Bellisimo, trying to come up with something to feed her son’s friends, invented the spicy morsels. I owe the orangeness of my juice-stained fingers to Theresa’s efforts. So enthralled was I with her culinarily landmark tasties that she even got a mention in my first stage play, “Buzzard Ball.” She always gets a big laugh. Everybody knows about Buffalo Wings.
That day had begun a run of scenic hikes that would continue for the rest of our week. There was definitely no shortage of beautiful places for us to do my daily three-mile jaunts in the Niagara Falls area. Wednesday we made our way to the Devil’s Hole State Park. It was near the river’s rapids, although the vegetation was so thick near the river that we didn’t get quite the water views we had hoped for. Still, it was pretty great.That night we caught another foodie movie, “The 100-Foot Journey.” We both really liked it.
The next day we were back at it, the hiking, I mean. We went a little further down the rapids to Whirlpool State Park, so named because of the whirlpool that results from the Niagara River’s 90-degree turn. This time we hiked the rim trail. It provided us with an incredible view of the rushing waters from high above. Geez, how much beauty are we expected to absorb? |
| Western Michigan buddies in 1968 - Mike top R |
Mike had been diagnosed with cancer after we saw him last year. I mean, we just saw him. And now he’s gone. It just happened so damn fast. It was crushing news for us, but especially for Diedre. It was the first loss for her of a friend from her college days. It’s going to be hard to get over this one.
On Friday, we attempted to holistically self-medicate with another visit to the soothing waters surrounding Goat Island. We enjoyed venturing out onto the three smaller neighboring islands called, appropriately enough, “The Three Sisters Islands.” They were named individually for the daughters in the Parkhurst Whitney Family. Dad was a local businessman and a decorated veteran of the War of 1812. The girls (and the corresponding islands) were named “Asenath,” “Angeline,” and “Celinda Eliza” Islands. A nearby, unconnected, smaller island was called “Little Brother Island” and was named “Solon,” the girls‘ younger brother.
From the islands, we walked over to the Seneca Niagara Casino to avail ourselves of their wonderful buffet. And as long as we were there, we thought we’d do a little gambling and really bring the casino to its knees. A few hours later, the two of us smugly walked out of there a cool $13 ahead (again, Diedre dominated the tables, bringing in $12 of the team total of $13. I’m mostly there for comic relief, anyway).
Saturday, August 16, was our last day in town, and we wanted to see the legendary Niagara River rapids, mean and frothy and up close and personal this time. So we went back to the Whirlpool State Park, but instead of staying on the rim we climbed down to water level and took the rapids hike with the goal of having breakfast just a few feet away from the demonic, swirling waters. It was a meal to remember.On the few times I go T-shirt shopping (my main extravagance on this trip), I look for shirts that identify the area I’m visiting but have an understated logo imprinted just over the left breast pocket (or where the pocket would be if I was classy enough to buy high-end T-shirts). I’m not wild about making a giant, advertising statement when I’m out mixing with the hoi polloi, so I go with the smaller lettering. However, when we’re out hiking the trail, I am thankful that other people disagree with me by buying T-shirts with huge, easily readable logos, such as “NOTRE DAME,” “CHICAGO CUBS,” or “I’M WITH STUPID >” (those last two are somewhat interchangeable). It makes it easier for me and my cataract-infused limited eyesight to make comments.
So that day, a fellow and his wife passing us by on the rapids trail were sporting easily readable “PENN STATE” T-shirts. Well, that was my cue to start a conversation. And that was how I met Eric Dushon’s parents. It turned out that the Mrs. worked at Penn State University which led to my mention of my cousin’s husband, Rich Ready, who works as a professor at PSU which led to her husband asking if Rich was related to Jonathan Ready, my cousin’s son, as he had been Jonathan’s volleyball coach and Jonathan’s sister Trine’s principal and was the father of Jonathan’s teammate, Eric Dushon.
All this small world stuff because of a large-type T-shirt.
A few minutes later, I then talked to some people who went to the same college as senior softball teammate Jimmy Erickson and his wife, Carol, all because of their “Central Michigan University” T-shirts. Like the Ericksons, they were also residents of Mount Pleasant, MI (at which, I must say again, there is NO mountain).
As the sun set in the west (I guess that’s a Niagara Falls thing), the conversation of the tasters and socialers touched on a lot of subjects. The topic that I liked the best was that when people come here to the northeast in the fall to see the changing of the leaves’ colors, the locals refer to them as “LEAF PEEPERS.”
No relation to “Mr. Peepers,” at least as far as I can tell.
Anybody know where State College is????
____________________________________________
Just a few additions from Diedre:
I've enjoyed the discovery of the breweries, distilleries and wineries in our travels this year. This spot in Niagara Falls had the only really nice dry red wines that I could find though. Apparently the ground in upper New York favors sweeter grapes and so much of the wine tends to be much sweeter than I like. After visiting a few places I learned about Freedom Run Winery. The gal handling the tastings was very knowledgeable and also a huge fan of theater. In fact she was heading to New York City at the end of the month to live. I gave her all my tips about what shows to see!
Another shot I liked was this one looking over the Niagara River at the Canadian side. Alexx has a fun picture that his mom took when he (at age 12) and his brother Mark were standing on the edge of the platform overlooking the rapids. He was so impressed by it that all these years later he wanted desperately to find the spot where the rapids were so thunderous. On one of many walks searching for that particular spot, we looked across the river and realized they must have been visiting on the Canadian side, as we found the same platform. It was still attracting many visitors.The last time I was in Niagara Falls was with my younger brother when we took a cross country trip to visit my sister and do a bit of antiquing. (Remy still has a number of the antiques we acquired on that trip.) But we only stopped long enough to look at the Falls and admire their amazing wonder. It was so nice to have time to really discover the beauty of the area. This country is so incredible and we are so blessed to live here - everywhere. Traveling the US in our RV is something I never thought I would be doing, and yet now I can't imagine any other way for us to have retired. More important than seeing the sites are the people we have seen. Each year we have amazing visits with friends and family and this year two of those people are gone. Every time we get to reconnect with a relative or friend we are thrilled. Life turns on a dime and we never know when our time is up. We are constantly reminded how fortunate we are to do what we are doing and spend time with so many loved ones. Every day is a blessing and we continue to be thankful for the people and places in our lives that help us create amazing memories. Thanks for joining us on our journey!
No comments:
Post a Comment