0700 - Alarm goes off. Wake up the kids.
0720 - Ready to go to breakfast. Realize it's raining outside. Not the best weather for a walking tour of Niagara Falls but oh well. It's now or never!
0845 - Arrive at the Falls visitor center. Try to buy a trolley ticket. The information desk clerk tells us to go downstairs to buy a ticket. So we go downstairs, peruse the gift shop, then stop at a ticket booth. The man there tells us that we have to buy trolley tickets at the booth outside. We go to the booth outside and it is closed until 9 a.m. So we go back inside to find out where to buy tickets. The man sends us back upstairs. He tells us to use the handicap elevator since at this moment there are about a million bus tour people pouring down the stairs at us. So much for coming early to beat the crowd. Upstairs, we wait at a different ticket booth and are finally able to buy trolley tickets. We walk over to see the falls then decide to walk over to Goat Island. We'll pick up the trolley later to get a driving tour of the island and a ride back to the visitor center. Walk across the bridge. The rapids are below us. I'd love to take a picture but the bridge is very strong and tall and so full of metal that we can barely see through much less take a picture. Guess they don't want anyone to fall in. We arrive at the Cave of the Winds ticket booth and stand in line for about 20 minutes. Finally we are issued in to get our free ponchos and shoes. Then follow the signs to the elevator. Ride the elevator down and follow the crowd. It stinks of seagull poop - this is apparently their main hang out. Not completely overwhelming but definitely there. We walk along the stairs and boardwalk, eventually climbing up to the Hurricane Deck. (Grandma R opted to skip this section!) This is where we got VERY WET! Ryan of course loved it and the girls liked it to. I even went all the way to the back fence of the deck to get wet. I figured- I'm here. Already getting a little wet. Might as well go for the whole experience! Once we are completely soaked, we ride the elevator back up then get on the next trolley. Get off at Terrapin Point to look at Horseshoe Falls. The kids are getting cold now in the rain with their wet clothes. Go inside the gift shop to warm up and buy our souvenirs. Decide to eat lunch upstairs at the Top of the Falls Restaurant. It is not busy but the air conditioning is running full blast so the kids are starting to shiver and turn blue. I decide to go back downstairs and buy the tie-dye sweatshirt blanket I saw and liked. More expensive than it should be but at least it's a big blanket - twin size - and it kept all 3 of my precious babies warm while we were eating lunch. :)
After lunch we waited about 15 minutes for the next trolley. It is still raining (just a light rain thankfully!) so of course the trolley is packed. We cram ourselves in and ride around Goat Island. After we cross the bridge we drive right past our hotel. Unfortunately the trolley only stops inside the park so we had to keep riding on around the loop and back to the Visitor's Center then walk the 3 blocks or so back to the hotel. Upstairs to dry out and warm up.
Our favorite parts of Niagara Falls:
R - the Hurricane Deck
B - getting wet
F - getting to the waterfall (translation: Cave of the Winds tour)
L - the mist and the Cave of the Winds
S - Hurricane Deck and the whole Cave of the Winds, getting up close and personal with the falls
1:15 p.m. Talk to Ron. Ask him to find us a hotel for tomorrow night. Talk about other stuff like how my email program doesn't like to send outgoing mail at this hotel, how he stayed out until 2 last night with Jed, how I have to fish-sit and babysit when I get back.
1:30 p.m. Head out for the Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum.
3:13 p.m. Done at the museum. It was a great activity for a rainy Sunday afternoon. It is small and quiet - only a few other visitors there at the same time. They had a kids' activities section so Bella and Felisa did and art project while Ryan and I played checkers. Normally I would have been champing at the bit to keep going and finish up the tour but today it was just right. I knew it was raining (heavier at the time!) and that we had nowhere else to be today. The kids were content and happy there so there was no need to rush back to the hotel room where they could get bored and start driving me crazy!
Our favorite parts of the museum:
F - the carousel
R - the scavenger hunt
L - the painted horses
B - drawing a picture of Care Bear
S - how the 1916 carrousel can still be running today. Carrousels are so simple and classic - they are always a favorite and not so complicated that they will break down easily.
3:20 p.m. Iced coffee at McD's. They have Brownie Melts too so we order some to try out.
3:30 p.m. Stop for gas in North Tonawanda, NY $2.79/gallon
Back at the hotel we chow down on the brownie bites. Mmmmm.... sweet and chocolatey. Enjoy a bit more down time. I think one of the keys to my sanity is balancing enough down time for me with enough activity for the kids. We have the TV on and find out that Billy Mays died. Just the other day, Ryan was copying Billy Mays' speaking style. So sad to hear of his passing. Billy Mays is also the guy that Melissa thought our waiter looked like when we ate dinner on top of Sandia Peak.
Decided to be brave and adventurous again. Drove to a restaurant in Little Italy for dinner. The neighborhood between here and there wasn't the best but the food was good. Once back at the hotel the kids played while they waited for swimming time. Then an hour or so in the pool, showers, and now we're watching Wall-E before bed. Tomorrow back on the road again.
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