Niagara Falls

As part of our Memorial Day weekend travels, Eric and I decided to 'swing by' Niagara Falls. Yes, It was a little out of the way - but not to much. I figured this would be the best chance we had to see the falls... when else would we be driving in northern PA, where we could do a quick zig-zag and be at Niagara falls??

After we said our good-byes to all of the family on Sunday morning, we were off through rural PA and NY... it's funny, because you don't think of 'rural' when you think of New York... but they have their share of farmland. It is more than just New York City! (though New York City is the best part) We got to the US side of the falls right around lunch, but instead of going right for food, we decided to visit the state park and get some views of the falls while the weather was nice - never know when it's going to change on you! It was already a lot more overcast then it was earlier in the day, and when we looked at the forecast, we saw the chance for rain increased throughout the day, as well... so we didn't want to risk it!

But we weren't expecting the Canadian side to be so much... well... nicer!! Granted, they have a tourist strip that could rival a portion of I-Drive in Orlando, but the park portion was much cleaner and seemed to be put together better than the New York State Park. Kind of a shocker, actually. But regardless, I'd recommend both side to anyone going to see the falls - they both have their advantages. You can see some more pictures on my Fotki page.

So here's the kicker of our trip, though... there always seems to be something. They closed the Rainbow Bridge down (the bridge to cross the border right there at the falls) right as we finished up dinner (6:15pm-ish)... fire trucks everywhere, etc. From afar, we assumed a bus caught fire because that was all we could see, really - a bus stopped in the middle of the bridge. We wasted some time in the shops and walked around some more, but finally decided to head south on the QEW and cross about 45 minutes south in Buffalo. Come to find out that the bridge ended up being closed until 9:30pm, so it was a good decision. Why was it closed? Some guy 'fell' off the bridge and they were recovering the body. Kind of freaky. Guess it happens more than you hear about, but still an oddity to add to the memory of a trip!