Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Bukkit Tour Day Two: Niagara Falls

It's 7:40 and I'm sitting in the common area of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Niagara Falls, NY. The girls are still sleeping so I thought I'd get up and write the account of day two really quick.

We didn't really get on the road yesterday until a little before 2:00PM so I had really written the day off. It turns out that our hotel is three blocks from the falls so we were able to walk there and have some activity for the day even though we really didn't get settled in until after 6:00PM. I thought that all we would end up doing was driving and eating dinner.

We started off using the google maps that I had printed out, but then I activated the GPS on my phone. WOW!! I didn't know what I was missing as far a directions and navigating. We were going to rent a GPS from the rental car agency, but at $12 a day, it seemed cheaper just to activate the one on my new phone. Aside from the massive battery suck it's fantastic.

It is really beautiful around in Niagara Falls, NY. The falls are an impressive sight to see. The park leading up to the falls is gorgeous too. Looking out over the edge and peering into the maelstrom created by the water sure has a way of making one's self to feel insignificant.

After chcking out the falls, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. It seems like our choices for vittles around here are all Indian food or the Hard Rock. I don't think I could get M to eat Indian food, so our choice was made for us.

Here is the most important lesson I learned yesterday. Natural beauty is ruined by makeup. At night they project colored light onto the falls. For me, it just kind of cheapens the experience. It is so alluring on it's own, I don't know why anyone felt the need to make it so gaudy.

The area around the New York side of the falls is really tacky. If someone took the area around Myrtle Beach and dropped it in downtown Columbus..boom..you've got Niagara Falls, NY. I kind of feel like I'm an extra in Neil Gaiman's "American Gods." Today we're going to go to the wax museum and do the boat tour of the falls and then we'll start making our way towards Boston.

We got back to the hotel around 10:30 last night. Laela booked a few more hotel rooms for later in the trip, and Miranda had her first PC access in two days. She was pretty hyped. I started working on my silly "art project" and then took a shower so I could go to sleep. All of the walking around really seems to get me tired quickly. Fortunately, I got a great night's sleep last night due (in no small part) to the super comfortable beds here. The hotel room is really nice but the hallways "smell like old people" according to Miranda.

Having a blast, missing my dog, and I hope everyone is doing well.