Niagara Falls … slowly I turn

Erieites like to say Erie, Pennsylvania is centrally located: we are within 100 miles (give or take 20 miles) of Buffalo, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. We share Lake Erie with Buffalo, which is one of the reasons that we head east more often than south or west. Another motivator for me, is that, growing up, we went to Niagara Falls at least four times a year – so heading east is apparently genetic.

One of my favorite day trips to the falls included only my Dad and my baby brother, who was probably not more than three at the time. (Not everyone in the family got the Niagara Falls bug.) We ate at a typical touristy buffet overlooking the falls, where, horrifyingly, my brother’s lunch went right through him.  Spectacularly. And, of course, we had no spares. We located a store that sold both underwear and pants (and socks and shoes) and stocked up. We giggled the whole way home (and for years after) about the ridiculousness of the entire day as well as his outfit.

In college, I convinced my roommate and her boyfriend that they hadn’t lived until they saw Niagara Falls, and we made the eight hour trip from Boston to Niagara Falls in a loud and bouncy blue Jeep Wrangler. The Falls were as magnificent as I had told them, and, as far as I know, it was the only time they ever got to see them. I feared my parents would be angry that we made the road trip, but finally told them about it. They agreed 100% that the trip was completely reasonable as well as necessary.

Mom and Dad went to Florida every year for about six weeks during the winter. The snowbirds were pretty lucky they had a live-in babysitter for the younger unit of their eight child family, huh? Keeping the sibs occupied could be a little bit of a chore, though, so I finally decided on a day trip to the Falls. I still remember how disappointed my vacationing father sounded that he hadn’t made the trip with us.

Part of our marriage negotiations included at least semi-annual trips to Niagara Falls. Despite rolling his eyes about it occasionally, Bert keeps up his end of the deal, so we’ve been able to convince our boys that Niagara Falls is both a great day trip and awesome overnight destination, especially now that two of them are able to enjoy (brave?) a trip to the casino on the Canadian side. I prefer avoiding Niagara Falls during the summer because of the sometimes insane crowds: in my mind, there isn’t much better than the falls frozen and surrounded by snow in February or March. As a bonus, it’s cheaper to stay then.

“It’s Niagara Falls. It’s one of the most beautiful natural wonders in the world. Who wouldn’t want to walk across it?” Nik Wallenda

Ha! This girl. I love them, but…