May 31, 2017
PUBLISHER’S CORNER
By Kari Smith
The Best Part of New York
Most people who love to travel, would say that New York City is the best part of the state of New York. I would beg to differ. Last summer we drove the 700+ miles to the
state of New York to see my favorite part of New York, Niagara Falls. It was not my first trip, but it was the first trip for our children.
On the way there, the moans of disbelief were almost unbearable. They couldn’t comprehend that we thought it was necessary to spend two days traveling to see a waterfall. They have seen Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis; could it be that different? However, the look on their faces as they viewed the falls, put on their blue ponchos, and climbed aboard a boat to get the up-close view of the falls was worth every bit of complaining.
Niagara Falls is actually the combination of three falls: American Falls, Bridal Falls, and the Horseshoe Falls otherwise known as the Canadian Falls. The word “Niagara” is derived from the Iroquois Indian word “Onguiaahra” meaning “the straight.”
On this amazing trip, we took the boat tour, The Maid of the Mist. They handed us our blue ponchos and we all wondered, “Are they really necessary?” Once on the boat, we traveled past the American and Bridal Veil Falls. The boat was crowded with many other tourists so it was hard to get up to a railing to get a spectacular view but then we entered the curve of Horseshoe Falls and the people on the railing cleared away pretty quickly. The pamphlet described the experience as a dense mist of spray right inside the curve of the Horseshoe Falls. As a family, we would say it felt more like a torrential down pour of fine rain but coming directly at our faces. Thank goodness, we put on our ponchos. The Horseshoe Falls has 681,000 gallons of water pouring over it every second. It was so powerful at moments we couldn’t even open our eyes to view the falls.
As you plan your summer trips or make your bucket list, I strongly encourage you to add Niagara Falls to the must see list. Four of the five Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie) drain into the Niagara River and we stopped to see three of those four on our travel adventure to and from New York. However, whether you are traveling or not this summer, I do hope you enjoy some time outside!
