Pennsylvania-New York: Niagara and a boarder crossing
Pennsylvania was a pass through this time with our memories of Philly last fall still… memorable. This time the highlights were toll roads and a quick pass along Lake Erie on our way up to Niagara Fall in New York. We only stayed a couple days at Grand Island, NY but we were able to visit Fort Niagara, get wind blown along Lake Ontario, and walk across the Rainbow Bridge into Canada for a full view of the American Falls and Niagara Fall.
Fort Niagara was a surprisingly good history lesson. It is run by a private conservatory, not a National Park but they did an amazing job with tours and historical information about the forts French, British and American origins. Hopefully the boys took in some for their pending Homeschool Quiz 😳, but their teachers learned a great deal so they might be in for a tougher quiz! We had no idea this fort’s strategic importance in pre-Revolutionary and Revolutionary Wars. We also got the most informative Musket demonstration we have ever had.
Some fall color welcomed us into our KOA stop on Grand Island.
This is a repaired original version of the Stars and Stripes created by George Armistead, the creator of the Star Spangled Banner. This one is an “older sister” and was flown during battle over Fort Niagara back before 1815 making it one of the oldest American flags still preserved.
Fort Niagara was first built by the French as a means of establishing a “trade post” off of the strategic Lake Ontario. With the creation of the “French Castle” (pictured later), the fort was established as a formidable post until Fort George was constructed across the Niagara River in Canada. Fort George initially had an elevated, strategic cannon position over Fort Niagara, helping the British take control of Fort Niagara in 1759 during the French and Inian War. The British passed Fort Niagara to America via the Treaty of Paris in 1783. The Fort exchanged British and American hands during the war of 1812 with Fort George being completely destroyed. Some rich history for this river/lake fort for sure.
The “French Castle” is the icon of the fort but there were numerous buildings restored around the perimeter.
Interestingly the guns and artillery were primarily facing the river, Canada and land, not Lake Ontario.
For a 1700 built structure the French Castle was in surprisingly good condition… it was built really well.
This artillery position was build to gain elevation over Fort George in Canada.
Fort Niagara State Park not only houses Fort Niagara but its also a nice park with some great views of Lake Ontario. Faint outline of Toronto is across the lake behind us.
Our cross into Canada was a nice 5 miles of walking and picture taking. Michele and Vince saw the falls about 25 years ago but not at night. We highly recommend going at sunset/evening to take in the falls when they are lit up with color, pretty cool.
Robert reflecting on the gravity of standing in two countries :)
If you’ve never been, American Falls is to the left and Niagara Fall (which is more U shaped to the right. You can get to both from America and Canada but the Canadian side does have the better view of both falls.
Our iPhone didn’t do the sunset over the Falls justice. but it was still worth a few pictures.
The streak in the sky is a rainbow in the Fall’s mist.
The Falls have been illuminated in some capacity since the 1800s but modern lighting has added some fun to the mix with color changes and even cascading color changes at times.
This icy blue was Vince’s favorite color.
OK pro tip for anyone using the pedestrian walkway over the Rainbow bridge. You pay the toll on the return trip and it does have “tap” or Apple Pay but your credit card is likely to signal a fraud freeze after you use it once. If you’re a family of five crossing, that means your children get in on the first swipe, then wait for another child while you try a second card, and then 2 children stand waiting for their family while you fish for a $5 or $10 bill to feed into the coin machines to the right. Yeah… we attracted some attention during this 5 minutes of boarder crossing.
Return through Customs was easy this time, unlike our Mexico crossing. Birth Certificates for your kids make all the difference!
When in, or just outside of Buffalo, we also had to take in some Duffs! We didn’t go as traditional but the boneless Buffalo wings were VERY good!
Michele drove us out and across Upstate NY!
Passed the Erie Canal Historic Site.
Through Saratoga Springs.
And through Whitehall past the Armory.
Its been very dry across NY and New England so the foliage was muted for much of the trip but still fun for Floridians. Into Vermont and some camping with some of Michele’s Family!
