Im willing to bet that many, if not most, travel writers from the US have been to Niagara Falls, at least once. This was my third trip, though its the first time I can remember seeing the American side of the Falls. But Ill only get to my experience of the Falls later. Instead, I started out my journey in the northern areas of the Niagara region: Youngstown and Lewiston. Youngstown might just be my favorite little town in New York now.
I had done a little research before going on this trip, and I discovered that theres a FREE tourist bus that goes between the Falls in the south and Fort Niagara in the north, making stops at most of the touristy locations in between. My intention was to use that bus to get to the Falls without paying to park, and then move northward. But as with most good intentions, they gave way to reality. Long story short, I opted to explore the northern areas on my own in the morning, and then use the bus to get to the Falls afterward. So thats what I did.
some spectacular views of the Whirlpool, a sort of crook in the river where the water by necessity churns before moving on. I saw no literal whirlpool like youd expect in a sea adventure, but the water certainly moved in a counterclockwise direction over a large round area of the river. Parking was free, and they have good signage to direct you along the trails leading to the edge of the river (or as close as you can get, overlooking the river below). I only ran into 3 or 4 people along that trail, but I did get there around 9:30 AM, so it was probably earlier than most people would be doing anything except the main draw in the area—the Falls themselves.
I pushed northward, hoping to see the Devils Hole site—I mean, that on. I hopped on the Niagara Scenic Highway, which is somewhat misnamed. It was scenic, sure, up until the big dam area, after which theres nothing really scenic at all. Also, its a bit claustrophobic since there are next to zero exits for several miles. Once youre past the dam, it does feel like youre trapped on the road. I certainly felt
trapped. Also Google Maps let me down with their directions to Devils Hole: it told me to turn left into the park, which wouldve made me jump the curb into a parking area that looked like it had been closed off for a while. So instead, I continued northward.
Youngstown was simply idyllic. It had the vibe of any small town in America, with smallish, houses along the main road into town, a few stores, and then Main Street parallel to the waterfront. I parked on Main Street and explored the area on foot. Its really small enough to do that. Some cute restaurants and cafs, local shops, and loads of historical markers. They had stuff going from the Seven Years War (also called the French and Indian War) up through the War of 1812, as well as Underground Railroad sites. Sloping downhill at an angle behind all these shops of Main Street was the road leading to the actual waterfront. I may have trespassed into a local boating club (oops), but I got to see so many sail boats, many of them in dry dock, others anchored in the harbor awaiting their owners and passengers. Across the
way, I could see Canada, and it made me sad that I couldnt go. I wondered how they could stop me if I just took one of these boats and rowed it to the other side.
I climbed back up to Main Street instead, half dejected, and decided to go as far north as Main Street would take me. It wasnt long at all, maybe a mile, before I ran into the entry to Fort Niagara, where theyve restored it to what it looked like at the time of those wars mentioned above. Reenactments and all. But when I saw it was $18 just to park, I decided I had better things to do. So I turned around and made my way south for the rest of the day.
And it turns out that the dam was one of the coolest sights I saw all day. (But really, there wasnt anything I saw in the entire area that wasnt cool.
