All aboard the maid of the mist
So, after New York, I was wondering how exactly the rest of the trip would even be exciting. Well, it turns out it was better, much better. The next day, we had to take a long bus ride. We started off from Edison, New Jersey (which is really close to NYC), went through Pennsylvania and all for what…to circle back to Grand Island, New York. Just kidding, apparently this is the easiest way to reach Buffalo, ahem, the Niagara Falls. It is a whopping 400 mile journey, between places located in the same state(almost).
The trip was mostly uneventful, except for the fact that we had an original beef Sub for lunch (For those wondering, you do not get beef Subs from Subway in India). Well, after about what seemed like an eternity, we finally reached Grand Island about three in the afternoon. Getting out from the bus, we were greeted with a pleasant climate. This contrasts with the cold and windy climate my parents experienced, just two months back. After some wait, the guide returned with our tickets for the Maid of the Mist experience. We walked to an observation deck located close by, of course, there was an elevator. At the top, I got to experience Niagara for the first time.
After that I was quite excited for what was next to come, a ride under the Niagara Falls, or in other words the Maid of the Mist experience. We couldn’t take our phones as there as a cent percent chance of drenching, luckily our friends had IP68 rated smartphones (in layman’s terms — well, waterproof to splashes). Even though the boat did not go that close to the falls, the force was really something else. We were given protective suits, sure, but I really want to know as when does plastic bags qualify as suits.
Once the ride was over, I must admit that I was quite depressed. Then the mood completely changed when the guide announced that the next attraction was a chance to experience the falls even closer. How close you ask? Well, directly under the falls. Yeah, you read that right. But it was from another island called the Goat Island and it was a long hike. Only after reaching there, I found out that we had to wait our turn to enter the Cave of the Winds. The wait was not long, and after donning another protective suit(different colour this time) with custom sandals( sorry, don’t remember much about that ), we took an elevator down to…you guessed it, a cave. There was a presentation about Nikola Tesla and how Niagara was earlier used to generate hydroelectricity, after which they closed it considering the harm to the environment. After the presentation, we passed a dark tunnel to find the Niagara Falls lake at the other end. Now, I must admit I may have been a little childish when I saw what was in front of me. Hey, but it is not every day you get to be under one of the largest waterfall in the world. So, I can proudly say I danced under it. There, I said it. Out of the way now. If it’s any consolation, my brother joined me (feels good to betray him). Part of the reason that I danced was my very sad attempt at not getting swept away by the force of the Falls.
Well, that was pretty much it. We then took some time to explore the place and I got to take a lot of photos. After that, we had our dinner from yet another Indian restaurant and then retired for the day by checking in to the Holiday inn Express, Grand Island. Here are some pictures I took..
Well, thanks again for being around. Hope you liked it, as always see you again.
To continue on with the story, please click the below link
https://medium.com/@cyriacbijun/behold-the-united-states-capitol-6dbed415aaec
