Niagara Falls revisited

These vistas are astonishingly similar to photos I took on my first visit in the 90's. Since nothing seemed the same, I guess the culprit was my faulty memory. Even re-watching the 1953 movie "Niagara" with Marilyn Monroe didn't answer the questions I was certain it would.

Niagara River

Our arrival at Niagara Falls was peculiar and anticlimactic. Of course I had been here once before many years ago. Nothing seemed the same, and yet photographic evidence suggests that it was similar. We know for certain that it was hot and crowded; that parking on the American side was a nightmare; and that the "town" on the American side is unsettlingly ugly. The park itself, New York and America's oldest state park, had undergone and was still undergoing renovations. Frederick Law Olmsted's original park was only faintly visible. Seen here, the rapidly flowing Niagara River.

Canandaigua, NY

The hotel and the lake were great. We did not see the downtown, but an area on the periphery that resembled other parts of America (see above). And yet... this same area was distinguished by an almost palpable Canadian vibe. That is, the people seemed quasi-Canadian.

Canandaigua Lady

Evidently a paddle boat docked right in front of the hotel. Canadaigua is the fourth largest of the Finger Lakes after Seneca, Cayuga and Keuka.

Hotel Canandaigua

The Hotel Canandaigua - "Tapestry Collection by Hilton" - was very comfortable lodging right on the lakefront in a park-like setting. It definitely had the best pool of the trip, in which I swam 30 laps. Conveniently there was also dining right in the hotel.

Canandaigua Lake

Since we arrived at Canadaigua Lake late in the afternoon, our first glimpses of it were during sunset. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Seneca Harbor, part 3

A nice little jetty stroll was well worth the views of Seneca Lake.

Seneca Harbor, part 2

As the structure above makes clear, Watkins Glen is on Seneca Lake. Ithaca, on the other hand, is on Cayuga Lake. Why this is hard to remember is beyond me. Some day I will have it straight.

Seneca Harbor

A place to have lunch in Watkins Glen after experiencing Watkins Glen State Park. Specifically we dined on the patio of the Blue Pointe Grille in the Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel (above left).

Seneca Homelands

The original inhabitants of the Finger Lakes region.

Gray Petaltail Dragonfly

A species unique to the area...

Watkins Glen, part 4

These scenes near the Main Entrance capture the exquisite beauty of Watkins Glen. It was interesting to discover that this entrance is situated right on the edge of the downtown area. A shuttle bus would soon whisk us back to the Upper Entrance.

Watkins Glen, part 3

One of the highlights of the gorge is Cavern Cascade. Difficult if not impossible to get a photo covering the full vertical extent of the view, and impossible to get a photo without people on a busy Saturday. Still worth the price of admission (which was $10).

Watkins Glen, part 2

One is struck by the narrowness of the gorge, and it is no accident that every photo I took within it is in "portrait" mode. As the scenery got progressively more beautiful, I wondered how starting from the other entrance - the Main Entrance - would affect the experience. Since we were doing more descending than ascending, the way we did it - from the Upper Entrance - was probably a little easier.