On our second day at Niagara Falls, we thought we got up early, but we did not. But of course this is a vacation, and so the time of our departure was of no real import. Rather we were only about destination(s), and thanks to the Fair and Industrious Trudy, we had several in mind for the morning.
1. Niagara’s Edge. We walked north on the trail that runs past our hotel and found (to Trudy’s glee) Niagara Glen. Here, a trail took us down the bluffs, around and under the great limestone slabs that have fallen thru the millennia of Niagara’s action and thru a forest of tall Maple trees (and one lone Hemlock).
We followed the White trail and then the Red trail. We clambered over boulders and fallen trees. And we came at last to the edge of the river where the pastel bluegreen water races downstream and laps against the shore.
2. Whirlpool Aerocar. There’s something about its name that makes it seem worth trying: The Whirlpool Aerocar—a red and yellow cable car across the Niagara River at The Whirlpool, where the river a turns hard 90 degrees.
We discussed it a few times the day before and a few times on this morning, and by the time the trail led us to the place where you board, we were agreed that there really wasn’t any choice: we had to do it. So we did.
3. Bull Frogs. At the Butterfly Conservatory, we took a brief detour to the botanical gardens to see their bog garden. We came across a pond with Cattails and Lily Pads and other boggy things growing at the margins. We looked up the path further to see if there was more, but there was not. So we stood politely a moment and readied ourselves to return to the People Mover bus to take us back whence we had come.
And then a Bull Frog called out to us and then another and another. There was a tiny one sitting on a Lily Pad. And there were big ones croaking and playing leapfrog at the back of the pond. (I kid you not.) And there was a medium-sized one sitting in the shade, staring at us, just asking to have us take a picture.
