Travel Adventures in Upstate New York, Part 3: Buffalo and Niagara Falls

This is my third post about our travel through upstate New York. I suggest reading the first and second posts before this one. Because I blog about educational travel, I received admission tickets and other benefits for some of the places we visited during our trip. Other places are free for everyone and we paid full price for the rest. This has no bearing on my reviews. If you see any gaps in my narrative, it is because I didn't love that particular attraction, restaurant, or hotel enough to recommend it, regardless of how much I paid or didn't pay.

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Buffalo, New York to Niagara Falls

Our next activity was the 90 minute Buffalo River History Tour, aboard the double-decker Harbor Queen. 

Our excellent guide told us all about the history of the river. We learned all about the grain elevators, mills, and chemical production that happened along the shores. Most of the industrial stuff is closed now, but General Mills still operates there. Today, the Buffalo plant produces Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Wheaties, Kix, Bisquick, Total, and Betty Crocker mixes. You can identify what they're making each day by the smell. We recognized the sweet corn smell of Kix as we sailed by. 

Low bridge, everybody down. 

This is Buffalo RiverWorks, a destination for food, sports, and entertainment. 

It was fascinating to learn how the grain elevators worked. The first grain conveyer was built in Buffalo, eliminating the need for human labor to unload it. Soon, Buffalo had the largest capacity for grain storage in the US. Ships would bring grain to the elevators, which were built over train tracks, then trains would carry the grain away. 

Low bridge #2. We had orders not to touch it, which we absolutely could have done with almost no effort. 

The tour flew by. Our guide did an outstanding job telling us the history in the form of stories, leaving us hanging on every word. 

All too soon, we were back at the harbor. I highly recommend a trip with Buffalo River History Tours!

After disembarking, we had a 6-mile drive to get to the Buffalo History Museum. It hadn't been part of my original itinerary, but it was the best option to fill the open time slot after our boat tour. 

There's a lot to see at the museum. We packed in as much as we could during the 40 minutes we had before they closed. 

Toymaker Fisher-Price began in East Aurora, about 20 miles from Buffalo. 

This exhibit about sports in Buffalo was very interesting. You wouldn't know it seeing Bills gear everywhere, but Buffalo boasts a lot of sports besides football. 

This room was all about the Erie Canal and the people who worked on it. 

Unfortunately, the museum was hosting a wedding that evening and we couldn't get to some of the exhibits. There were caterers, wedding party members, and grandmas scurrying around everywhere. We tried to stay out of their way as best we could, while still seeing as much as possible in the (open to the public) museum. 

The vast majority of the tables were downstairs in the large area. Some guests (clearly the C list) were going to be squeezed into long tables in the upstairs halls. 

I wish we'd had more time (and less wedding interference) at the Buffalo History Museum. It's well-worth a visit. 

We left Buffalo and drove a short distance to North Tonawanda. I really wanted to visit the Herschell Carrousel Factory and Museum, but their limited hours didn't work with everything else we wanted to do. So we drove there anyway, knowing that it was closed. 

(Insert sad music as I gaze through the locked fence at what could have been. Sigh.)

Since we couldn't see the carousel factory, we found a carousel-themed geocache nearby. 

We headed to downtown North Tonawanda for dinner. I thought this sign was really clever. 

Teddy Roosevelt was here. 

Before I tell you about dinner, I need to go way back to 1988. I was 16. During a family cruise, I became friends with a really nice guy from Buffalo, New York. Chris and I stayed in touch for the next 4 years or so, through letters and phone calls. We eventually lost touch, but reconnected via Facebook. When Steve and I made plans to visit Buffalo, I asked Chris if we could meet him and his wife (Maria) for dinner. He enthusiastically agreed and made reservations at Frankie Primo's +39. 

Here I am in the giant chair out front of the restaurant. And here I am with Chris, 37 years after the last time we saw each other in person!

  

The four of us had a fantastic time together. Between the outstanding food and the excellent company, the time absolutely flew by. If we didn't live on opposite coasts, I'm confident that the four of us would hang out regularly. 

Much too soon, it was time for us to say goodbye. I hope we see each other again before another 37 years pass!

Next stop, Niagara Falls! Steve and I had been to Niagara Falls together before, but it was from the Canadian side and during the daytime. He'd been to the Falls from the New York side before we met, but neither of us had seen the Falls at night. So I wanted to include it on this trip. 

We checked into our hotel, the Hyatt Place. It's one of the closest hotels to the Falls but was surprisingly affordable for a Friday night. I'm not sure if that's because we were there in the off-season (barely) or because there are so many hotels in town that they're always affordable. Either way, it was a nice surprise. I definitely recommend the Hyatt. 

After dropping our stuff in our room, we took the four minute walk to the Falls. 

It felt like a completely different place than from the Canadian side. First, we walked along the river...

... and then we moved to where we had a better view of the Falls. Seeing the Falls lit in all the beautiful colors was everything I'd hoped it would be. Check out that mist!

We headed back to the Hyatt and up to the rooftop. You can see the Falls from there (barely) but more importantly, it's a great place to watch the fireworks. 

It was a wonderful way to end a fantastic day. We collapsed into bed, exhausted but happy. We had another full day of adventures ahead of us. I'll tell you all about that tomorrow.