Day 13, a Thursday, was a day to relax and hang out in Niagara Falls — no driving! (Photos 1-2).

I really wanted to go on a Falls boat ride, but I didn’t know if it might be rough, and my legs / hips were still screaming at me after two long days cramped in the car ride from Boston. I was kind of worried that it would not go well, and I’d be wrecked for longer, so after Andrea and Jacob had breakfast at the hotel, the old fart (me) sent the young’uns (them) off on their own for a Hornblower cruise. It was busy, but the lines moved along well (photos 3-9). They took ramps and an elevator to get down to the boat.

They wore red rain ponchos and went outside on the long boat. The tour took them close to all the Falls — American, Bridal, and Horseshoe Falls. It was hard to see the American Falls at first because of mist. Some parts of the tour were pretty wet, while other parts were not so much, but it was hard to hear the commentary. It was also impossible to see once they got really close to Horseshoe Falls. They saw good views of the cliffs, falls, bridge and funicular, with good photo opportunities throughout (10-31). They took the elevator back to the top and had a rest.

We met up on Clifton Hill and went to the Movieland wax museum (32-46). There were lots of actors, characters, singers, and superheroes. The faces weren’t exactly the best quality, but the costumes were really good and it wasn’t too busy. Afterwards, we had lunch at Wendy’s (really busy) and then wandered farther up the hill (photos 47-48). We weren’t following a set plan for our route back, and we ended up wandering much farther afield than I intended, so quite the hike by the time we were done. We saw lots of restaurants to consider for dinner.

We hung out at the hotel and then ended up walking to a simple Outback for dinner that seemed much farther away than we initially thought. Fortunately, it wasn’t too busy, and we stopped for ice cream on the way back, eating outside on a patio (photo 49). My hips were screaming at me again on the way there, but one simple Robaxacet later, and I was fine for the walk back. Night and day, making me think I probably COULD have gone on the boat in the morning. Sigh. Next time, I guess. We heard the fireworks from our hotel room, but didn’t bother venturing out.

As I said, today was a non-driving day (yay!) and given the wetness of the initial outing on the cruise, not a big photo day either — 110 in total, curated down to 49.

2023-07b August – Day 13 Hornblower cruise and Clifton Hill

49 photos