I wake up around 5:30, have some cold, left-over spaghetti and meatballs for breakfast, then hit the showers. A few beleaguer scouts were just starting to stir by the time I returned to my site. I grabbed my day-pack and meandered out to the main road to catch a bus to the Falls. Two bucks got me right to the main visitor center in short order.
I didn’t bring my passport with me, so I didn’t have the option of crossing over to the Canadian side for the better view. Even so, the view from the American side is still pretty damn impressive. I forked over a dollar to go out on the observation deck, then down the elevator where you could climb some stairs and gat a closer view. The problem is that when you get that close, the mist envelopes everything, so there really is no view. Regardless, the sound and sense of awesome power you get from being that close is well worth a dollar.
I wanted to go check out Fort Niagara, but when I asked the information people if I could walk there they laughed and laughed. Apparently it’s not as close as the tiny map on the brochure makes it out to be. I inquired about transportation options and the only thing they could think of was to call a taxi. This would have cost somewhere around $50, so I decided to save Fort Niagara for another trio.
Just to be sure the first set of information people weren’t simply clueless, I went to the main visitor center and asked there. They told me the same thing. (Hey, Fort Niagara, free million-dollar idea for ya – buy a little shuttle bus and charge two clams for tourists to go from the Falls to the Fort!) I asked the girl to recommend a non-chain pub for lunch. She gave me the choice of Wine on Third, a bistro about four blocks away, or Legends, a sports bar in the hotel across the street. I headed off the beaten tourist path for the bistro…
Which didn’t open until 4:00. Stoopid information people! At Legends, a half hour later, I gagged down something call a Beef on Weck sandwich. The beef was a few slices of roast beef lunchmeat, and the weck (short for kummelweck) is a bun with lots of salt on top. Even with the au jus, this was the feeblest excuse for a sandwich I’ve ever come across.
When I got back to Kamp around 2:00, the boy scouts had packed up their base and evacuated with the kind of military precision I could only marvel at. Scoutmaster Adolf Von Ironfist has done it again! The ‘Mericans were gone, too (and I’m sure they did it with much less efficiency and esprit de corps). I grabbed my tablet and headed off to the kamp library to work on my blog in a climate-controlled and mosquito-free environment.
Upon returning to my site, I discovered a new couple had moved in next door to me. The young man was diligently attempting to light a fire while his girlfriend looked on in hopeful support. I noticed he didn’t seem to be having much luck as I went about doing a few chores and getting ready to go find dinner. I thought about offering some help, but I didn’t want to emasculate the poor fellow as he was trying to impress a potential mate with his primal wilderness skills.
After feasting on fried mushrooms and a big salad, I returned to find there was still no campfire next door. Something was burning, but I think it was just paper they scavenged from their car. I then saw the girl put a pot atop the grill grate over what amounted to a candle flame, and I realized they were relying on the not-quite-fire to cook their dinner. I had to take pity on them. I dug out my camp stove and went over to offer it to them.
Turns out they didn’t speak English. It also turns out that I don’t speak whatever Slavic language they were using. With gestures and a quick demonstration of the contraption I was offering, they got the idea and were more than happy to make use of my modern fire producing device. I perfectly understand the desire to go off into the woods and rough it, but what I don’t understand is going off the highway a few yards and “roughing it” a five-minute walk from a restaurant and strip mall. People are strange. (Which is a good thing, because otherwise life would be too boring to tolerate.)
What I Learned: Being an elevator operator at Niagara Falls has to be one of the most mind-numbing jobs out there.
Distance Today: 0 miles
Total Distance: 563 miles
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