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This was a 2 day tour to thousand islands and Niagara falls. We left by a bus from New York very early morning. We drove to the Thousand Islands, where we took a Boat Tour of the area.
The Thousand Islands is an archipelago at the Canada-U.S. border from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for about 50 miles. The U.S. islands are in the state of New York and the Canadian islands are in Ontario. The smaller islands only have single residences.
These boat tours of the unique and impressive Thousand Islands region take visitors by some of the most well-known locales, such as Zavikon Island, the mysterious Deer Island, and the famous Boldt Castle mansion on Heart Island.
Thousand Island dressing’s name comes from the Thousand Islands region, located along the upper St. Lawrence River between the United States and Canada. Within that region, one common version of the dressing’s origins says that a fishing guide’s wife, Sophia LaLonde, made the condiment as part of her husband George’s shore dinner. Often in this version, actress May Irwin requested the recipe after enjoying it. Irwin, in turn, gave it to another. In another, second version of the story, Thousand Islands summer resident, George Boldt, who built Boldt Castle between 1900 and 1904 and who was proprietor of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, instructed the hotel’s maître d’hôtel, Oscar Tschirky, to put the dressing on the menu in 1894 after he forgot dressing on salads and improvised with what ingredients were on hand at the time. A 1959 National Geographic article states, “Thousand Island Dressing was reportedly developed by Boldt’s chef.” Despite claims that he was involved in the introduction of the salad dressing at the Waldorf, chef Tschirky did not mention the salad dressing in his cookbook that was published during that time period.
We left towards Niagara in the evening and had a glance at falls illuminated with the colorful light at night. Latter we settled at a nearby hotel for overnight stay.
Next day we left very early to enjoy our full day outing at Niagara falls. It was a short bus trip from the hotel and I could see spray like foam forming a cloud far away.
Located on the Niagara River, which drains Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, the combined falls form the highest flow rate of any waterfall in North America that has a vertical drop of more than 165 feet (50 m). During peak daytime tourist hours, more than six million cubic feet (168,000 m3) of water goes over the crest of the falls every minute.Horseshoe Falls is the most powerful waterfall in North America, as measured by flow rate.
There are various adventure activities to enjoy around the falls . I went both for “Maid of Mist” and “Cave of the Winds”. By 1846, entrepreneurs decided a bigger craft could profit by transporting people, luggage, mail and cargo. So, the first Maid of the Mist steamboat, large enough to carry a stagecoach and horses, was christened.
In 1848, construction of a suspension bridge curtailed business and the Maid of the Mist was re-branded as a sightseeing adventure that still operates to this day. Another interesting bit of history – Jawaharial Nehru, Prime Minister of India, rode the Maid of the Mist in 1949. The boat takes tourists to very close the horseshoe fall and it is very common to get completely drenched .
“Cave of Winds” tour allows to go into gorge and have an intimate experience of the Niagara falls . I was outfitted in souvenir sandals and ponchos to keep me dry before descending 175 feet into the awe-inspiring Niagara Gorge. After exiting the elevator cave , I found yourself on a series of wooden walkways that brought me to unbelievable “Hurricane Deck” where are within feet of the crashing Bridal Veil Falls and surrounded by tropical storm like conditions—even on the calmest of days! Nowhere else on earth gets you closer to Niagara Falls!
After a full and tiring day it was time to return . On our return journey we had a brief stop at Rossi glass factory.
We were back in city by evening.
