Before everyone resumes school, we headed off for our summer vacation – finally a place that none of us have ever visited. Linda has made sure we have spent our summer vacations visiting iconic places around the nation (Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, LA, Nashville, etc). However, we were looking for a place none of us have ever visited. Buffalo, NY and Niagara Falls beckoned…

We flew in to Buffalo and promptly made our way to Duff’s Famous Wings to get some Buffalo Chicken Wings (one of the 2 purported origins of Buffalo Wings) . Of course, I paired it with a nice pint of Yuengling brew – from America’s oldest brewery.

Afterwards, we went to Delaware Park in Buffalo to hike around and view a Japanese Garden – a beautiful walking trail.

We hung out in Buffalo and stayed at Chestnut Hill Farm House, a bed and breakfast on the southern edge of town. The place was a remodeled 165-year old farm house. We enjoyed a wonderfully spacious room with a side room for the girls and a patio off our bedroom.

We woke up Sunday morning and attended Mass at one of the local Catholic churches. It’s always amazing that one can attend Mass in another state (or even country) and it will be very similar to the home church. We then returned the Bed & Breakfast to enjoy the promised breakfast – a french toast casserole and assorted fruit.

One last thing to do in Buffalo before heading to Niagara Falls was to tour one of the Frank Lloyd Wright houses there. This was built in the early 1900’s for Darwin Martin, a millionaire who had worked his way up from selling Larkin soap door-to-door in NYC to being the senior accounting executive for the Larkin Soap Co. It was a fabulous tour. Unfortunately, no photos inside, so you only get these outdoor photos.

After spending the afternoon in Buffalo, we loaded into the rented Chevy Cruze and travelled an hour north up to Niagara Falls, NY. We hiked for a while on the trail in the park. The first views of the falls were breathtaking – and we quickly took a group selfie to commemorate the arrival.

We are standing on the USA side, right next to the USA falls with Horseshoe Falls in the far background and the tall buildings of Niagara Falls, Ontario behind us. We eventually got across the water (after an hour on the bridge, waiting to get through customs) and checked in to the hotel. The highlight of the evening, after a 20 minute walk back to the water, was a ride on the Hornblower boat into the base of the Horseshoe Falls to see them lit up with colored spotlights and view an impressive fireworks show just above us while floating in the water.

The final and penultimate day was filled with a tour all around Niagara Falls via a tour bus and guide. This was definitely the way to do it there – we saw and learned so many things that we wouldn’t have without the guide. We enjoyed the time-honored Maid of the Mist boat tour and really got up and close to the falls.

We spent time on land on both sides – up close and personal. It seemed you could hop the little fence and jump right in the water.

We finished the day at the top of an observation deck which afforded a most spectacular view (second only to being at the bottom of the Horseshoe Falls). The view was truly amazing.

Prior to our flight home, we had a bit of time to kill – so we stopped at a movie theater and watched the new “Ghostbusters”. What a fun weekend.