Hello and welcome to episode 28 of the Ready Set Depart Podcast. We are so glad you’re here!

We recently went to Niagara Falls and as I was researching for this trip, I found out some things that I didn’t know about Niagara Falls, and you might not know these either. Trooper is going to join me today to talk about things you might not know about Niagara Falls with your family.

Quick Facts

Ashley: I didn’t realize how popular Niagara Falls was with 12-14 MILLION visitors per year. We went in October so we didn’t see huge numbers of people but even then, there were a lot of people there!

Trooper: I didn’t know that Niagara Falls is a New York State Park. But not only is it a state park, it’s the oldest state park in America! It was started in 1885.

Ashley: I always thought of Niagara Falls as one big falls, but it’s actually 3 different falls - the American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, and Horseshoe Falls. American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls are on the American side and Horseshoe Falls is on the Canadian side.

Trooper: Speaking of that, I didn’t realize that Niagara Falls was in America AND in Canada. That was weird to me.

Ashley: This is a fact that Brent really liked, being an engineer. About 3,160 tons of water per second flows over the falls. 

I know this stat sounds fake, but it isn’t, but it’s kind of hard to imagine what that means. Hopefully this will help. That’s more than an entire Olympic swimming pool of water disappearing over the edge every single second. Or think about it this way: it’s like 15 million showers running at the same time. Every second. Suddenly the noise makes sense.

Trooper: Yeah, it is REALLY noisy! I remember hearing it in the parking lot as soon as I opened the door but I didn’t realize what it was until we got closer to the falls and it was even more loud!

Ashley: Even though I love maps, I didn’t realize how close Niagara Falls is to some of the Great Lakes! In fact, the falls are fed by 4 of the 5 Great Lakes and it empties into the last one - Lake Ontario.

Trooper: Okay, here’s a cool one.

The Falls don’t just look powerful, they actually are. Niagara Falls produces about 4 million kilowatts of electricity.

That’s enough energy to power millions of homes at the same time. So while you’re standing there watching the water crash down, it’s also quietly helping turn on lights, heating homes, and charge devices on both sides of the border.

Nature doing its thing.

Plus, my dad says that it COULD produce a lot more but the water is restricted upriver. 

History and a Little Fun

Stunts

Ashley: I love finding “lesser known facts” and boy does Niagara Falls have a lot of those! The biggest? Daredevils.  Now, this was a very different time, and obviously not something that’s allowed or encouraged now but daredevils have been attempting to make a name for themselves with the falls since 1827. That’s when a group put a bison, two bears, two geese, and a dog in a “pirate ship” over the falls for a publicity stunt. It’s said that only the bears and geese survived. That was a different world than we live in now!

Trooper: I know Mom! That was kind of horrible. But did you hear about the first woman to go over the falls and survive? Her name was Mrs. Annie Edson Taylor and she wanted to be famous so this is how she decided to do it! After she did it, she is famously quoted as saying, “No one ought ever do that again.” Wise words.

Ashley: But if you’re thinking about going over the falls today, with or without a bison, don’t do it. The fine is pretty hefty, if you survive.

Engineering & Innovation

Trooper: Mom, do you know the name Nikola Tesla? 

Ashley: I’ve heard of Tesla’s the car, but what can you tell me about Nikola Tesla?

Trooper: He was a famous inventor who invented the AC current, which is what we use today for electricity. The first time he used his AC current was transmitting electricity from Niagara Falls to Buffalo, New York. That’s about 20 miles and it was a huge achievement! I love having lights and electricity so I’m really glad that Nikola Tesla invented AC current and tested it at Niagara Falls!

Ashley: Me too Trooper!

I didn’t know before that Niagara Falls and Central Park in New York City have something in common. Well, besides trees. Frederick Law Olmstead, who designed Central Park, fought to protect the Falls and later designed the park itself.

Unexpected Happenings

Trooper: This is a story that I think is really cool. I’m glad you found it Mom. On March 29, 1848, the falls ran completely dry for 30 hours. This was because of an ice jam upriver. I didn’t know what an ice jam was so maybe you don’t either but it’s when the frozen river is starting to break up and the ice creates a dam, rather than just flowing down river. My favorite part of the story is that the nearby residents said that they were woken up by the quiet. Imagine that! Being woken up because it was too quiet! That would be eerie!

Native American History

Ashley: I didn’t know that the Niagara Falls area has been inhabited by people since the Ice Age. 

Trooper: Oh yeah, I remember that! And the Seneca Tribe has lived in the area for about 13,000 years.

Ashley: That’s a long time. When we were in Niagara, we saw signs for a Native American Market but couldn’t find it. When we asked at information, they said that it was too cold and rainy that day for the Market, so if you’re there in the summer or on a nice day, can you go to the market and send me pictures? I’m super curious what we would have found!

What to Do & See

Classic Attractions

Trooper: I’m so excited that I get to talk about this one because I have to say, when you told me about it, I wasn’t too excited. So, guys, when you go to Niagara Falls, you need to go on the Maid of the Mist. It’s a boat ride into Horseshoe Falls. This company was once a ferry that took you from the American side to the Canadian side of the river, but when the first bridge was built in 1846, it became a tour boat. I know, that sounds kind of boring but let me tell you what it’s like.

First, you go out on this cool platform high above the river where you can see the Falls really well. And it’s windy and loud. Then you take an elevator down to the river. It’s a big elevator! You walk through a little hut and they give you a plastic poncho. Ours were pink but normally they are blue. Then you get on the boat.

The boat takes you past American Falls, which is cool. And Bridal Veil Falls, which is smaller but cool. And there’s a recording playing that’s telling you about things but it’s so loud from the wind and the water rushing down the cliff that you can’t really hear anything. Then you get into Horseshoe Falls and it’s like you’re in a hurricane! The wind is whipping all around you. The water is coming at you sideways. And you can’t hear anything! 

And it’s so worth it! Even my grandma who doesn’t like being cold and wet said that was a once in a lifetime experience and she was so glad she went. 

Ashley: Ok, now I get to talk about the Cave of the Winds. This is pretty cool guys and at first, I thought this was for sure going to be the thing we did at Niagara Falls. However, it was chilly that day and we would have gotten very wet so I’m glad we didn’t.

But the Cave of the Winds is your chance to get as close to Bridal Veil Falls as possible. Basically, you learn a little about Nikola Tesla and how he changed the world, then you go down an elevator to wooden decks that take you right up to the Falls. That part is only open May through October because in the winter, they take down the wooden decks. But if you go to Hurricane Deck, it will be like being in a tropical storm. You can also touch the water coming off the falls. 

On a warm day, that could be pretty amazing! But in the cold, not so much.

Trooper: I liked that we did the Maid of the Mist. 

But what I want to talk about is the Observation Tower at Prospect Point. This is the same place you go to take the elevator down to the Maid of the Mist, but it also is the best place to see the falls on the American side. Honestly, I think the Canadians have the best views of the Falls, but they’re pretty good here too. 

Nature & Hiking

Ashley: Ok, let’s do a couple of fast things we learned, sound good?

Niagara Falls State Park is a 400 acre park but 140 acres are underwater

Trooper: Terrapin Point is the best place to see Horseshoe Falls from the US side

Ashley: The cliff that the Falls come down is actually called the Niagara Escarpment. An escarpment, according to dictionary.com, is a long, steep slope, especially one at the edge of a plateau or separating areas of land at different heights.

Trooper: We saw a rainbow when we first got to the Falls, and one when we were on the Maid of the Mist. We learned that on a sunny day, rainbows are all around. I like to look for rainbows!

Ashley: Even when there isn’t rain, right?

Wildlife & Extras

Trooper: This next thing we learned kind of surprised all of us! When my mom was researching about Niagara Falls, she told me that there were black squirrels there, but that she didn’t really believe that was true.

Ashley: The pictures I saw on the internet looked really fake.

Trooper: They did. But we decided to watch for them when we were there and do you know what? We saw two! I spotted the first one from the Niagara Falls Visitor Center. Mom and I yelled and ran out to see it. 

It was so cute and different. In the Pacific Northwest we have Eastern Gray Squirrels and Douglas Squirrels that are smaller and more red. But this black squirrel looked like an Eastern Gray Squirrel, just black. So we looked it up. They are a Gray Squirrel that is just black and they are only found in the Northeast and into Canada. I have to say, I’m a little jealous because they are cute.

So, with that sighting, we knew that black squirrels were indeed a thing, but then as we were driving out of Niagara to our next destination, we saw another one run across the road, so we can say that there is in fact a population of black squirrels in the Niagara area.

Ashley: They were fun to see!

Speaking of animals, there is also the Aquarium of Niagara about 5 minutes north of the Falls. We didn’t go to it this time around but we hear it’s pretty cool. It has penguins, sturgeon - and if you’ve never seen a 12 foot sturgeon, that would be worth the visit - seahorses, and more. 

Nighttime Experience

Trooper: I’m really glad that we did this next part but I’m also glad that we went to Walmart and got some warm hats and gloves because it was cold!

Year round, Niagara Falls is illuminated at night. The times change depending on the time of year, but if you can get there, do it. It’s amazing!

People started experimenting with lighting up the Falls at night in 1879 when they tried to do it with bright fireworks, but the LEDs they use now are amazing. They change the colors every few minutes and it even lights up the mist from the Falls. So cool!

Ashley: It was really cool, but I’m glad we got there to see the fireworks over Niagara Falls. They do fireworks every night - weather depending. It was absolutely beautiful to see the fireworks at eye level basically because they shoot them from the river that is about 170 feet below you at Prospect Point, which is the best place to see the fireworks.

Check their website for times and go! 

Nearby Attractions

Trooper: I have a little secret. I love pizza. I would probably eat pizza every day of my life if I had the choice, so when we looked for somewhere to eat in Niagara, I was really glad we found a pizza place with New York Style Pizza. It’s called Buck’s Pizzaria. We ordered the pizzas to go and the service was great. They could tell we weren’t locals so they helped us know what the best thing to get would be. And they were right!

Ashley: They were indeed! That was a good pizza!

If you want to go to a bigger city, Buffalo, New York is only about 30 minutes away. This is actually where we flew into. I have this problem with calling American Bison “buffalo” because they aren’t buffalo, they’re bison. Buffalo are a totally different thing. So to have a whole city called Buffalo, I was ready for my soap box. Plus, I don’t even think bison were in the area. But I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that Buffalo is not named after the animal, whatever you would call it, it’s named after a French phrase - Beau Fleuve - which means beautiful river. 

Trooper: That’s interesting!

The first Great Lake I ever saw was Lake Ontario which is about 30 minutes north of Niagara Falls. We found a lot of cool rocks - in fact, I found the coolest blue rock EVER there. The shore line is different from any beach or lake I’ve been to and it was WINDY! 

But I thought the coolest thing was seeing a city way off in the distance. It looked like it just floated above the lake. It was Toronto, Canada. If it was clear, I’m told we could have seen it better, but it looked cool.

Ashley: Heading back to Buffalo now so that we can find Lake Erie. Lake Erie was much calmer and less windy than Lake Ontario was but the shoreline had a lot less beach. We enjoyed some time in the sunshine there and a funny sign that said “No Swimming or Wading or Ice Skating”. The ice skating part made us laugh because where we’re from, it never gets cold enough to ice skate on a lake!

The reason we came to Lake Erie was to see the lighthouse there, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to see it up close because it’s on the Coast Guard base and it was closed because of the government shutdown. We did see it from far off and it looked pretty cool, so if you’re ever in the area, stop on by.

Trooper: About an hour east of Niagara Falls is Lockport, New York. It’s a little town on the Erie Canal and that might not sound like a big deal, but it’s also home to the “Flight of Five” locks and a great museum that tells you all about it. The “Flight of Five” locks take boats up 60 feet as they go along the Erie Canal. I learned about how this works when we were at the museum. Let me explain.

If you remember, my mom talked about the Niagara Escarpment which is just basically a steep slope or plateau. So, at this point of the Erie Canal which was totally made by people. Cool huh? Anyway, they had to find a way to raise a boat up 60 feet so they could keep going along the Erie Canal. There are other places where there are locks on the Canal but this one is the biggest. There was no way to create a lock that would raise the boat 60 feet, but they could create five locks that raised the boat. 

Do you know what a lock is? Let me explain. There is a shoot where the boat goes that has a gate on the front and a gate on the back. Once the boat is in the shoot, they close the back gate and start to fill the shoot with more water until the boat is raised to the level of the next section of water. Then the front gate opens and the boat goes in the next shoot, and the whole thing starts again. Obviously, the opposite is done when the boat is going down the river. 

It’s a really cool invention if you ask me. At the museum, they have a hands on example of how it works AND an immersive video where it seems like you’re in a boat as it goes along the locks. Oh and I forgot - mules would pull you through the locks. That’s kind of fun too.

Once you’re done learning about the Flight of Five, you head on over to see if for yourself. It’s not the way it was originally - the boats are bigger now so they had to change it around a bit, but you can get the idea. And you can still see the paths that the mules took.

And there’s an upside down bridge because one of the designers didn’t want big ships to be able to come up the Erie Canal so the upside down bridge makes it so only small ships can come up.

It was a really cool stop by Niagara.

Ashley: It was a cool stop!

Border & Geography

Since Niagara Falls is on the border of the US and Canada, you can cross the Rainbow Bridge, as it’s called, and visit both sides. All of the border rules are the same here so if you want to do that, bring your passport. The Canadian side offers better panoramic views so if you can, I’d say go visit Canada for a bit!

Pop Culture & Interesting Tidbits

Trooper: And here are some last minute tidbits that we didn’t know about Niagara Falls that you might like as much as we do!

Ashley: It’s known as the “Honeymoon Capital of the World” since the early 1900s. 

For those Office fans, this is where Pam and Jim got married. Wasn’t that a fun episode?

And Marilyn Monroe helped popularize the destination with her film called Niagara. 

So, there you have it, things you might now have known about Niagara Falls! What we learned about it is that it’s a great destination for your family. There’s a lot to do and see and kids will love it. 

If you’re planning a trip or just dreaming about one, we’d love to hear what surprised you. Just email us at ready.set.depart@gmail.com

Thanks to Trooper for being my co-host today and as always, let’s keep making traveling with your family easier, one trip at a time. See ya next time.