New Hampshire 2013 Act 1

The last two years, I made my first trip to New Hampshire Memorial Day weekend. This year I had to

MadisonBoulder

  wait until this week. Needless to say, I have been excited all week in anticipation of my first New Hampshire adventure of the year.
I have said a hundred times on this blog how much I love New Hampshire. When I am away for a while, I always remember that I love being there. When I actually get up there I remember how much. The best way I can explain it is like this: You may love your wife or girlfriend. You know you do, but every once in a while she will do something cute and you remember why you fell in love with her in the first place. That is sort of the feeling I get driving by Canon Cliffs or fishing a trout pond. Corny yes, but New Hampshire is a special place.

I try to do as much as I can in my two days in New Hampshire. This trip I planned on doing something a little different. I have a couple of cousins that live just across the Maine border. The only time I ever see them is at wakes and funerals. I thought it was about time that changed. One of them was away in Florida. My cousin Mark and his wife Dotty were home so I made arrangements to sleep at their house Wednesday night.

I left about 3:30 Tuesday, because of the late start I got stuck in some serious traffic at the border. I made it to Profile Lake about 7:15. Because it was so late, I decided to fish before getting a campsite. I fished until dark. I caught a few yellow perch but surprisingly, I did not get a trout. It rained most of the time I was fishing, but it was fairly warm out so I didn’t mind. When I got done fishing I headed to the woods to find a spot to camp. Since it was so late, wet and I wanted to get an early start, I just slept in the car.

The next morning, I fished a pond in Whitefield that allegedly has northern pike. I fished the lake for

seven hours. The fishing conditions were perfect. It was dead calm. It was foggy and misty. It probably rained half the time. I spent a lot of time casting a frog (not a real one) into the slop. I had a lot of fish blow up on it. The lake also has largemouths, smallmouths, and pickerel in it. I would cast the frog into the weeds with one pole on one cast, then cast a grub into the rock piles with another. I ended up catching three largemouths including a three pounder. I also got two smallies and two pickerel. I had many other hits. It was okay, but not a great day considering the perfect weather.
I did see a bald eagle. I saw it two different times about four hours apart. What an amazing bird. I also saw an osprey. That surprised me because eagles will bully ospreys.  There was also a loon on the lake it called once. It also was not shy. It popped up within twenty feet of my canoe two or three times. All in all I had a lot of fun.

After fishing I had a two hour ride to my cousin’s house. I found it fairly easily thanks to my trusty Main Atlas and Gazetteer. For supper he made a feast. I had a burger, marinated steak tip, marinated chicken, macaroni salad, potato salad and cole slaw. After super we talked for a while (mostly about fishing). At 7 pm, we went to his son’s house to drop off spaghetti sauce. It was nice to see my second cousin for a few minutes. We talked about fishing the whole time I was there. The younger Mark gave his dad a swordfish steak that we cooked up and ate at 9:30. I went to bed about 10:30.

I left about 6 am. I stopped at a place in New Hampshire called Madison Boulder. It is the largest glacial erratic in the world. This thing was immense. It topped thirty seven feet  high. I can’t believe a glacier could move a rock so large.

By seven thirty, I was at my next fishing spot. I fished Kusumpe Pond in the lakes region. It has smallmouth and pickerel. Another perfect fishing day, dead calm and cloudy. I was hoping to catch some monster pickerel so I fished the lily pads. There wasn’t a lot of action, so I switched to the smallmouth. I ended with a 19 inch pickerel and three smallies including a three pounder. Again, not a lot of fish, but they were quality fish. I put the canoe on the car about 12:30, ate some grub, and drove home.   

"Ladies and Gentlemen, This is Niagara Falls"

Those are the words spoken on the loud speaker as the Maid of the Mist boat gets near Horseshoe Falls.

As mentioned in my last blog post, Laurie and I went to Niagara Falls from June 10-14. I plan on doing a series of essays about many different aspects of the trip. We had a lot of fun in the three full days we were there. The falls are big and beautiful. There is a ton to do and getting bored is not an option. The scary thing is Niagara must be the biggest tourist trap in the world. There is no shortage of vendors, gift shops or restaurants willing to take your money at ridiculous speed. We did get burned by a few overpriced or undervalued attractions and restaurants.

We did a lot of things over the course of three days. We visited both the American and Canadian sides of the falls. We stayed in Niagara Falls, Ontario but spent an entire day at Niagara Falls State Park, NY.

First and foremost, there is a myth that the American side is not pretty and there are no views. False. The Canadian side is prettier, there is more room to spread out and see the falls, but the American side is also nice. The state park is well maintained and getting around is a snap.  If you ask me the rumor that there are no views on the American side was probably started by a Canadian.

To me, there are two types of attractions. There are those that are directly related to the falls and those that are meant to appeal to tourists (traps). We did both types. Even though I refer to tourists attractions as traps, I still enjoyed them and was surprised by my own interest.

When you consider how many people live within eight hours of Niagara it is no wonder why it draws eight million visitors a year. I don’t know how many people reading these essays are considering taking a trip but I hope these posts help.

Photographic Oppurtunities

Photographic Opportunities

My whole reason for going on this vacation was to see the falls. I wanted to get some great pictures. My favorite things we did were all falls related. Of course I did other things too, but getting pictures of Niagara Falls was my number one goal.

If you look at my map I drew (there are maps in guides I picked up but I do not know if they are copyrighted so I drew this one for reference) you can see the walking path on the Canadian side. On the American side, the main viewing area is Goat Island. I took pictures from almost every angle so for anyone looking for advice I hope this helps

 

Canadian side

The best time to take pictures in Canada is afternoon into evening. The sun is at your back. Because the sun is at your back, there is a good chance of a rainbow being produced.

The number one photo taking area in my opinion of the whole waterfall is at the Maid of the Mist

ticket booth. There is a deck on top. You climb just a few stairs and the view is awesome. Both falls are lined up at a perfect angle to get them in a picture.

 The entire distance from the ticket booth to Horseshoe Falls is good for photos. It’s probably a solid ten minute walk. You walk directly in front of the American Falls. At Horseshoe Falls, your right next to the water when it drops. You can get a picture of part of the falls but the mist will obscure the other side.

The second best spot to photograph the falls is Skylon Tower. It took about ten seconds getting off the elevator to know I walked into a photographer’s dream. The best view id at Horseshoe, but

that’s only because it’s bigger. Take a lot of the same picture and you can see the mist height level change.

Other places to view the falls in Canada-

With a path of half a mile from Horseshoe to the Maid ticket booth, you really don’t need to look for more places. However if you must…Sky wheel bills itself as the best place to see the falls, it’s not, if you are going to view it from above then Skylon Tower is way better. Also you can stay on Skylon Tower as long as you want. People are allowed to walk on Rainbow Bridge. This is a good view but its pretty far away from the falls. Of course with a big lens you could get decent pics, but I’d ask why you didn’t just get closer?

Maid of the Mist

The pictures you can get from Maid are awesome. Its easy to get some great pictures of American Falls and Cave of the Winds. It’s a little trickier to get a great picture of Horseshoe. You really need to get one of the few spots at the very front. Also you can’t get any close ups of Horseshoe because

of all the spray (you will be protecting your camera under your poncho or in a bag). The pictures from Maid of the American Falls and Cave are great in the afternoon because of the sun being at your back. On rainy or cloudy days the pictures are still really neat because the foul looking sky enhances the mist.

American Side

As I have mentioned you are on top of the falls at Niagara Falls State Park. The only place to see both falls at the same time is the tower used as an elevator down to Maid of the Mist. I think it costs a dollar to go on the tower if you don’t buy a ticket to Maid. From the tower you can photograph both falls. It’s a good picture but for my money, not quite as good as the ticket booth across the river.

As for side views of the falls you are right on the crest. From Terrapin Point you look over Horseshoe. You can stand on both sides of American Falls. Another bonus is you can photograph the rapids up river from the falls. Best time to photograph the falls from the American side is morning. Do not be surprised if there is a full rainbow in front of you at Terrapin Point.

Cave of the Winds

Good photo ops exist at Cave. Standing on the lowest deck looking up at all the wooden decks with

the waterfall as a background makes a good picture. You have to put your camera away when near the Hurricane Deck. I brought a Ziplock to keep it dry. The pictures you can get are really cool from the bottom decks.

Put a boat in it

If your standing on the top of the gorge and a Maid of the Mist boat goes by, take pictures of it near the falls. It gives the waterfall height perspective. Some of my favorite pictures I took are with it going by the American Falls or into the mist of the Horseshoe.

Other photo ops

I basically covered the entire area of the falls. However there is a lot more to Niagara (although my favorite part was definitely the falls). You can take pictures on Clifton Hill. It’s like a mini Vegas. There are lots of colors and shops. The Sky Wheel and Skylon tower themselves are extremely photogenic, especially at night. The dinosaurs at the mini golf place are very realistic. You will want to take pictures at the attractions you stop at. The Butterfly Conservatory is great for photographing all the butterflies you could ever want to.

There is a gift shop about a mile north of town called Souvenir City. Outside there are lots of things to pose with. Theres thimbles, wooden black bears and other postcard type things

Non Waterfall Attractions (Traps)

As I mentioned over and over, there is no shortage of people, places or things that you can spend your money on. Niagara has at least 25 attractions. Of course it would be impossible to do it all in three days. My reviews are only a small fraction of what can be done. The main tourist road is Clifton Hill. This is their version of Bourbon St, Michigan Ave or the strip in Vegas. This is where a lot of the attractions are or within a block of. Within easy walking distance are many other attractions.

There are a couple of arcades, two mini golf courses (including a dinosaur themed course and a glow in the dark indoor course. There is a three acre indoor water park. You can indoor sky dive or drop two hundred foot on a free fall. There are two casinos within a mile of each other. There are wax museums with themes of criminals or celebrities. There are scary places like a Dracula's Castle and Frankenstein. We did none of the above.

Here is what we did

1.      Bird Kingdom

This is giant building with two aviaries. One for smaller birds, the other a walk thru tropical jungle.  There is also a room for reptile encounters. Basically you pay money for a picture of you with a snake. The place was nice. There really were not too many birds in the main room. Still it’s a neat place.

2.      Butterfly Conservatory

This is a few miles north of town. It is run by Niagara Parks Dept. This is by far the largest butterfly place I have ever seen. They have 2500 butterflies. They are in a tropical greenhouse you walk through. At least a few landed on us. If you like butterflies, I doubt there is a better indoor place to see them.

3.      Louis Tussaud Wax Museum

Wax Museum

There were many wax museums we did not go to. We went to this one as part of a package ticket with Ripley’s Believe it or Not. Some of the figures were very realistic. Others did not look like who they represented.

4.      Guinness Book of World Records.

 

This is a good place for those of us that like facts. Mostly it is cards on the wall and a few videos of world records. There is a lot of reading. Not too much memorabilia. I thought it was interesting

5.      Ripley’s Believe it or Not

 

I didn’t want to go here but it was on Laurie’s list. I expected pictures of overgrown finger nails and pictures of eyes bugging out of people’s heads. There was a little of that. Mostly it was a museum. There were Dark ages torture devices. Two headed calf skulls and some other interesting stuff.



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6.      Sky Wheel

 

We went on the Sky Wheel at night. It is a giant Ferris wheel. It has 42 enclosed “swings”. The view from the top is cool. It goes around three times and lasts about 8 minutes from start to finish.

 

7.      Skylon Tower

 

This was by far my favorite tourist attraction. An outdoor elevator takes you to a tower 500 feet high. You can walk all 360 degrees. On a clear day the view extends 80 miles. The view

View from Skylon Tower

of the falls below is awesome. We could not see Toronto but we could easily make out the tall buildings in Buffalo.

 

8.      IMAX Movie

 

There is an IMAX about a block from our hotel. It constantly places a 50 minute movie about myths and daredevils at the falls. The movie was interesting but again a family of four would not want to spend 40 plus dollars to see it.

 

9.      Aquarium

 

There is a small aquarium on the New York side. We went to it because, one, I like fish and two, it was part of our Discovery Pass at the fall. It was what you would expect out a little aquarium. They do have seals and sea lions with show.

The main attraction that we did not do was Marineland. It is well advertised on the radio and in print. We didn’t go because it was $40 plus/person and we didn’t know much about it. They have beluga whales and you have”the opportunity to feed them.” I correctly took this to mean pay extra to feed them. I found out later it’s only another $8. I read the reviews when I got home. Apparently it’s a long walk between most rides. Sometimes visitors are rushed when feeding the whales and overall it’s not really a lot of fun. I read this from many reviews not just one cranky person.

There is also a Safari but it is out of town and we didn’t really look into it. I don’t do arcades so we did not waste time in any. Laurie does not like mini golf, but she was tempted to play the dinosaur one because they looked so real. We just ran out of time.

My advice for anyone going to Niagara is to do some research before you go. Pick out the things you and your family want to do in the amount of time you have. It would also be a good idea to read reviews before you go. I don’t normally do this but since I got home I have read many to see if others felt the same way I do (good or bad) about things I did. They are very consistent.

We knew going into this getaway that we would have different expectations. My goal was to see the falls from all angles (including Maid of the Mist and Cave of the Winds) and get a few postcard perfect pictures. Laurie wanted to do a lot of the tourist attractions because they looked fun. So we did as much for each other as we could. I went to the attractions she wanted to. She patiently waited for me to take 675 pictures in three days.

When we listed our top things we wanted to do, we both had Maid of the Mist as number one. We also had the Sky Wheel as number two. From there we tried to figure out what was most important to the other person but in three days we had enough time to take everything we wanted to in.   

Some pictures from Niagara

The Falls and Related Attractions

Niagara Falls is really three falls in one. The Niagara River drops 185 feet into a pool below. The three falls are American, Bridal Veil (also called Luna) and Horseshoe (also called Canadian Falls). Goat Island separated the American/ Luna Falls from Horseshoe Falls.  As you can assume American Falls is entirely in the US as is Goat Island. The Canadian border begins where Horseshoe Falls meets Goat Island.

Horseshoe is by far the largest falls. It has a crestline of 2500 feet compared to the American Falls which still an impressive 1100 feet across. During the day, over 600,000 gallons dump over the falls EACH SECOND! More water is diverted for hydroelectric power at night so less water goes over the falls.

On the Ontario side, the views to the falls are directly in front of you. You look across the Niagara

Terrapin Point

River to see American and Luna Falls. Horseshoe Falls begins almost at your feet on the walking path and extends like a horseshoe to Goat Island directly across the river.

On the New York side, tourists are standing at the top of the falls at either Prospect Point (near American Falls, or Terrapin Point (Horseshoe Falls).  You can stand next to them and feel the power of the falls. However being so close, you really don’t get the big picture except at the Tower.

Both New York and Ontario have rides and attractions that will take you to the falls. The famous Maid of the Mist is on both sides. Both America and Canada have launches. However word of warning. It is five dollars cheaper in America. Here is a rundown of some of the Falls based attractions and my opinions.

1.      Maid of the Mist

This boat will bring you right to the base of Horseshoe Falls. A rain poncho is provided with purchase of a ticket. The prices were 15.50 for a ticket at Niagara Falls State Park, NY and 19.75 in Canada.  You will get wet. The boat passes American Falls and travels to Horseshoe. I was told the trip is about 30 minutes but I’m sure it’s more like 20. None the less, it’s pretty awesome. Being that close is an adrenaline rush. I would suggest you go near closing time. It seems there are far less people during the last couple of trips than during the rest of the day. We went late and everyone had a spot along the rail. On other boats earlier in the day passengers were lined up 4 deep.

2.      Cave of the Winds

This is also on the American side. There is an elevator that goes down near the water. Then you walk to a series of stairs and decks. The stairs lead to Luna Falls. You walk along the edge of the falls to the “Hurricane Deck”. This a spot at the bottom of Luna Falls that water crashes near. The water crashes so hard that it creates wind and serious mist. It is fun to stand there and take the force of it.  Sandals and rain ponchos are provided. A plastic bag is also provided to put your shoes in. You get to keep the sandals and poncho after the tour. You will get wet.

3.      Journey behind the falls  ($15.95 person)  

   This is the first thing we did Monday. It is on the Canadian side under a giant visitor center. Like Cave of the Winds you take an elevator down. A visitor walks through tunnels to a tunnel directly under the falls. This sounds awesome but all you see is a wall of white.  You can also walk out onto a deck and stand near Horseshoe Falls, it is doubtful you will be able to take any pictures because it is so misty. This was a waste of money. I would not do it again.

On the Ontario side there is also a white water walk just past Rainbow Bridge ( the main bridge between  the U.S. and Canada) I could not justify paying money to stand near rapids when I could do it for free on the American side.

There are also discounts if you buy passes that combine attractions. For example in the state park you can buy a pass for $33. It includes the Maid of the Mist, Cave of the Winds, The Aquarium, Discovery Center, and a Movie about the history of the falls. The pass also allows for free admission and unlimited rides on the trolley. The trolley will take you to all of the spots I just listed.

Canada has a similar pass for $46. Their pass includes a a Maid ride, Whitewater Walk, Niagara’s Fury and Journey behind the Falls We chose the American pass and were very happy. A word of note, the Discovery Center is only open on weekends.

Walking trails.

On the Canadian side there is an asphalt path from Maid of the Mist well past Horseshoe Falls. It is easy and wide. At almost any point you can take a picture. The views as mentioned are great.

      On the American side, there is a trial from Prospect Point up the American rapids to a footbridge to Goat Island. There is also a short trail to three little islands in the Canadian Rapids called Three Sisters. They are worth checking out

Thank Goodness for Super Submarine: Niagara Falls Food Review

               There is no shortage  of places to eat in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Every single chain restaurant I can think of is there.  Fast food places like Burger King and Wendy’s to family restaurants like Ruby Tuesdays and Applebees are all represented. There is also very high end upscale dining. Places that you would expect to wear a suit in many of the hotels. There are also breakfast places and All you can eat buffets. Finding food is easy.

The problem is everything in the tourist area is way over priced because they are taking advantage of tourists. Remember this is a city. It is not an amusement park or a sports venue. When I go to a Red Sox game I know a hot dog will be five dollars. In a city where one can walk across the street to another five places, I would have thought there was some competition.

We stopped at Burger King and there Whopper meal was over $8. Ice cream cones were regularly $5 for a small. This may sound cheap to whine about these prices, but I don’t think a family of four should have to spend $40 for Burger King.

Here are my reviews of the places we ate.

Tim Hortons  We ate breakfast every morning. This was the only place in the tourist area that was reasonable or cheap. Laurie got a coffee and a bagel every morning. I got a muffin and an OJ. It was about $7 total. I respect them for keeping the prices low.

Margarittaville

I had never been to Jimmy Buffett’s Margarittaville so I was excited to try it. It was only two blocks from our hotel. They were completely understaffed. The main dining area has about forty tables. There were only about 6 tables being used but there was a 20 minute wait. The reason- they were short staffed. We went to the bar where there was no wait. The bar tender had to tend bar and wait on the ten tables in his area.

For food I got fish tacos (they were called seafood fajitas but it was just tilapia). Laurie got a chicken club. I got a Hurricane to drink. Laurie got some mixed drink and a beer. On the menu, it said there would be four fish tacos and veggies. I got TWO tacos and maybe 15 wax and string beans. This meal came to $68!!! We left a decent tip. So for 2 tacos and one drink my meal was almost $40!!! The only bright side was Laurie’s fries were delicious. I left not full and angry about the cost.

Boston Pizza

The next night we went to Boston Pizza. It is right in the Clifton Hill tourist area. Laurie and I split a medium pizza. It was half tropical (spicy chicken, feta cheese, pineapple) and half BBQ. It was absolutely delicious. We each got a soda. I don’t know the final cost but the medium pizza was $27. It was obviously way over priced but it was delicious so I was happier.

Niagara Falls State Park

The day we went to the state park (American side) we got lunch at their snack shack. We each got a burger and fries. Each meal was about 9 dollars. The burger was really good.

ALMacs Buffett

The worst restaurant I have ever been too.

There is a sign outside there window for all you can eat for $16.99. Since I was spending more than that anyway I talked Laurie into going. The sign lists all the food including roast beef, pizza, salads, chicken wings, etc… I thought worst case we could pig out on pizza.

I was wrong. Worst case scenario was the food was barely edible. The tiny chicken wings were wrinkled from being out under the heat lamp all day. The one piece of pizza was stale and rock hard. Most of the food was gross. I cannot over state enough NEVER GO THERE. Laurie asked for a glass of water. They made her pay for a bottle of water ($3.50). It was possibly the worst dining experience ever.
 
We read reviews later from trip advisor.com. One went like this “I would rather get hit by a bus than eat at this place again. At least I could eat the hospital food instead.”

This place was so bad it was listed as #248 out of 256 Niagara food establishments, leading us to ask “What the hell is worse than this place.”

Finally hope in the form of Super Submarine

On Thursday after doing some touristy things we needed to find a place for lunch. We walked all over. There were steak houses selling 8 ounce steaks for twenty seven dollars (I would have needed three of those to get full). A place called Shoeless Joes sold two pounds of Buffalo wings for $32. Finally Laurie decided to go to Johnny Rockets. There meal would have been twenty bucks for a burger, fries and soda. I couldn’t do it. I was done with being financially raped. It’s one thing to splurge on vacation, but this was just a burger.

So I took the keys and drove to the non-tourist part of town. I headed towards Walmart on McLeod Road. After only five minutes of driving I saw a sign for Super Submarine. I pulled in. It was exactly what I was looking for… a simple sub shop. I got more than I bargained for when I saw the sign for two assorted subs (this is what they call an Italian) for six bucks. That wasn’t six bucks each. Two for six dollars. Laurie and I each got one. Each sub was about 13 inches. You can choose the veggies and sauce (oil and vinegar, etc..) They were very awesome. We decided to bring a sub home for supper so we got a chicken cutlet. Even after sitting for four hours it was still good. Way better than Margarittaville and certainly AlMacs.

If I would have found this place the first day, I would have eaten there every night. It was maybe 10 minutes from the waterfall, but so much cheaper and better than everything else I ate all week. The owner has been there 27 years (I asked). They are so quick with their hands. Each Italian sub was made in about thirty seconds. It was really cool to watch.

The address is 7116 McLeod Road, Niagara Falls

They only take cash

Wrap up
So as you can see until I found Super Submarine I was disappointed in the food. Because of my small portions at Margaritaville, I did not want to try Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock or Rainforest Café. There was a Hooters but we didn’t go. At the family restaurants, a typical meal that you’d pay 12.99 for plan on paying about $17-20.  A typical fast food joint was three or four dollars more than their normal price for a value meal.

My advice for anyone that stays on the Canadian side and has their own vehicle should drive away from the falls McLeod Road is very busy with a lot of strip malls. I saw other pizza places and food on that road. For my money though, a delicious $3 Italian is a great deal.

 

 

A few stripers here and there

I’m not going to make any excuses why I haven’t written anything in two weeks, although I will at least try to explain myself. . DJ is graduating high school today and I have focused on that. I have fished a few times but not as much as in May. Besides focusing on graduation traditions, I really haven’t been lighting up the fishing scene.

Early this week I tried fishing two new Narraganset spots from the kayak. One night I caught three schoolies, the other I caught two. I was happy to avoid the skunk fishing new spots, but fishing was far from fantastic.

Getting tired of catching only a couple small fish I decided to fish in Narraganset Tuesday night with eels. I was really hoping for a monster. I had Wednesday day off so I fished until really late. I ended up with one small keeper and a couple other hits. The keeper was what they call a “racer.” It was extremely skinny. So again a lot of effort, with not to much of a reward.

I’d like to give you some advice on how to catch some stripers in Rhode Island. Unfortunately, fishing seems to be tough right now for a lot of the sharpies (which I certainly am not one). There are some menhaden in the bay, stripers and blues are under some of the schools but not all of them. Schoolies are around but, I don’t think they are in big numbers in any one spot.

If I had to tell you how to catch stripers right now, I’d say to hit the Canal during a good tide or at night. I’m guessing Rhode Island is going to experience another dismal summer for striper fishermen. I will just fish for other species. If the fall is anything like last year, I will take that in trade because it was unbelievable.

 

*** Authors Note

Monday thru Friday this week I am going to Niagara Falls. I asm going to keep a detailed account of my budget. Niagara is within an eight hour drive of at least 50 million people. I think it can be a fairly inexpensive vacation. I'm going to try to come back with useful advice for anyone considering making the trip.