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By Johnny, July 31, 2010 6:45 pm

The last day of the trip began at the same time like it did the previous day. Early morning wake-up call. We get down by 6:30 and depart towards Niagara Falls once again. The agenda for this morning? Check out Goat Island and experience Maid of the Mist!

We got to Goat Island in no time and was greeted with an empty parking lot. What this meant was that we got to see the Horseshoe Falls with no other tourists and really up close and personal. We were so close that with the change of the wind direction, we were showered with the mist from the crests below. To enhance the beauty of the falls, a rainbow can be found circling the top to the bottom of the fall. A truly beautiful and magnificent sight.

With 15 minutes left until the bus drives off, I quickly made my way over to the Bridal Veil Fall, the smaller of the 3. It was quick jog down to the viewing deck with a bridge running over the fall.

After our viewing from the top of the falls were complete, we once again found ourselves at the Visitor’s Center and made our way to the park. We were the first tour group to get there for the Maid of the Mist attraction. Essentially Maid of the Mist is a boat ride near each of the 3 falls. They gave us plastic raincoats because it is expected that we were going to be drenched. I personally didn’t think we were going to get that wet. I was in for a big surprise.

We boarded the first boat that was out for that day and they packed it in with visitors. I luckily got to one side of the boat leaning up on a railing. As we got closer to the American and Bridal Veil Falls, you gradually got misted on and there was a constant spray of water. It wasn’t so bad. But when we made our way to the biggest fall, Horseshoe, the mist became pelting drops of rain. The next thing you know, everyone was doused in water from head to toe. Truly a refreshing feeling! Nothing like an early morning shower to cool down the already warm morning.

As we doubled back, we passed by the other two falls once again giving the other side of the boat the experience of misting from the falls. We made it back to the dock drenched. Our tour guide tells us to go check out the staircase that is located next to the American Fall. Boy was that crazy! With every step up to the side of falls and every wind blowing against you, the water mercilessly pound everything in it’s way including myself and other tourists who wanted to see the top. I got there. I got soaked!

I finally made it back down and eventually found myself at the top of the fall at the observation deck. I took a couple of pictures from way up top. That was the last time I saw Niagara Falls. We were told to get breakfast / lunch before boarding the bus. The bus ride was LONG! Crying kids, uncomfortable chairs, and people complaining about this and that was all part of this ride back. When we finally made it to New York City, I was so glad to be out of that environment. We were back in Chinatown and I had to find my way back up near Korea Town, where my hostel was booked.

I took the Train N up and got off at 28th Street. I made my way to Latham Hotel. For $120+ a night, it was located conveniently close to the Empire State building and few blocks away from Times Square. So when I got there, I dropped off my stuff in my little room and ventured out to get some dinner and explore Times Square. This “hostel” was nothing you wanted to write home about. Didn’t feel all too safe there but it did have an air conditioner which is awesome! Plus I didn’t have to share this space with anybody else. The next morning, I got breakfast at a near-by deli and waited for my shuttle to come. I made it to JFK with time to spare and enough memories to keep me occupied until I get back into work the following day. Great solo vacation!

Niagara Falls, I’m going to miss you!

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By Johnny, July 30, 2010 10:00 am

Our day began with a prompt wake up call at 5:30AM. I didn’t roll out of bed until about 6:30AM. I quickly cleared out the room and made it at the bus at the same time as the bus driver did. It was the 4th of July and the final destination to watch fireworks was going to be Niagara Falls. What better place to be for such a momentous occasion?

Little did I know, we will be spending majority of our time sitting in the bus. It was good to catch up on some reading as well as my sleep. We soon reached our first destination: Hershey’s Chocolate World.

I never knew that there was such a place that existed. The place consisted of an amusement park and a tourist center. We went to the tourist center where upon entering, you smell the distinct scent of processed cocoa and sugar. Oh manufactured chocolate heaven. Surprisingly enough, there wasn’t any admission fee. Our tour guy gave us 1 hour here. I quickly got on a “Disneyland-like” ride which basically explains with simple animatronics how chocolate is made. This was very high on the cheesy side of things. The ride eventually ends and you find yourself in the middle of the gift shop. This was the mecca of all things Hershey. From toy cars to stacks of chocolate for all your sweet tooth’s delight. I decided to curb my hunger by having some breakfast/lunch here. They had their own cafeteria in this center. I was feeling like some real breakfast but instead had some soup.

After all of that, I looked down and realized I was out of time. I quickly made my way back to the tour bus. As usual, I wasn’t the last one back. In fact there were still people taking their merry time. By the time we all returned to the bus, we were 15 minutes late. The tour guide was not happy. Nevertheless, we were on our way. But where?

Our next destination was the Corning Museum of Glass. The route that the bus driver took was primarily 2 lane roads. At times, it was scary watching him try to out pace neighboring cars for a lane. Mind you, I was just getting over the trauma of the accident. During the 3 hour drive over, the bus driver and tour guide got into it. The bus driver wanted to break but tour guide who was conscious of time did not allow that to happen. The bus driver, this big Russian dude, was whining the whole time to this smaller Chinese guy who was our tour guide. Rather uncomfortable since I was sitting next to the tour guide.

We finally arrived to Corning Museum of Glass. This was located in the middle of nowhere. It was literally the only thing in town and if you were around, you wanted to see this place. We were quickly ushered in by the tour guide who worked his magic to get us into the glass blowing demonstration that was already taking place.

The glass blowing demonstration was interesting but what was best about this experience was that the air conditioner was kicked up high. It was hot out and taking refuge from that heat was very comforting. As we finished the show, we were given an hour to check out the museums. There was one exhibit room which had glass artifacts that was used through-out the world. There was another section where it was purely interesting things about glass and it’s significance in day-to-day lives.

My favorite item there was a glass that was curved in such a way that it magnified the people that walks towards it. Very trippy when you see yourself 5x bigger. The coolest thing was definitely the glass pane that automagically frost and unfrost depending on what angle and side you were looking through. Totally awesome!

I finally forced myself away from the rest of the place to grab a quick bite for lunch. With 5 minutes left, I swallowed my lunch and quickly ran to the bus. Here I am hypocritically late. We started on our journey once again. The ride was kicked off with the tour guide making people do karaoke. He eventually got to me and I just didn’t know what to sing. So I belted out some Careless Whisper ala George Michael. It was horrible. When you’re put on the spot you can’t think of the lyrics to one of the most popular song in your arsenal. I crashed and burned! Meanwhile, all the Indian tourists was able to sing to their hearts content. This last about an hour until the tour guide put on a movie. Guess which one? One of my favorite one, Yes Man! I’ve watched it several time and haven’t gotten tired of it.

3 hours later we end up on the first of the Twin Bridges. We eventually reached the welcome center for Niagra Falls. I was finally here!! I couldn’t believe it. We entered the visitor’s center which contained the movie theater. We were given a 15 minute opportunity to go see the falls. The first and closest one was the America’s Fall. That was a thing of beauty! Never have I been in awe just watching water fall off a cliff.

I eventually was herded back in for an IMAX viewing of a movie about Niagara Falls. Again, the air conditioning was the highlight and the movie was cheesy to say the least. A general overview of the falls and the people who discovered it or fallen off of it and lived to tell.

When the movie ended, we were given about an hour to grab dinner and be back at the bus by 9:30PM so that we can be bused over to Goat Island for the best view of the fireworks. With the combination of people being late as well as crowds of cars and tour buses, we ended up not being able to go over to Goat Island. Instead we were dropped off again at the Visitor’s center. We made it 10 minutes before the fireworks show started right above the falls. It was spectacular. Overcrowded but beautiful view of colorful display of art in the sky.

It took awhile for us to gather all the people and head over to our hotel which was in Buffalo, NY. I was exhausted and easily knocked out. 2 days down 1 more to go.