Niagara Falls, the USA way....

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We are heading back West, but before this, a little trip North. We left Manhattan late afternoon....first the train to get back our little Mustand, next, the road north upstate. We are sleeping tonight in Mahwah. Never heard about this place, don't worry, you are not the only one. The plan was to head north enough to have the price of the room dropping enough from the excess of NY area.

Mahwah is actually next dor to the Woodbury Common Outlet mall. This is by for the biggest outlet mall I've ever seen in the world....and you can spend some time here. So did some shopping on the way the next morning.



Our next night is in Scranton, Pennsylvania. We are sleeping in a hotel as old as I am, but I guess this is what it is. We are in coal country...expect the jobs of the coal industry are long gone. These are the people trying to believe in the current President. Well, coal prime time is not coming back that soon, we don't need the kind of pollution Beijing is experiencing anywhere else in the world!



We didn't see a mine, but we saw a lot of trees. This is the land of hills, and forests! Beautiful ride for us all the way to the Canadian border. Tanya needs a visa to cross the boarder. Not that is' that difficult to get, but just to see the Niagara Falls from both side, it's just a little too much homework!



So we are spending few hours on the US side to enjoy the Niagara and American Falls. Cost 10usd to park the car next to the Falls, but nothing else to pay beside some 2usd per person to have access to the watchtower. We arrived worrying about rain, we left with a beautiful blue sky and no rain at all.



I visited the Canadian side with Leslie some 9 years ago. it was a boys trip. I have also been lucky enough to see Iguacu Falls twice and the Victoria Falls....I love Falls, so this time, it's Tanya time! The Falls from the US side were beautiful. They may not compete with the 2 other ones...but it was so much fun to play with the camera.



We could have slept by the Falls, but hotels on the US side do not have any view on the Falls....which is not the case from the Canadian side. Instead, we are sleeping in a nice area of Buffalo. Staying at the Reikart House, a brand new hotel, we had one of these wow welcome. It's not that often we receive such a nice welcome from a property in the United States. That was a pretty amazing stay!



When I asked the manager to give us the directions of a good wine shop....I didn't expect to find the best wine shop I ever crossed in the States. The Premium Gourmet shop....the name doesn't ring any bell, but I've never seen such a choice, ever! So instead of leaving with one bottle....we had few bubbles, some Sauvignon Blanc from NZ...and some serious Malbec from Argentina, with some of it even back to South Africa.



Buffalo was full of surprises....ones that we really didn't expect....yes the nice were nice...but that wine shop and the welcome we had at the Reikart House....little magic!



Next, a very long day on the road, heading West to Chicago...and crossing places few international tourists ventures...

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