JULY 2010

 

Favorite places to spend summer days

Family Travel

By: Deborah Williams

 

Crystal Beach, Ontario

 

Summer means beaches for many and we are blessed with an abundance of them on Lake Erie and Ontario. Despite the unfortunate problems with the state budget and the state parks, there are still public parks on the American side of the two lakes.

For me, summer has long meant beaches on the Canadian side of Lake Erie, specifically the beaches in the Crystal and Bay Beach area that boast wide expanses of smooth sand and shallow waters‚ perfect for young children. Crystal Beach is free and you can bring a picnic so the only cost will be parking and the bridge toll. Call the bridge authority in advance to avoid crowds on the bridge.

For the perfect end to a Canadian beach day, stop in Fort Erie to enjoy one of the Chinese restaurants along Niagara River. Our favorite is May Wah Restaurant, 90 Niagara Blvd., along the river. Eat outside and watch the river and boats going by. The views and the food can’t be beat. You can also watch the traffic on the Peace Bridge and time your return.

Every summer people travel from around the globe to experience the sights and activities right in our backyard. Most summers we are blessed with near ideal weather and an amazing variety of attractions and festivals.

As a travel writer who has journeyed around the world, my favorite place to spend the summer is right here in Western New York and southern Ontario.

Of course, what attracts visitors from Japan, China and other far-flung locales is Niagara Falls. For years I have made it a must-see at least once in the summer.

Writers have long struggled to capture in words the immensity of the Falls. Charles Dickens gushed, “I seemed to be lifted from the earth and to be looking into Heaven.” Mark Twain simply wrote: “Niagara Falls is one of the finest structures in the known world.”

This year the Niagara Falls State Park along the American side of the falls is celebrating its 125th anniversary. On Tuesday and Saturdays during July and August meet Annie Edison Taylor, Frederick Law Olmsted, Nikola Tesla, Father Louis Hennepin and others who spent time at the park. Hear first hand tales of the legends and adventures that shaped this park from these characters.

Before 1885, the lands around the falls had become one of the most vulgar tourist traps anywhere, with visitors having to pay for the privilege of seeing the mighty cataract. It was undoubtedly the peepholes that offended the most. The land belonged to private owners who charged visitors a fee to view the falls through holes in their fences.

By the mid-1800s, Niagara Falls had become a victim of one of the ugliest assaults on a wonder of nature with the growth of factories, shacks, and mills around the cataract. The insult of having to pay to view the falls helped generate a most ingenious lobbying and public relations campaign. It had one goal: Free Niagara. Spurred by this rallying cry, the Free Niagara Movement‚ a group of Americans including landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted‚ returned the area around the falls to its natural state and to the world.

The campaign resulted in the establishment, on July 15, 1885, of the nation’s first state park, embracing 435 acres of land along the American Falls. The Canadians followed with similar action around their portion of the cataract, and the Falls’ protection was assured.

On July 15 there will be a concert by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra followed by fireworks to mark 125 years of free access. Time your visit for the late afternoon or early evening so you can enjoy the lights over the falls once darkness falls. During the summer there are fireworks over the Falls every Friday and Sunday night at 10pm, as well as on Canadian and American holidays.

For many families it just isn’t summer without at least one visit to an amusement park. The grandest of our area parks is surely Darien Lake. It really has it all. with the hotel and huge campgrounds, lake, the new SplashTown Water Park, Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, and nightly laser shows. Just in time for the 2010 season it has undergone the largest renovation and expansion in a decade.

One of the new highlights this year is Sea Lion Splash featuring four rescued sea lions performing three times daily in the park’s Galaxy Theater. After the 22-minute show visitors can view the engaging sea mammals as they relax and play in their custom pools.

Another new attraction is the enlarged SplashTown water park. Additions include a new quad-slide complex, new lazy river, new wave pool, an additional five acres of park space, a new bathhouse, new cabanas and new deck and lounging space.

SwirlCity towers above SplashTown. It features four completely different, exhilarating water slide experiences. Almost like a complete water park in and of itself, the huge new complex delivers fast-paced swirling, whirling, sliding, and spinning through open and enclosed sections of track, including some translucent sections giving an exciting view to both riders and spectators.

Darien Lake Resort’s camping area has two-dozen, all-new, family-friendly Brown Bear Cabins. The custom-designed cabins look rustic on the outside, but the inside is complete with all the comforts of home including a fireplace, loft, bedroom, fully-equipped kitchen, eating area, wireless internet, and cable television. Each cabin will also have a front porch and outdoor fire-pit to experience all the traditional fun of camping with hotel amenities.

Ithaca, on the southern tip of Cayuga Lake in the heart of the Finger Lakes, makes a perfect overnight or weekend destination. There is a wide array of accommodations as well as campgrounds along the lake.
From the lakeshore to the surrounding hillsides of Cornell University and Ithaca College, Ithaca is spectacular. The educational institutions bring an international flavor and sophistication to the city that is really a small town at heart. It is also a most family-friendly city.

The Sagan Planet Walk, named in memory of former Ithaca resident and astronomer Carl Sagan, begins at The Commons. Starting with the sun at the Commons, the tour visits all nine planets along a 3/4 mile route to the Sciencenter museum.

At the Sciencenter visitors can walk into a giant camera, splash around a water flume and pet a snake. It is a hands-on museum and outdoor playground with more than 200 interactive exhibits and a science store. Families can experiment with finger painting and optical illusions in the Discovery Space. Children under four can explore the Curiosity Corner.

Kids can learn about the world around them by tinkering with all kinds of deceptively simple gadgets. But be careful‚ what appears to be a seesaw may be a device that teaches a physics lesson.

“Watergates” is a unique flume exhibit where visitors can control how fast and where water flows and how to channel its strength. “Counting On You” lets you measure your strength, height and pulse and compare them to other visitors.

The Museum of the Earth at the Paleontological Research Institute is another special Ithaca museum. Unique specimens include massive skeletons of the Hyde Park Mastodon and Right Whale #2030. Bring home a fossil. Touch and feel history by working with fossils at the Discovery stations. Witness passages of time through audio-visual theater presentations. Dinosaur fans will be able to immerse themselves in the dinosaurs that once walked and lived in New York.

Ithaca also boasts two premier Finger Lakes Parks — Taughannock Falls State Park and Buttermilk Falls State Park. Taughannock’s falls, 215 feet high, is the highest vertical waterfall in the eastern United States‚ higher even than Niagara Falls, although much narrower. There are two falls’ lookout points: one from below at the end of the Gorge Trail; the other from above at the Falls Overlook on Taughannock Park Road. You can reach the base by walking along a gentle three quarter mile trail. Pick up a Gorge Trail brochure in the park office and follow the numbered markers that correspond to those described in the brochure. The trail goes through a rugged canyon and quiet woods, along a peaceful stream to the falls. The walk is flat and easy, hard to ask for more from a walk than what the Gorge Trail offers.

If you ever dreamed of jumping into an old-time swimming hole, Buttermilk Falls State Park is the place for you. A natural pool forms at the base of the falls. The spring-fed pool is cool and relaxing on a hot summer day. Buttermilk Creek has poured down the steep side of the valley since the Ice Age, forming the long cascade from which the park takes its name. Thousands of years of erosion in the native shale and sandstone have left waterfalls, high cliffs, and sculptured pools.

 

Travel Tips of the Month:
Niagara Falls: Visit www.NiagaraFallsStatePark.com or call 716-278-1796; Crystal Beach: Visit www.forteriecanada.com or call 888-270-9151; Ithaca: Go to www.visitithaca.com or call 800-284-8422; Darien Lake: www.GoDarienLake.com or call 585-599-4641; Strong Museum: Visit www.museumofplay.org or call 585-263-2700.