Cave of the Winds

Two more posts on Buffalo, then I have some fun in-town adventures to share!

My parents have visited Niagara Falls twice and I've grown up listening to stories of the natural wonder. So when we booked our tickets to Buffalo to see Uncle Dewey and Deb get married, I knew that I'd have to tack on an extra day to see the Falls. And I'm so glad I did! (Sadly Chris had to head home early and didn't get to experience it... but he's done it before so we don't have to feel TOO sorry for him.)

The first thing we did was to head over to the Cave of the Winds.

Here, you don ponchos and walk near, then right up to, the Falls. Pretty neat view of the water! Here are Danielle, Michelle and I getting ready for the "tour" (which is really more of a walk-through):

 Hey Danielle, give my readers your model pose!

Work the camera, girl!

I kid...

In addition to the ponchos, they also give you some hip sandals to wear. Here is proof that Conrad (Chris' cousin) has feet:

Seeing as I've never seen Conrad wearing anything other than tennis shoes... this was a must take photo for me. (His are on the left... the right pair belong to PD.) 

Didn't think you'd get that special treat in today's blog post, did you?? 

Lastly, here are the newlyweds in their ponchos:

Funny thing about the ponchos... they're not all that effective! Well, probably because we all chose to visit the Hurricane Deck. This was at the base of the falls and water literally poured onto the deck! Thankfully it was a sunny day and it didn't take us too long to dry off. 

Here's a photo from the top of the falls, showing the Cave of the Winds:

(If you like, click on the photo to make it larger.)

The deck to in the bottom center of the photo is the Hurricane Deck. Having lived through many hurricanes, I can tell you it's aptly named. Water pours down in droves and it's very windy. Which is why the sign they have hanging from the Hurricane Deck is pretty funny: "No Smoking". Whew! I'm glad they posted that! Seemed like a great place to light up! 

Tomorrow I'll post more typical photos of the Falls. I'm so glad we got a chance to enjoy the Cave of the Winds. It was truly an amazing way to experience such a powerful natural wonder!