Niagara Falls

 Life has been full of clutter lately, actually since the beginning of this year. There has been something or the other that has kept me extensively busy, not by my own choice. In this chaos, Savan was sweet enough to plan our first long weekend, on the second holiday of the year; the mighty 4th of July. We knew schools are closed for the summer and any popular place we decide to go will be busier than usual. Having said that, it was a good to take a break.

We planned to leave early on Friday, I whipped up some blueberry Jam from scratch and packed PB&J sandwiches with fruits for snacking on the road. We started driving up north as the plan was to stop at Ithaca to grab lunch. This time I shared the load of driving long distances so that he can equally enjoy the break, plus it saved me from getting carsick. We had some time to spare, so decided to drive around the large Cornell campus, eventually ending up at Beebe lake. We parked near the Botanic garden parking lot and walked towards the development around the lake. On this side of the lake, were delicate wooden staircases that naturally weaved in and out of the greenery that were designed for people to go up to random viewing points, to which the entry was closed. So we walked ahead to reach another viewing point, it was an old stone bridge. We stood there for a while, imagining how beautiful it would get during Fall and Winter. 

I couldn't help but notice the large amount of waterfalls and 'glen' that were in this portion of New York. Since the last Ice Age, glaciers advancing and retreating, there was a change in geography about ten thousand years ago, that formed deep trenches, also now known as the 11 finger lakes of New York. Our next stop Watkins Glen was one such wonder. The most popular Gorge Trail was about 2 miles round trip and did not sound difficult until I found out it involved climbing over 800 steps. There is a bus service that runs between the two points of the trail. We used the bus to climb down 1 mile of the trail. The trail was 40 mins of bliss. It was a narrow walkway on one side following the downstream of water that formed waterfalls on multiple junctions. There was ivy and moss that grew in the crevices of the stone along the trail. The sun was low in the evening. It penetrated one of the last waterfalls at the end of our trail casting a beautiful, hazy, golden, soft light in the mist. We ended the trail with ice-cream at the visitor's center.

Niagara Falls State Park is a small walkable area by the border of USA and Canada. The long weekend rush was real. I hadn't seen a large amount of tourists gather in one place in a while. We briefly checked the map of the State Park and decided the sequence of places we wanted to visit after we got lunch. Surprisingly there were three Indian restaurants outside the state park, with no air conditioning, we somehow managed to eat on this hot summer day. We started our towards Goat Island after spending some time by the welcome center. We enjoyed the falls, the rainbows that were created, the sheer mist that rises high in elevation. The day kept getting warmer. We decided to take the hop-on hop-off bus service back to the visitor's center. At the ticket booth I overheard someone say that the next slot for Maid of Mist was 7.30pm. I couldn't imagine myself waiting all day to get onto the boat to get close to the falls, but many did. We headed towards Niagara State Park Beach, it is said on a clear day one can see the skyline of Toronto from there. The park was a perfect place to get some rest. The edge of the park sloped towards the Atlantic ocean, here I laid on the grass under shadow of a tree and enjoyed the absolute silence away from the crowds.

I thought we were headed home, but the break wasn't over yet. To my glee, Savan suggested we tour the Martin House, F. L. Wright's first few designs in Prairie style architecture. Unlike others properties that I have toured, photography wasn't allowed here. The tour starts by watching a video at the Eleanor and Wilson Greatbatch Pavilion that sits right next to the Martin house. It displays a collection of the drawings, letter exchanged and history in the making of the house.  The house was owned by Mr. Martin, a rich man in the early 1900's who commissioned F. L. Wright to design the house. Unfortunately as the great depression hit in the 1930's, Martin family had to vacate and leave in a span of 2 years. The house has seen many ownerships, even going through demolition, until a corporation was formed to restore it. It was evident that this was his early work, as he has built on many ideas further in the Robie House and Falling Waters that I have visited. We toured the first floor of the house that included the entry vestibule, common areas, kitchen, the green house for Mrs. Martin and the Horse stable that is now converted into a souvenir shop. This house holds Wright's creative genius, his precision towards material use, how beautifully he hides electrical, plumbing systems that most architects find ugly, his use of light according to sun path - he uses hundred's of glass pieces in windows to create magic as sun light passes through them, interesting fact - this house also use several of the first ever bulbs made by Edison, the importance of natural light that he presses servants should get in the kitchen and the humane scale in his design. It amazes me that architectural education was apprenticeship style and shifted to masses as AIA took over. Here we concluded our break as we drove back home.