BigWeather's Blog

Note: This is the blog for Monday, July 25.  As for the title, it is from the Primus song “Over the Falls.”  I expect only Daniel will appreciate it, but it really fits.

Woke up and ate breakfast at the hotel’s attached restaurant, Mr. Coco’s.  It was reasonably priced (for the area) and quite good.  I had three eggs over easy, some bacon, two pancakes — with decent syrup! — and some toast.  The rest of the family also had their favorites, including oatmeal that was hand-made and not out of the carton.

The weather when we woke was rain but seemed to be letting up despite lingering cloudiness.  We walked the short distance downhill to the falls.  It was a wonder to behold.  Though I had been twice before, once with Daniel and shortly after with Michelle in 1994, I had never seen the falls from the Canadian side.  While America gets a set of falls (American and Bridal Veil) all to themselves there is no question that Canada gets the better view — as you can see all three (the other being Horseshoe) in one sweep.  To the left (north) are American and Bridal Veil, side-by-side, then Goat Island (part of New York state), then the massive Horseshoe.

American Falls (with Bridal Veil right next) to the left, Horseshoe Falls to the right

We decided to go north along the river to the Maid in the Mist boat ride.  Though we were concerned it’d be a long wait the line moved rather fast.  We were issued blue ponchos and, after going to the restroom, shuffled aboard the Maid in the Mist VII (they have seven boats in total) and, as we were in the front of the line, got a nice spot on the upper deck’s railing.

It rocked a fair bit more than we were expecting, but it wasn’t too bad.  I tried to give my railing spot to an elder couple standing behind me (as I can see over almost anyone no problem) but while I was backing out this young mother and her child cut in place.  While it irritated me somewhat I guess it helped a child out so that’s cool.  Still!

The boat got pretty close to American and Bridal Veil, allowing us to fully appreciate how rocky the lower falls is — as a result of rock falls in the 30s and 50s.  Then the boat made its way up to Horseshoe, putting us firmly inside the horseshoe’s ends.  Water came down in sheets and I was quite worried about the camera but I managed to keep it dry.  We then proceeded back to the dock, going past a rock absolutely covered in birds.

Maids in the Mist... of Horseshoe Falls

By the time we got off the boat, recycled our ponchos, and enjoyed some drinks (while taking in the amazing sights), the sun was bursting through.  It became downright hot and humid (ok, not as bad as down in North Carolina, but still…).  A shelter along the cliff that we had previously used during a sudden downpour now, only an hour later, gave us much needed shade.  Hungry and in need of sunglasses we walked through the shady park (and agreeing we should just nap under the trees like many others were doing) and up the hill back to the hotel.

We grabbed a quick (but not cheap!) lunch at Margaritaville right next to the hotel.  Addison enjoyed doing the kids’ activities and got a “treasure” — a plastic ruler — for finding all sorts of answers around the restaurant to questions on the menu.  Michelle and I had Cajun steak wraps which, while not bad, were a bit spicy.  Genetta made a brave choice and ordered (and enjoyed) portabella mushrooms.  The boy had a kid’s steak which, while tiny, was tasty.  We then swung by the car and picked up my sunglasses and hats for the others, after a short rest in the hotel, then went back down the hill and went towards Horseshoe Falls and the Journey Behind the Falls attraction.

We got a ticket to for 5:20 (a good thing, by the time we got out there were no more showings) trip and in the meantime did some browsing at the gift shops as well as snapped many photos of the falls and the beautiful rainbows that were showing up with the setting sun.  In particular a cool watercolor world map caught my — and Addison’s — attention as well as this really tacky plastic moose magnet painted red and white like the Canadian flag.  Once we got out of Journey Behind the Falls we snagged those treasures right up!

Journey Behind the Falls was really neat.  Basically we donned ponchos (yellow this time, Genetta said we looked like bananas) and rode an elevator down about 150 feet to near the base of the falls (the falls are 180 feet tall, and the pool it drains into is as deep).  From there we walked down a 200 meter (dang metric measurements!) tunnel that had two viewing points.  The railing at these points was about six feet beyond the end of the cliff face and the cascading sheet of water.  It was amazing to see it come in pulses, roaring into the tunnel (beyond the railing) in torrents.

Also along the tunnel walls were informative plaques.  We learned that enough water to fill 1,000,000 bathtubs goes over the falls each second.  The falls used to recede ten feet a year until recently, when modern engineering slowed it to one foot every ten years.  That is probably a good thing because once the falls opens directly into Lake Erie the results could be very interesting (like, “get an Ark” interesting).  Ships use a parallel canal with locks system just to the west of Niagara Falls to descend the 200 or so feet between Lake Erie and Ontario.  The falls carry 20% of the world’s fresh water.  Amazing.

Ice is kept off the falls by a series of twenty-two booms, though sometimes ice will overtop and go down the falls, damaging the Maid in the Mist and other facilities.  Also ice bridges routinely form in the river below the falls and, until 1912 when three people fell through during a slight warm spell to their deaths, people used to go out and have parties on them.  Ice also crushed a bridge called the Honeymoon Bridge back in 1938.

Next we went out to a multi-level viewing platform near the bottom of Horseshoe Falls that afforded a beautiful view as well as a good soaking and a thunderous roar.  Well worth it, I hated to turn back up the tunnel and the line for the elevator back up.

Looking up at Horseshoe Falls from Journey Behind the Falls

Once out of the attraction I saw one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen — and resisted it.  Fries with gravy on top.  Now, those of you who know me know I’m no stranger to going to Two Guys and putting a cup of gravy and parmesan cheese on my fries.  But it is something I do once every five years or so.  And I do it in secret, in great shame, in their darkened dining hall.  Here it was, however, in full view of the world.  “Yeah, I got some fries with gravy on top, you got a problem with it?!” it practically shouted.  Though I resisted (and would do so again, just this night in Ottawa) I suspect I will succumb…

We walked back along the river (and I took tons of photos — it is so very hard not to, particularly in the age of “free” film) and up the hill to the room and rested a bit (hey, it’s vacation).  At about 8p we set out to find some steak.  Addison was really in the mood for some (the lunch nibble serving only to whet his appetite).  Every place was $40 per-person, or more, however, so we ended up back at Mr. Coco’s where Addison got a very good 12 oz.  It wasn’t cheap ($32!) but the rest of us didn’t have anything near that expensive and I just got French Onion soup and ate some of his vegetables and a left over piece of pizza that Genetta couldn’t eat.  Returned back to the room and the others went to bed while I plonked away at the Gettysburg blog in… horrors… Notepad.

American (and Bridal Veil to the right) Falls

Horseshoe Falls double rainbow

Rainbow at top of Horseshoe Falls

Note: This is the blog for Sunday, July 24. Unfortunately we got to the Niagara Falls Holiday Inn and, despite two days of trying, I never could get connected. We’re now at the hotel in Ottawa and I can upload stuff again. I guess it is good practice for Tuesday, August 2 through Saturday, August 6 when the blog will go dark again — that time due to being in the Adirondacks in a cabin without power. Also I spewed a lot of Gettysburg facts in this blog but had no way to verify them other than my memory. I’ll try and correct mistakes in time, in the interim I point the reader to the Wiki entry.  Also note that this is light on images as I generally don’t like to post pictures of museum items as I don’t know the copyright status of that sort of stuff.

Woke up and checked out of our hotel in Frederick, MD. We then drove over to the ol’ standby of Fine Scottish Dining, McDonald’s. The drive up to Gettysburg, PA was beautiful. Gentle rolling hills containing farms growing mostly corn. Their corn sure does look healthier than ours — guess their drought isn’t as bad as ours. The temperature was still ridiculous, though, in the 90s well before noon.

To the left as we drove we could see a higher ridge of mountains. I explained that the route we were driving, route US-15, was the primary line of Union advance from the D.C. area to the north, where they had received reports that the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, led by Robert E. Lee, was advancing. The Army of Northern Virginia was in fact using the ridge of mountains as a screen, advancing northward just beyond them. They and the Union force (the Army of the Potomac) would meet July 1st through 3rd in the single bloodiest battle (that is key, as the single bloodiest day was Antietam in September of 1862, not far from where we were) of the Civil War — Gettysburg.

It was amazing to think of the Union army, 90,000 strong (which we would later learn would make it the tenth largest city in the United States and the second largest — behind New Orleans — in the South) advancing along this beautiful valley in a line sixty miles long. It must have been quite the sight! Lee, for his part, had nearly as many men in his army. The Union general, Meade, had hoped to meet Lee southeast of Gettysburg by some fifteen miles but a cavalry scouting force met the front-runner of the Confederate force northwest of town. The Union commander, Reynolds, decided to engage the Confederates and beat a fighting retreat back towards the town, hoping to keep the roads open (Gettysburg sits at the nexus of ten roads) for reinforcements. It was a bold and smart plan, one for which he was rewarded scant minutes later when he was shot and killed.

I don’t want to turn this into a history lesson (that is what Wikipedia is for!) so I’ll be brief. The fighting over the first two days was intense and resulted in the Union contracting its lines south and east of Gettysburg along Cemetery Ridge and Little and Big Round Top all the way to Culp’s Hill to the northeast. Lee hoped that on the third day he could break the Union line along Cemetery Ridge. He had his one-hundred and fifty cannon on Seminary Ridge (I know, I know, could they make it any more confusing?!) open fire on the Union soldiers to the east. The Union’s one-hundred cannon returned fire, resulting in an artillery duel lasting a couple of hours. During that, Longstreet (a Confederate general that would later alienate many in the South by being friendly with U.S. Grant and critical of Lee’s decision to take this very gamble) had 12,000 infantry line up just behind the ridge. Finally, they charged to the east, through the tree line at the top of Seminary Ridge and down into the valley between it and Cemetery Ridge — one mile of mostly open ground, in range of Union cannon, then rifle, fire. Though they covered the distance in twenty-six minutes (in full fighting gear!) their losses were tremendous. A few hundred actually made it to the Union-held ridge but were beat back. It was a gamble and one for which the South paid dearly — not only had they lost many men but Pickett’s Charge (as it would come to be known, after one of the three commanders under Longstreet) is considered by many to be the turning point of the battle and of the war (along with the surrender of Vicksburg the very next day, July 4th 1863). It ended any possibility of European (likely British) military aid to the Confederacy and it silenced many critics of the war in the North and gave Lincoln the victory he desperately needed for re-election the next year.

Though a political defeat it wasn’t a clear military defeat for the Confederacy. Lee was able to salvage his army and continue to fight for nearly two more years by leading a skillful retreat and benefiting from Meade’s timidness. Lee would not find Meade’s replacement, Ulysses S. Grant (the general that won Vicksburg), nearly as easy an opponent. Losses on the Union side were 23,000 killed / wounded / M.I.A. and the Confederate side were 23,000 – 28,000 (their records are more incomplete). The dead were a humanitarian disaster for the town of Gettysburg (which, incidentally, lost only one civilian — a lady making bread that got killed by a stray bullet) with the dead taking months to bury. Lincoln attended the consecration of the cemetery where they were buried and delivered the Gettysburg Address, one of the most famous speeches in U.S. history. Though critical reception of the speech fell predictably along party lines (some things NEVER change), the ten sentence, two minute speech is widely acknowledged today to be a masterfully brief summary of so many issues that defined the war. I hope I’m not breaking any copyright rules by reproducing it below — it is too beautiful not to:

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

We drove straight to the visitor’s center and museum to the south of town. We first saw a decent twenty minute long film (narrated by Morgan Freeman — does he do all of these types of film?!) describing the battle and giving context to both the events leading up to it and what followed. We then proceeded to the “cyclorama”. We had no idea what a cyclorama was, but WOW. It is a painting done in the 1880s that is 42 feet high (it has been trimmed slightly) and 370 feet long (wrapped into a circle). A French painter and a small team knocked it out in a year (!) and it is beautiful. It does a great job of conveying depth and it is phenomenal how many soldiers, etc. are represented. He even painted himself into the picture! Accompanying the painting is narration and using lighting and sound effects to describe the battle. Apparently in a time before movies and the like cycloramas were in nearly every major city. They covered many events, such as Roman history, Waterloo, and of course Gettysburg (of which there were several cycloramas — this one was originally in Boston then in private hands before being relocated in the 60s and restored in the last couple of years). At the bottom of the painting were physical objects like dirt and cannon and such to complete the illusion — it was tough to see where physical objects ended and the painting began. Anyhow, we were all very impressed.

Small portion of the Gettysburg cyclorama, Gettysburg, PA

Next we spent a couple of hours in the museum. I had intended to only spend a couple of hours total in Gettysburg but that was clearly not going to be enough as the museum itself was very impressive. Lots of interactive touchscreens, movies to watch, and some amazing artifacts. They had the stretcher that hauled Stonewall Jackson off the battlefield at Chancellorsville, the table that they rested his arm on to amputate it, and Lee’s cot and stuff. They also had a lot of items from the common soldiers which was great to look at. They even had two bullets that had collided and fused in mid-air! There was one particularly amusing quote from a paper in Wilmington questioning why North Carolina would ever follow the crazy idea (secession) of that crazy state (South Carolina):

“Are you submissionists to the dictation of South Carolina… are you to be called cowards because you do not follow the crazy lead of that crazy state.” – Wilmington, N.C. Herald, 1861

So very true! In all it was amazingly well done and well worth the visit.

Finally we followed the auto tour around the battlefield and through the town. The town is nice, with tons of cool shops (including even toy soldiers). I resisted, though, as time was running very short — we had a five to six hour drive ahead and it was already nearing 2p).

We saw the North Carolina monument, a very impressive bronze monument. One in four Confederates killed in Pickett’s Charge were from North Carolina according to the engravings. Amazing. In fact, the largest unit of the army, the 26th North Carolina, went from 839 to 152 left standing by the end of the battle — the highest losses of any unit in any battle of the war, Union or Confederate.

North Carolina monument, Gettysburg, PA

Looking across the valley between the two ridges and imagining the scene of July 3rd, 1863 was sobering. Driving past Big and Little Round Top and seeing the jumbles of rocks affording defenders every advantage was interesting — how hopeless it must have seemed to those trying to seize that very important high ground. The Pennsylvania monument was huge (as is fitting, as it is their soil). There were almost too many monuments, however — nearly 1,400 cover the battlefield.

Little Round Top, Gettysburg, PA

Left town and returned to US-15, picking up lunch at Arby’s. At about that time my Uncle called and we had a great conversation about running the camp at Indian Lake and other topics. We’re really looking forward to that part of the trip. Continuing north, driving first to Harrisburg, past a really neat train yard, then through the Susquehanna river valley. It was absolutely gorgeous! It seemed every turn brought a new vista of the river and the lush green hills on either side.   There were tons of white egrets standing in the river at various spots.  Bucknell University is located in the valley as well and had a gorgeous campus.  We passed Williamsport and saw the Little League Baseball field and museum (we didn’t enter, though — running waaaay short on time).

Susquehanna River, PA

We also saw an Amish family traveling to the south in the emergency lane via horse-drawn buggy. I felt kinda guilty that I, without thinking, pointed and went “Look, Amish!” Smoooooth. That got me to thinking — when did the Amish break away from modern times? What was the tipping point? It wasn’t like they went retro or anything, they just at some point decided “nah (or, more likely, NAY), that’s enough, we’re not doing that.” Was it the machine reaper? Glasses? Something that made raising barns obsolete?

Shortly after Williamsport the road left the river and, regrettably, traversed hillier terrain (that’s the nice thing about river valley roads — they are flat, if windy). Our mini-van HATES hilly terrain. It did OK today, however, and the road (which it turns out will be I-99 soon) got much faster to travel with no stoplights and such. We finally started making great time and entered New York in short order. We drove through Corning and picked up various roads through some wonderful farmland (including a really neat high school that had a mascot of a mounted jousting knight in York as well as a wind farm with huge windmills) before reaching the New York Thruway (yay tolls!) as night fell. Another hour and at around 10p we were crossing the Rainbow Bridge (I kid you not) that leads into Canada. No trouble with the border crossing, just some routine questions.

Made it to the hotel (Holiday Inn by the Falls) with little incident other than some rude pedestrians that kept running in front of the car while we were trying to turn into the hotel entrance (and blocking the opposing lane of traffic as a result). Got the second to last space in the parking lot and decided to eat at the restaurant adjoining the hotel — Mr. Coco’s. Had some really decent wood fired pizza and even at 11p or so the town was still hopping with activity. Went up to our rooms and, after discovering that I couldn’t connect to the Internet, got some much needed sleep.

Route for July 24, 2011

Woke up bright and early, about 7a, to finish packing and all that jazz.  Ate some cinnamon buns we had in the fridge.  Set out just after 10a to meet my parents at Wilber’s BBQ just east of Goldsboro, NC.  We had intended to eat at the Skylight Inn in Ayden.  The very limited menu (BBQ on a plate or bun, with or without slaw — that’s IT) made us reconsider.  No way some in the family would stand for that.

Go to Wilber’s about 11:45a, about fifteen minutes late.  My parents and son had unfortunately gotten there much earlier, as it had taken far less time than what Google Maps had advertised.  Anyhow, we all ordered, the food (BBQ plate with double potato salad for me, BBQ plate with potato salad and butter beans for the wife, chicken for the kids, BBQ and chicken for my parents with butter beans) came quickly and was good.  I personally prefer Danny’s potato salad as it is mayonnaise based but it’s all good.  The butter beans were a particular hit with everyone.

Wilber's BBQ in Goldsboro, NC. Yum!

About 1p we finished and went out to say our goodbyes to my parents and load Addison and hist stuff (and some binoculars and scopes dad let me borrow) into the car.  It was infernally hot.  Nearly 100F already (it would hit 108F near Richmond later in the afternoon — but the car runs about three to five degrees warm) and it wasn’t a very dry heat.

Took I-795 up to I-95 all the way up to Washington, D.C.  Did get to go past that awesome train station in central Richmond.  We did hit some bad traffic near Fredericksburg and I-495 around Washington was bad.  Narrow lanes, frequent shifting of lanes, concrete barriers for construction, the works.  We ate some McDonalds before hitting D.C., though, so at least we weren’t starving and frustrated with driving — just frustrated.  I-95 is just not fun.

Beautiful Old Rail Station, Richmond, VA

Turned on to I-270 and encountered far less traffic for the remaining thirty miles or so until Frederick, MD.  Staying in a Holiday Inn near Francis Scott Key mall.  It’s OK, I guess.  A place to rest our heads.  A younger me would punch through and do Raleigh to Niagara Falls, Ontario in one day but that’s just not worth it anymore.

We ate at the Double TT Diner near the mall.  I’m a bit confused as to whether it is two Ts as the symbol indicates or a two sets of two Ts — the TTTT Diner.  Regardless, it was pretty good fare, if a bit expensive.  Most of us had breakfast-like items, I had the chicken fried steak and over-easy eggs with home fries.  Not bad at all.  Also at the mall was a Borders with a “Going out of business” banner — sad times.  If it weren’t for the Nook and their game sales B&N would probably not be far behind.  This recession sure has taken a lot of places we loved from us (several restaurants in particular).

Touring Gettysburg NMP in southern Pennsylvania tomorrow and then driving on to Niagara Falls.

Route for July 23, 2011

In the coming weeks we’ll be traveling across the northeastern USA and parts of eastern Canada.  I figured I’d start the blog with a map of our route.  If you’d like to follow our progress feel free to use this link.