A cute area of the park to explore. Not very busy at all. It doesn't take long to walk. Views of…read morethe water. There is parking lot with free parking for a limited time, but you only need like 20 minutes to explore the area.

Located off Goat Island upstream of Horseshoe Falls, this group actually consists of four small…read moreislands. The three largest were named after the daughter of General Parkhurst Whitney (Asenath, Angeline, and Celinda Eliza), and the fourth is referred to as Little Brother Island or Solon. The three larger islands can be accessed via footbridges from Goat Island; the path to the bridge is located near the Terrapin Point Viewing Area. Like a peaceful oasis, the islands feature picturesque stone walkways and cheerful foliage while giving visitors a unique perspective of the Upper Falls area.

Holy Smoke! 6 open gardens in total? What happened? I kept telling them to do the garden walk…read morelater, because its too hard to get everything ready by mid June, or I would take part with my own garden. We've had rain for weeks out of the last 3 months, and this puts everything behind.

This is one of my favorite festivals each year. Its usually a weekend mid June. This year its june…read more19th & 20th. First off it's in the town of Lewiston which is a beautiful setting for a garden festival. The majority of the vendors at the festival are selling items that focus on your garden and outdoor living areas. There's a wide assortment of flowers, plants, bushes, and trees along with things like bird baths and outdoor decorative items. At the end of the walk through 5he festival is the town gazebo where the local gardening club is set up with a master Gardener and all kinds of information to share. They conduct a container gardening contest that everyone can vote on. Naturally there are also several food vendors along with all the local restaurants and businesses that welcome you with open arms so don't forget to check them out. There are also garden tours through some of Lewiston's local residences. Or just walk around and enjoy the beauty of the entire town. You'll truly enjoy it. 2021-90

Festival annually is great if you want to burn up a few hours in the weekend. It's nice that…read morethey had more craft vendors this year. The peach cobblers were too small for what you pay $8 for. The peach baskets were also overpriced. Basically I give it a "meh" rating.

I stopped by the Lewiston peach Festival for the first time this year and found it really charming…read more The actual carnival rides and carnival vendors were somehow brand new looking and the nicest I've ever seen at a carnival/ Festival. We didn't actually try any peach desserts, but maybe next year. This is a pretty small Festival but conveniently located right in the center of town with lots of street parking available.

Road trip side step…read more On my way to my final destination I made a stop in the Buffalo area to see some things before I could check into my hotel. I have been in search of some Presidential sites recently and came across this while browsing for things to do before I left for my vacation. If you happen to stop by the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site they kind of point you in this direction. If not done on purpose, it's in a passing manner. There you will understand my Teddy had his swearing in ceremony because of what happened near this site. In this beautiful, planned out community you will stumble upon a median in the road that holds mostly trees and a variety of plants. Every so often it is dotted with rocks. This rock was purposefully put here. This community once held the Pan-American Expo, an expansive exposition of the countries from the Americas. With the expo there were many makeshift buildings built that could easily be torn down once the expo reached completion. The building that this stones represents, in a manner, was the Temple of Music. Just outside the temple, President McKinley would be shot by a man and ultimately pass away due to the gunshot. This stone is meant to be a monument or maybe a placard to remind you of what once happened in this area. It is well maintained and as other reviews have stated, usually flanked by small American flags. Some housekeeping here. Be mindful of the area, this is a neighborhood and you are visiting. Do not block a driveway. It is a road, be aware of your surroundings and traffic. Do not trample the area. Lastly, make it quick, there isn't much else to see here.

It may seem morbid, but it is history. The Pan American Exposition was build to be leveled…read moreafterwards, so nothing (save one building, I believe) remains. So, this rock is the only thing to remind the USA of McKinley's assassination and the only president to be inaugurated outside of DC. If you're looking for the full tour, add a stop to Delaware and W. Ferry, which is where McKinley died (there's just a sign there). And then go to the Roosevelt Museum/National Park. It's work the small price of admission and is a small, yet well done museum (perhaps a bit too patriotic, but that's to be expected I suppose).

One of my fav historical plaques is the "First House" one in Niagara Falls. As a result, I drive…read moreon Buffalo Avenue here all the time. And this is a new mural. Aptly named pac man! So fitting. On the side of the anchor bar NF, so also very on point. Hilarious.

If you're tired of the neon lights and the crush of humanity on Clifton Hill and want something…read moremore laid back like art, great coffee, and some cool jazz than try Niagara Falls' true "Downtown". Located close to the GO Station along a revitalized Queen Street just north of Clifton Hill and without one tacky t-shirt shop in sight, this part of Niagara Falls seems like an entirely different city. Here the art galleries, antique shops, restaurants, clubs and Balzac's Coffee Shop, are all found in renovated historic buildings. Also, throughout the year Queen Street hosts several events with live music including the Day of Elvis and the annual Springlicious Festival.

This is quite a find. Reminds me a lot of that OTHER Queen Street (Queen West in Toronto), although…read moreit's much shorter of course. Several little art galleries with interesting work (mostly realism but skillful), neat little places to eat, an old-fashioned restaurant that hasn't changed since the 1960s. A couple of hip coffee shops. An Aboriginal art gallery where you can both buy art AND try your hand at making your own in workshops that are reasonably priced (soapstone carving, dream catcher making, beading etc). Plus really friendly shop owners. We spent three hours there just browsing in the shops and talking to artists/owners.

Every 2 years (I think) is the Hertel Alley art mural festival. A great way to see local mural…read moreartists at work. It always amazes me how they manage to get a design on such a big "canvas". Really impressive. The largest one was covering all the walls of "the Monacle". 7000 square feet of mural!

This project started several years ago. The organizer gets permission from the building owners for…read morethe wall art and has the walls of the buildings in the alley whitewashed to become a blank "canvas" for the artists. The alley extends three short blocks. I do not know how many artists apply to paint one of these walls, but this year there are 29 artists invited to make beautiful pictures in the Hertel Alley. These artists start drawing their outlines on Saturday morning and plan to complete their work by dusk on Sunday. In addition, this year a building called The Monocle, which has its back side in the alley, has artists painting on all sides of its exterior walls. It is a two story building with black walls. The design here flows all around the building's 7000 square foot surface. The Artists have been working on the Monocle's walls for over two weeks. It's a lovely walk past these three blocks of art work on progress.

I am quite sure I would not want to drive the Niagara Scenic Parkway in the winter. Maria B.'s…read morepicture suggests black ice and low traction and me ending up in a ditch and getting to write a new review of a towing company. No, thanks! Instead, I'm cruising along a stretch of the highway in July when it's green and smooth and there's no ice on the road. Beautiful to look at, the Niagara Scenic Parkway is only 16 miles long, going from New York Route 18 along Lake Ontario to Lewiston near the bridge to Canada. Two lanes in each direction with a median, at least on the part that I drove. And no toll which makes me happy. [Review 1419 of 2024 - 423 in New York - 22442 overall]

This roadway gives easy access when driving between LaSalle and Fort Niagara, it follows alongside…read morethe Niagara River. From the North Grand Island Bridge to Niagara Falls you have great river views (on one side, factories on the other). The section from Niagara Falls to Whirlpool State Park has been redone and is beautiful with a winding bike trail and native wild flowers and trees alongside the road. There are access points to gorge trailheads and parks. The road goes from 30 mph in Niagara Falls to 55mph past Lewiston. Four State Parks Niagara Falls, Whirlpool, Devil's Hole, Deveaux Woods and Fort Niagara State Parks are accessed by this road. Unfortunately it isn't very "scenic" on the North end from Devil's Hole to Fort Niagara but there are plans to beautify the road as was done at the South end already. So many cool stops along the way make it a must do when visiting the area.