Niagra Falls, Ontario

August 12, 2019 - August 14, 2019

As you'll see - it's well worth seeing the falls from both sides of the border.  On the U.S. side you can get fairly close to the rushing torrent of water as it cascades over the falls.  On the Canadian side you get a fantastic view of each of the 3 falls.

The American Falls on the left and Rainbow Falls on the right.
Notice all the specks at the bottom and to the right of Rainbow Falls. 

Close-up of the specs in the previous picture.  These folks have paid to get a thorough dousing by going down to "Cave of the Winds" to view Rainbow and American Falls from the bottom.

Horseshoe Falls.
Notice the boat in the water about in the center of the expanse of falls. 
Boat trips run from both sides of the border - taking you past American and Rainbow Falls
right into the intense spray of Horseshoe Falls.

Close up of Horseshoe Falls.

 American Falls at night.

The whirlpool on the Niagara River. 
The river makes an extreme right turn here - resulting this whirlpool of water.

I don't know what it is about Canadians but they know how to do flowers.

The actual floral clock.

Just a few of the previous floral clock designs (1997-2008).

In the distance is the Lake Erie end of the Welland Canal.
The freighter in the background has almost finished going from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie.

This is the Ontario end of the Welland Canal with a freighter approaching the first lock.

This freighter, traveling downriver, is entering one of the 8 locks that allow it to move from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario.
Now you see it....

...now you don't (except for the smoke stack and the ore elevator.

New York - part 5

August 9, 2019 - August 12, 2019

We moved on to Niagara Falls, NY and set ourselves up to see the area.  Our first venture was to see another Frank Lloyd Wright house in Buffalo, NY.

Drawing of the Martin House Complex.  Hopefully you get an idea of how large the place is.
The main house is on the right with a long pergola off the back leading to the conservatory and the stables/carriage house. 
The gardener's "cottage" is the unattached house on the left side. 
The separate house toward the back at the top right of the drawing is where one of his sibling's lived.  

Front of the home.
It's hard to believe this house was built between 1903 ad 1905.
It sits directly in the middle of a very traditional old style neighborhood.

Right side of the home with the conservatory in the background on the right.

Frank Lloyd Wright did not just design buildings, he frequently designed the furniture, art glass and specific architectural details for those buildings.  According to an article in wikipedia, "More patterns of art glass were designed for the Martin House than for any other of Wright's Prairie Houses."  A few examples:  

Of course the falls is the big draw at Niagara Falls.  Laura had never seen them before so she was suitably amazed by them.  They consist of Horseshoe Falls (the Canadian part of the falls), and two falls on the American side of the river - American Falls and Rainbow Falls.  Between Horseshoe Falls and Rainbow falls is Goat Island.

Some of the rapids above the falls.
You wouldn't want your boat's engine to fail anywhere in this area.

American Falls from a vantage point on Goat Island.

American Falls taken from the spot where the people are standing in the previous picture.
Rainbow bridge which joins the US an Canada is in the background.
The platform with the slender building in front of the bridge is a viewing platform and provides an elevator to dock where the "Maid of the Mist" boat tour begins and ends.

The American Falls from the city side of the river with Horseshoe Falls in the distance.
The city on the other side of the river is Niagara Falls, Ontario.

For a price you can take an elevator down to the bottom of Rainbow Falls and get a good drenching.
Rain gear is included in the price!
This picture is zoomed in to show the people.  In reality - they look much smaller from the edge of the falls.

It's truly hard to imagine the flow of the Niagara River drying up under any conditions - but it did.

The original hydroelectric plant on the American side of the falls after two parts of the power station came crashing down in 1956.  It was built in stages.  The first stage began in 1882, the second in 1898, the third (called 3A) in 1914, the forth (called 3B) in 1918 and the fifth (called 3C) in 1924.  Stages 3B and 3C were the portions that fell in the rockslide.

Today's hydroelectric plant on the Niagara River.

It's the 27% that astounds me.

I just really like learning about Pangaea.

New York - part 4

August 4, 2019 - August 8, 2019

From Wolcott we drove to a campground near Rochester, NY so we'd have relatively easy access to the city.  One of our stops was Mt. Hope Cemetery where Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglas are buried.  Mt. Hope Cemetery is a very old and very fascinating cemetery.  For one thing it's very wooded and hilly with graves tucked in every nook and cranny.  A guided tour would have been fun as there are many famous people buried there.  With a little help from google we managed to find the two graves we were looking for. 

We owe our right to vote to the work done by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Although Susan was unable to see women get the right to vote in the U.S. as a whole, she was able to see women get the right to vote in Wyoming (1869), Colorado (1893), Utah and Idaho (both 1896).

This plaque says it all about Frederick Douglass. Well known for his abolitionist work he was an important voice in the women's rights movement, especially with regards to voting rights.

Frederick Douglass
Photo of a picture in Susan B. Anthony's home.

Rochester was home base for Susan B. Anthony.  Her home has been made into a museum celebrating her life and work.

Susan lived in this house with her sister Mary for many years.  Her sister Hannah and her husband lived next door.

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton worked together to push women's rights forward for over 50 years.  Elizabeth, married with 7 children, wrote many of the speechs, fliers, articles, etc. about women's rights.  Susan, who never married, did all the traveling and gave the speeches.

This map shows the places Susan B. Anthony traveled in just 1871!
Just think for a moment what traveling entailed in those days.  Trains, horse and buggies, possibly stagecoaches.

A bloomer outfit.
Sorry I can't tell you what the cartoon says.  The picture is too blurry but thought the outfits worth seeing!

Some pictures of Susan B. Anthony's home.

Susan's bedroom.  The black dress in the background was sent to her by a group of Utah women who
wanted to express their gratitude to her for going to Utah to help them fight for the right to vote.
It is made of silk derived from a cottage silk worm industry run by women in Utah.

A third floor was added to the home to make office space for all of Susan's activities.

Another part of the upstairs office.

Susan's aligator purse.  For many years she used it as a briefcase, purse, etc.

For those of you of a certain age - perhaps you recall the following jump rope rhyme.  According to the folks who run the museum at Susan's home  - the woman with the alligator purse was none other than Susan B. Anthony.

Miss Lucy had a baby

His name was Tiny Tim,

She put him in the bathtub,

To see if he could swim.

He drank up all the water,
He ate up all the soap.
He tried to eat the bathtub,
But it wouldn't go down his throat.

Miss Lucy called the doctor,
Miss Lucy called the nurser,
Miss Lucy called the Lady
With the alligator purse.

"Mumps!", said the doctor,
"Measles!" said the nurse,
"Hiccups!" said the lady
With the alligator purse.

Out went the doctor,
Out went the nurse,
Out went the lady
With the alligator purse!

"Let's have tea."
These beautiful bronze statues of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass sit in a park very near Susan's home.

The George Eastman Museum is museum and mansion is also located in Rochester.  Mr. Eastman was the pioneer of photographic and motion picture film (think Eastman/Kodak).  While on the subject, the word Kodak is a totally made up word.  Mr. Eastman liked the letter K and sought a word that began and ended with the letter.  He finally came up with Kodak and the rest is history!

George Eastman - entrepreneur and philanthropist

Here's a trip down memory lane in terms of cameras.  (We've come a long way baby.)

Some cameras from before 1900

Babie Brownie (1934)

Brownie Flash Six-10 (1940)

Polaroid 95 (1948)

Instamatic 100 (1963)

Powdered synthetic dye samples collected by the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation.

The beginnings of motion picture technology.

Early methods to show motion used such devices as Mutoscopes, Kinoras, Theoscopes, Thaumatropes, Phenakistoscopes, Zoetropes and Praxinoscopes, all of which are carefully documented at the Eastman Museum.

You might have watched the simulation of movement on strips such as those above on something like the instrument (a praxinoscope) below.

Other methods of displaying simulated movement - above and below.

Kinetoscope (1894)
Produced by Edison Manufacturing, it used the newly marketed nitrate film produced by Eastman Kodak.  This allowed for "films" of much greater length.

George Eastman's mansion in Rochester, NY.

Like virtually all the beautiful homes we've seen on this trip, George's mansion is full of beautiful rooms, fabulous furniture and incredible architectural detail.

The rooms

The Entrance Hall

Dining Room

The Conservatory (Professor Plum with the knife in the conservatory?)

Living Room

The Billiard Room (or was it Colonel Mustard with the rope in the billiard room?)

The Library (Miss Scarlett with the candlestick in the library?)

George's mother's bedroom.

Hi class bathroom circa 1905.

Some of the fabulous furniture.

And lastly incredible architectural detail.

Sadly, even with all this George Eastman committed suicide when he was just 78.  He left a note saying "My work is done.  Why wait?"