Niagara Falls! — Darren Lin

My dear friend Jane Sylvester took me to Niagara Falls on Tuesday as a graduation present! This was my first time ever visiting the falls and we had a great time walking all around the islands and their parks, getting completely soaked from the falls, and fighting through large crowds of selfie-stick wielding tourists so I could get views like this:

Niagara Falls! Stunning. Canada in the background! What up Canada?

The first attraction we hit was the "Maid of the Mist," the boat that you see Jim Carrey riding on in "Bruce Almighty." They give you these flattering, form-fitting blue plastic ponchos and then drive you (drive? steer? boat?) right into the horseshoe falls. There was so much mist in the air that you could barely see anything!

The highlight of the trip for me was the "Cave of the Winds," a wooden staircase sitting precariously close to one of the falls. The strength of the falls is so strong that the attraction needs to be rebuilt every year! For this attraction you ride a 17 and a half story tall elevator down to a long hallway, they give you some truly attractive sandals (read: dorky and obnoxious) and a yellow poncho and then let you loose on the falls. There's a part at the end where you can literally stand underneath a waterfall, and that was one of the coolest experiences I've been a part of. To really be at the mercy of nature and feel the power of the falls bearing down on you... it was really awe-inspiring and powerful.

Cave of the Winds - yellow ponchos + walkway visible on the right

We stopped by the Niagara Aquarium, which is a thing, and watched an adorable sea lion show and watched some penguins being fed. I learned a bunch of new things about penguins - they are picky eaters, they "molt" and lose all their feathers at once every year, and can live up to 30 years in captivity! The Niagara Aquarium had 7 penguins, the oldest being born in 1988 (older than me!) and the youngest being born only just a couple years ago. Penguins also mate for life, and there was one pairing I found particularly amusing of a much, much older female penguin named DJ having a boyfriend penguin that was no more than 10 years younger! Get it, DJ. You inspire me.

To end the trip, we stopped in Buffalo, NY and grabbed a bite to eat at 'Deep South Tacos.' No pictures, 1) because I haven't reached that point in my life where I feel the desire to document everything that enters my mouth and 2) the food was so good I literally don't remember anything after the first bite. GO. Get the LARGE NACHO BOWL and ANY of the tacos!!! I have never felt so strongly about any statement I've made.

Thanks for a great trip Jane!