I Finally Made It To Buffalo and Niagara Falls!

      So, I grew up in New York City... I actually spent 25 years of my life there. And to be honest, when I lived there, I was not a traveler, even in my own city. I didn't pay it the proper respects to see and do things, even though I knew fair heartedly people from all over the world traveled to New York City to see and do things. At the time of living there, it didn't interest me... At all. And since sadly at the time New York City didn't interest me, of course, New York State didn't interest me much either.

               

     But.. in the back of my mind I always knew about Niagara Falls, the earliest memory was from the Super Man II Scenes, the later memories would be one of the biggest travel regrets of my life when one of my favorite bands, the Goo Goo Dolls, that hail from Buffalo played a hometown show up there which would turn out to be a legendary DVD release. It was 2004, I was still not a traveler... But I found a super cheap flight to Buffalo NY. I know I didn't have much money then, but I also know I would have had enough for a bus ticket to Niagara. I could have seen one of my favorite bands at a legendary show, and visited the legendary Niagara Falls... But alas, I was not yet a traveler.
 
                                                   

     So all of the sudden when it was announced the very same band would be playing at The Key Bank Center for the end of their summer tour, it was a non negotiable. The trip that was supposed to happen nearly 20 years ago, would finally happen. Unlike a lot of my trips, Buffalo and Niagara research came easy. Two of my brothers had been and had experience with upstate or as Buffalo residents refer to themselves as, Western NY. They dialed me in on some solid advice, and I polished it up with my own research including some things that just weren't around when they went years ago. So if you want to visit Buffalo and Niagara here's my go to advice...

• I timed the visit with the concert, I highly recommend this, or a sports event, Bills, Sabers, etc Firstly it was great to experience a big night with so many people, and see that side of it. Secondly, at a population of only about 250k, Buffalo is small, and if you are coming from far as I was, an event certainly spices it up.
  
  

  

  Got to see the Goo Goo Dolls concert and pay homage to a mural of them
  
  

  
  
• Airbnb was significantly cheaper than hotels, but I did both. For night life I stayed at an Airbnb in Allen Town for one night, which was much better in terms of distance and convenience for night life, but on the flip side when I got back from the falls I stayed at a hotel booked on points in the Chippewa/Theater district. Allen Town more of bar scene, Chip more of a club scene. Both had great dining options, so really whatever you choose. But Allentown definitely was cheaper to stay. Both places had a really amazing nightlife scene considering the city is very small.
  
  

Allentown

• Most of the sights can be covered in a day or two. A day if you are quick, two days maybe if you are doing stuff on the water.
  
     
• Anchor Bar, the home of the Buffalo Wing is a must stop, order that along with a Labatt beer and beef on a weck sandwich and you are almost a local. I heard Bar Bill was also top notch but unfortunately didn't have time to make it down there. 
  
  
• When it's time to go to Niagara Falls, you certainly don't need a car, and it was convenient not to deal with parking, and border crossing! I took Uber to and from which ended up being around $60 round trip. A rental car would have costed a lot more. And needless to say you want to be walking along side the falls rather than driving.
• Crossed the bridge into Canada, my first official time exiting and later reentering the USA by foot!
  
  

  

  USA by foot!
  
  

• Now the falls themselves! This was a trip that I should have done years ago, when I was a broke 22 year old living in NYC, but... I must say it was nice to return with a little cash.. I know it's 6 of the 7 continents for the budget traveler, but if you can spare some cash, I do recommend all of the tours I did.
  
  

  

  Maid Of The Mist!
  
  

  
  
  
• Maid of The Mist, Cave of The Winds, Behind The Falls, and Ziplining the Falls. My only tips for these will come for the Cave of The Winds and Zipline. You will get VERY WET if you do the hurricane bay portion of the cave of the winds, change your shoes into something that can get wet, or be ready to use the hotel hair dryer to dry em out if you only have one pair. The Zipline charges a lot for a video, but you can bring a GoPro type camera if it has an approved wrist strap and shoot for free!
  
  

  

  Cave Of The Winds, it's not a cave
  
  

    
  
  
• And if you read the views are better on the Canadian side, you read it correctly! I loved the NY side but definitely a better view from our neighbors angle.
  
   
  
  
• TripAdvisor reviews convinced me to book a falls view room at Embassy Suites, a little expensive, but certainly did not disappoint! 
  
                          
• I had dinner overlooking the falls at the Keg Steak House, great dinner, great views, they sat me at an amazing table. 
  
                           
• But it wasn't over yet, at night the falls are lit up, its mandatory to head back down to the promenade and appreciate the beauty at night.
  
  
  
  
• I went to the Casino at night as other night life didn't really seem to be too pumping, but admittedly it was a Sunday night.

     This was a big travel lesson learned in life. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you get a chance to go back and change things. I want to say the lesson is there's always time, but there isn't. Some people wait too late to travel and may never get to experience it. But sometimes you do get lucky and get that chance. On top of that, I was fortunate to be in a different place in life. Had I gone when I was younger and pretty much broke, the trip would have been different. The other lesson I learned from Buffalo and Niagara came long before this trip. It came the first time when I didn't go. It was the biggest travel regret of my life not having the will to go by myself last time. Now I know, when you want to go somewhere, if you can, make it happen. Don't wait for everything to be perfect, because it may never be. This was a rare exception that the chance to do this same trip with the same band, came again, and I'll be forever grateful for that.

                   

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