Niagara Falls and more Palmyra -- May 13, 2014

When we were eating dinner at Olive Garden, we realized we did so much stuff in Palmyra on our first day that we were ahead of schedule.  We also realized that we were 1.5 hours from Niagara Falls. So we decided to go see Niagara Falls first thing Tuesday morning.

Niagara Falls
This place is awesome!  Huge!  Powerful!  No joke.  It is also a little crowded, though I imagine it's more crowded in the summer.

We took the Maid of the Mist tour and it was actually a lot of fun being on the same boat with all the other tour groups.  It made us laugh a lot.  First of all, it was fun to see lots of people in the funny blue ponchos.

The boat ride was fun because it took you right into the falls.

The only pictures I couldn't take was when the boat took us into "the horseshoe."  It was too wet for starters and there was no way I was getting my camera out for that, but it was also all white and I couldn't even get a decent shot.  So, I went to wikimediacommons and got this picture to use as it was in the public domain.

Here's a shot of us just coming out of the horseshoe.  I'm glad we had those ponchos otherwise we would have been drenched!

Here are some other shots from above the falls.

Before we left Niagara Falls, we ate lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe.  It was kind of fun.  I've never been to one before, and we heard one of Nathan's favorite songs just as we were finishing lunch: Electric Avenue.

When we got back from Niagara falls we went to the hotel to get all cleaned up, and then we headed back into Palmyra and did more sight seeing.

Alvin Smith grave
We had a few hours to kill before our temple appointment, so we found Alvin Smith's grave site. I loved how they put the old headstone in the updated marker.

Erie Canal
We also learned while visiting Palmyra that the Erie Canal was right next to where we were at -- not kidding!  Though they don't use it like the did back in the day.  Still, it was pretty cool to learn about and see.

Martin Harris Farm
We also drove up to the Martin Harris farm.  The original house isn't there anymore as it burned down (bummer).  The house that is there now is an 1850 lake-stone home, and it's beautiful. The church owns the property, but there are no public tours of the house as people currently live in it (people that manage the church properties in the area).

Afterwards, we drove back to the hotel, ate some dinner, and then got dressed to go to the temple.  The temple was great, beautiful, and spiritually uplifting.  I've been spiritually craving the temple since our miscarriage.  I love the comfort and guidance I received there.  It bears witness to me that Heavenly Father truly is aware of me, and our family.