The original plan for this trip was flying to Toronto, spending some time at Bruce Peninsula National Park, viewing Niagara Falls at Canada side, then crossing the board and viewing Niagara Falls at the US side, and driving to NYC. However, the roundtrip ticket to NYC was much cheaper, so the plan was changed.

Day 1. Shanghai - Hong Kong - JFK

It was a long trip from Asia to East US. For a direct flight, it took about 15 hours. We had connection at Hong Kong, so it took even longer. It was lucky to have a good view for the Great Lakes from the air plane. There was a clear boundary between the lake and the land.

One thing I have to say is the hotels in NYC were so expensive.

Day 2. JFK - Ithaca

We rented a Jeep Ranger in 2019 and it was good, so we rented a Jeep Ranger again this time. Surprisingly, this was a 4XE hybrid vehicle. However, it didn’t support lane change assistance. Driving in NYC was hard, especially for people who haven’t been in NYC before. There were so many cars, complicated roads, also traffic jam on I87. When we arrived at Taughannock Falls State Park, it was quite late. And it started to rain when we were walking to the fall. We had to return because we didn’t take the umbrella. Then we drove to another viewpoint, and looked at the fall from a higher and further position.

Day 3. Ithaca - Buffalo

Not far away from Ithaca, we walked the trails in Buttermilk Falls State Park. Although we didn’t walk to the end of the trail, the beautiful scenery was unforgettable. It was not majestic like the Niagara Falls, but it was quiet and colorful. It was especially beautiful when the sun shined on the lake. Then we went to the Watkins Glen State Park. While walking along the stream, we saw a lot of waterfalls and cliffs. We also walked behind some of the waterfalls. After visiting two state parks, we stopped by the Corning Museum. Its glass products are very famous. We bought its tableware many years ago and they’re still in use. We then went to Genesee Falls on our way to Buffalo. Luckily we saw a train on the bridge, but didn’t have the time to take a picture.

Day 4. Buffalo - Niagara Falls City

We finally saw the Niagara Falls. We took the Maid of the Mist boat tour for getting closer to the fall. Strong wind and heavy water made me hard to see the waterfall clearly. However, it was a good experience to FEEL the waterfall. There is also a trail close to the waterfall, which provides the opportunity to stand in front of the waterfall. After feeling the Niagara Falls from the US side, we walked across the Rainbow Bridge, to the Niagara Falls City, Ontario, Canada. We booked a room with waterfall view so we could stay in the room and watched the Niagara Falls on the chair. The room was good. We had a relaxed afternoon and evening. We also had the chance to see the firework and the waterfall with different colors of lights.

Day5. Niagara Falls City - Buffalo

At Canada side, there is a tunnel behind the fall and a deck very close to the fall. We experienced strong wind and heavy water there closely. My waterproof jacket was good, but my shoes got wet again. We also learned the history of the power station. The bus ticket was a day pass, so we took the bus to the Whirlpool Trail, which is in the north side of the river. In the afternoon, we went back to the US via the Rainbow Bridge again.
Buffalo wing is famous, so we found a restaurant which is good at it. I should have chosen all flats for the wings, although it’s a little bit expensive. I think it worth it. Anyway, the wings tasted good.

Day6. Buffalo - Camillus

We started heading back to New York City. We’d like to have a different way for different views. In Fort Niagara State Park, a map says we can see Toronto Skyline from here if the weather is good because they are so close. In Green Lake State Park, we walked around the lake and relaxed on the lounge chairs by the lake. The air was fresh and the lake was peace and beautiful.

Day7. Camillus - NYC

On our way to NYC, we had a rest stop which was supposed to be a viewpoint. However, when we drove here, it was likely to be a small park. But it was a good place to take a rest and have lunch. Before arriving NYC, we walked the trail in Minnewaska State Park to Sam’s Point. We stood on a large rock, and had a good view to the park. MM told me a lot of people come here for maple in fall, so I started to imagine how it would look like if these trees were red. We returned to the car and arrived Manhattan at about 8pm. Hotels in Manhattan were expensive and the rooms were not big. But the one we stayed at was close to the Time Square.

Day8. NYC

Today’s schedule was quite flexible. Firstly we went to the Lyric Theatre in the morning as we were going to watch a play tomorrow, and we didn’t want get lost. Then we visited some famous places in New York City, like Time Square, Central Park, and The High Line. We spent long time to find an entry to The High Line. We had a Frappuccino in the Hudson Yards. It was expensive than I thought, but it felt good to have a drink and take a seat in the yard.

Day9. NYC

This was the day MM liked. We watched Harry Potter stage play in the Lyric Theatre. Lucky for us, we won the lottery so we spent less money to have very good seats. When I received the email notification of winning the lottery, we were so surprised and even doubted if it was a spam. We redeemed the tickets early in the morning. In case it was not true, we could still have time to purchase two tickets in the office.

NYSE is the place where many people like taking photos. I took some photos there and went back to broadway so we wasn’t miss the show. We had a lobster for the lunch and then waited for the show. Before the show, the theatre lobby was opened for shopping and taking photos. The famous Butterbeer was sold here. We enjoyed the show, especially in such short distance.

Day 10 NYC

Today’s focus was Statue of Liberty. Our boat departed from Battery park. The queue was not long. We got on the boat quite quickly. The boat was a good place to take pictures for the Statue of Liberty. It cruised in front of the statue while kept a good distance.

We didn’t have the ticket to the crown of the statue, but we had pedestal access. We went to the pedestal by stairs, and walked around the pedestal. The statue was so large, just standing in front of me. After taking a lot of pictures, we purchased some gifts in the gift shop and also a postcard.

Our initial plan was taking the boat to NJ to take a look then going back to NYC, but it took too long so we went back to the Battery Park and sent out the postcard in a post office.

Day 11 NYC - Shanghai

We still had some time to walk around, so we revisited the Time Square in the morning. We also had the chance to have Shake Shack in the airport.