6 Degrees of Separation: From Niagara Falls to Frankenstein
After our embarrassing overpass experience, we made our way to Niagara Falls still relatively early, which was a good thing since we had plans to leave by late afternoon.
Friendly Jay waved to every boat he saw at Niagara Falls. The National Park Service offers boat tours, which go directly into the horseshoe of the Falls. We thought it looked like fun, butt we probably wouldn’t have time since we were only staying for a few hours.I had been to Niagara Falls as a child. Jay, the Minnesota Farm Boy, had never been to Niagara Falls.
We started our tour by exploring the grounds and wondered who the large sitting statue was. He seemed to be pretty popular as the tourists (us included) stood in line to get their picture taken with him.
The statue is of Nikola Tesla. That’s right. Tesla, as in Tesla electric cars.
As a young boy, Tesla saw a picture of Niagara Falls and dreamed of the possibility of using water to generate power. That’s so funny – I thought the exact same thing when I was five years old and saw a picture of Niagara Falls! (No, I didn’t. I was too busy playing with Barbies.)
Tesla was sure we could do better than direct current (DC) electricity, which could only travel 100 yards – just enough to power a lightbulb.
In 1887, Tesla developed the induction motor, which ushered in alternating current (AC). In 1890, he built a power plant on the upper Niagara River.
In 1893, Tesla worked with George Westinghouse on the world’s first hydroelectric power station.
By 1896, Tesla was sending AC electricity from Niagara to Buffalo, New York.
So, what ties Tesla and Niagara Falls to Frankenstein? Well, hold onto your hat…
Mary Shelly’s 1818 novel was made into a blockbuster horror movie in 1931.Ooops… this isn’t the 1931 film…. butt since we’re here, I just love Mel Brooks’ 1974 “Young Frankenstein.” Marty Feldman as Igor cracks me up! Did you know that Aerosmith took a break one night while recording “Toys in the Attic” to go to the theater to see “Young Frankenstein”? After watching Igor famously instruct Gene Wilder to “walk this way,” the band wrote their hit song of the same title the next morning. That tidbit and $7 will get you a Frappuccino at Starbucks. You can thank me later.This is a scene from the 1931 movie, which used Tesla’s electric coils to create the realistic visual effects of high voltage sparks. And now you know all you need to know about the six degrees of separation between Tesla, Niagara Falls, Frankenstein, Starbucks, Marty Feldman, and Aerosmith.
“My brain is a receiver. In the Universe, there is a core from which we obtain knowledge, strength, and inspiration. I have not penetrated the secrets of this core, but I know that it exists.” – Nikola Tesla
We continued exploring the grounds around the Falls. And Friendly Jay continued to wave at all of the Tour Boats.
We wandered joyfully around until we came upon a young lady selling tickets to see a different view of the Falls. We were game. So we bought the tickets and headed toward the gate.
Whoa. The tickets were to the Boat Tour (the very one Jay had been waving to all morning)! Yay! We got in line, put on our rain ponchos, and climbed aboard the “Maid of the Mist.”
Just before we got to the Falls, I snapped this quick pic of Jay in his handsome poncho. And here we are… in the horseshoe of the Falls! It was like being in a hurricane. Lots of wind. The cold water whipped against our exposed skin. It felt like hundreds of quick pin pricks. I had to hold onto the pole because the wind was so strong it would have pushed me over the boat’s edge.Photographer Jay captured this surreal photo of the mist in front of the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.A little bit damp, butt he’s still smiling! After our boat tour, we walked up to the observation tower/deck that you see in the picture. The whole day was so unplanned and sooooo much fun!We ate at the National Park restaurant, managing to get a table just before they closed. Friendly Jay waved to the patrons before we went into the restaurant. And finally, Friendly Jay’s waving took hold. A group of high school students began waving along with Friendly Jay. He couldn’t have been happier!This is our “money shot” of the Falls. We had so much fun and packed a lot in to just a few hours. It was a wonderful experience!
We returned to Tink, which we had parked in a bus parking lot at Niagara Falls. Tinkerbell had lots of company at the start of the day, with a multitude of tour buses in the parking lot. By the end of the day, however, Tink was all alone in the bus lot. We had closed the place down. And it was just 5pm!
Our children had spent the day relaxing in the air-conditioned comforts of home, butt they were still overjoyed to see us when we arrived. We let the boys out and had a quick bite to eat before hitting the road. We wanted to arrive at a dry camping spot at a reasonable time.
For this leg of the trip, Frankie held his ground. No more “co-piloting” for Mr. Ziggy, who had fallen down on the navigating job earlier that morning.Ziggy didn’t argue with Frankie. He relegated himself to the couch for the two-hour drive to Erie, Pennsylvania.We made it to a Cracker Barrel outside of Erie just after closing (9pm).
After a hearty breakfast of Cracker Barrel pancakes, we drove with heavy hearts to what would be our final Wegman’s stop during the Summer of 2025 Tour.
The Wegman’s in Erie had all our favorites freshly made in the bakery that morning, to include the orgasmic chocolate fudge cake and melt-in-your-mouth molasses cookies. BTW, those are my descriptions, not Wegman’s. Although, I’m willing to strike a marketing deal with Wegman’s if they’ll pay me in cookies and cake!And then we departed our final Wegman’s. It was a sad time for both of us butt especially for Tinkerbell’s driver who truly LOVES Wegman’s!
Well, only you could connect the Falls to Frankenstein. I had forgotten how beautiful the US side of the Falls is. I am kind of surprised that GQ and Elle did not track you and Jay down for a poncho photo shoot. Fetching!
I learned some interesting tidbits from this blog–I’ll remember that Aerosmith story in case it ever comes up for our team on trivia night! When we went to Niagara a few years ago, we, like many people, did the Canadian side, which (ironic to me) is the overpriced, tacky, touristy side, while the U.S. side is more parklike. I wish we had done the U.S. side in retrospect, although our daughter liked some of the Canadian-side attractions. They say the Canadian side has the better view, but I imagine it’s all good. Glad you got to experience Maid of the Mist–I think it’s a must!
Tinkerbell's Travels 
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