New Year's at Niagara Falls

Ah, yes. My parents moved to a small town in western New York to retire to last year, buying the house on January 11th. The one year anniversary is coming up.

Since then, I have taken regular trips up there, bringing some of their possessions in kind of a regular drip, while they continued to obtain necessities and make the house a home.

It is a great house and home, and they really did a fantastic job getting it. It was another sign that patience can eventually be rewarded.

I have tried to make sure that my son goes there as well, to keep in touch with his grandparents on his father's side, as well as just to get a change of scenery every now and again. He went for two weeks in the summer, and now he went for a week and change during the holiday season. 

Of course, that meant picking him up at the end of the holiday season. But I thought it would be nice to do something special for New Year's Eve/Day, while we were up there. I thought about the options, and after looking online, it seemed like it would be a good idea to head on up to Niagara Falls, Ontario, to ring in the start of 2020.

After doing some research just days before New Year's Eve, I learned that there would be a free concert at Queen Victoria Park at Niagara Falls on the Canadian side, with a view of the famous falls and everything. It would feature local Niagara Falls singer Valerie Borghesi, Walk Off the Earth, and Canadian rock legend Bryan Adams, whom I had seen once before, back in 1999. I always liked his music, even if I was not always devoutly following his career or buying his albums when they came out, and had only seen him in concert that one time. But this concert seemed like a wonderful way to ring in the new year, and I was determined to make a go at it.

There were some things that needed to happen first. The weather had to hold, because that region of New York is known to be cold and snowy. If the weather was supposed to be bad, then the festivities would be put on hold. Also, I needed to write a letter and get his mom to sign it in front of a notary public. Then, I also needed to get to my parent's house, then drop the boxes and stuff off that I had brought with me. Lastly, of course, we needed to go take the roughly two hour and change drive to Niagara Falls.

All of that was done. We crossed into Canada by way of the Peace Bridge in Buffalo and entered Ontario at about 3:50pm, although the first thing that we did was wait on line to talk to the border guard. It was almost 4:20 pm by the time that we actually got through, and daylight was running out. We managed to reach the Falls before it got dark, which was nice.

We had gotten some things to eat for dinner, and I figured it was going to be a long night. But everything worked out as well as I had hoped, and perhaps better than I had planned for. The weather was better, as the forecast had called for 1 to 3 inches of snow. It was clear in the Buffalo and Niagara Falls region, although the normally nearly two hour drive back to my parent's place was snowy and a lot more stressful. It took us three and a half hours to get that done.

But that was later. We arrived in plenty of time to see local Niagara Falls singer Valerie Borghesi open the night up, and she was not bad. She talked about how this was a traditional concert held each New Year's Eve, something that I had not known prior to this, and I was impressed. This was the first time that I had seen an outdoor concert in winter, and it was in Canada, to boot!

It was a long night, and let's face it: it was cold. That, despite it being warm for the season (even if it was still below freezing). Still, seeing a great free concert, and enjoying the incredible beauty of Niagara Falls to ring in the New Year made this a very memorable start to any year that I have ever had. My son also had a lot of fun, and we really had a blast to start this year off on the right foot, at least!

Kudos to the City of Niagara Falls, Ontario, for hosting this party, which again, is free for all to come and enjoy. This made it a really special night, and we did not even have to fight for bathrooms, as these were made available throughout the entire night, as well as warming stations. What a great idea, and they really did a wonderful job with it!

Here are some pictures from New Year's at Niagara Falls:

Bryan Adams and the band were far more bundled up than the other two bands who performed before them. Can't remember which song they were performing for this picture, but they played for probably an hour and a half, and I think that he did most (but not all) of the hits. Good show overall! 

Yikes! Very blurry picture. This was taken during the opening moments of Bryan Adams setlist, if memory serves correctly. Still not quite remembering which song this is, either, admittedly. The backdrop they used for this are images of Manhattan, for some reason. You can make out the Empire State Building on the far left, and other NYC skyscrapers shown during the night view. 

Waiting for Bryan Adams & Band to take the stage on New Year's Eve, 2019. 

My son and I trying to keep warm, in between musical acts. He was wearing this hat for a few minutes, before losing it altogether after taking it off and apparently dropping it. We never found it again.