Published: August 26, 2008 04:35 pm      

COLUMN: Rethinking the whole Buffalo-Niagara thing

My wife’s co-worker faced a quandary recently: where should her family take an affordable stateside vacation? (Ireland, the first choice, was too expensive.) I’m proud that my Western-New-Yorker-via-marriage wife sold her co-worker on a trip to the Cataract City (We’ll expect a Tourism and Convention Corp. referral bonus in the mail any day.)

Relating her triumph to me, my wife then posited a second quandary: once in Niagara Falls, where should her co-worker’s family visit? I paused, running through a mental checklist. As a native, I have a blind spot about Western New York, both the charms and deficiencies. What sites and attractions would I recommend to someone visiting from Maryland?

The mental ledger I conjured heavily skewed towards Niagara County. That surprised me. The national impression of the region skews heavily towards the “Buffalo” in “Buffalo-Niagara,” attributable to sports, snow and steel factories (a lack thereof). My impression of the region was similarly skewed. Only now do I realize my error.

Buffalo and Erie County possess numerous quality attractions, no doubt. The Albright-Knox Art Gallery and Theodore Roosevelt’s inauguration site are among them. Those are relatively niche attractions, however. The Bills and Sabres aren’t summer attractions and traveling hundreds of miles for a game has zero appeal to half the American populace.

By comparison, Niagara County’s attractions have a broad appeal. Number one, two, three and four on the list is the Falls, the Falls, the Falls and the farmer’s market on Pine Avenue. I mean, the Falls. The Maid of the Mist, the Cave of the Winds, the Observation Tower, Devil’s Hole, the Whirlpool Jet boat tour, the aero car — that’s at least a day’s worth of entertainment.

Of course, how can the Seneca Niagara Casino be ignored, especially with that monster hotel that looks like a knife blade thrust towards the heavens? And we need not forget our friends across the gorge. Clifton Hill is a small town mélange of Las Vegas, Virginia Beach and Times Square.

Lewiston’s Center Street is quaint fun. Don’t forget Artpark and the Como restaurant. The Niagara Wine Trail appeals to those not satisfied with the boxed variety. And hey, there is an almost-abandoned airport waiting for somebody to use it.

In 2000, the U.S. Department of Commerce published a coffee table book of the varied and beautiful geography across the nation. No photograph — or mention — of Niagara Falls was included. It would be a shame for Niagara Falls to fall further off the American radar (Forget that “Honeymoon Capital of the World” moniker relevant during the Eisenhower Administration.) This region is unique on the continent and very affordable to tourists as the nation endures anemic economic growth.

I was pleasantly surprised to offer Niagara County as the place to visit for my wife’s co-worker. Erie County is the second fiddle in this scenario. Maybe the airport in Cheektowaga needs a name change. The Niagara-Buffalo International Airport is starting to sound better.

Michael Lucinski is a former Gazette reporter who currently lives in suburban Baltimore. He is the son of Gazette Managing Editor Dick Lucinski.