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The shipping industry was greatly important to Buffalo's economy in earlier times, and the Lower Lakes Marine Historical Society's mission is to pay tribute to and increase awareness and appreciation of, that facet of local history. To that end, a wide variety of historic artifacts, old photographs, models, and interpretive materials relevant to the Great Lakes shipping trade are displayed in a warm and airy museum in what was once the offices of Howard H. Baker and Company, a ship chandlery that served Buffalo Harbor in the 19th century.
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A work of local artist Casey Riordan, Shark Girl is a life-size fiberglass statue of a young girl with an old-fashioned blue dress, bright red shoes, and a great white shark for a head that's been perplexing — and polarizing — visitors to Canalside since it was unveiled in 2014, borne of a partnership between the city government and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery aimed at promoting works of public art around Buffalo. Shark Girl is a recurring character in Millard's repertoire of paintings and drawings — a representation, she says, of "the existential conundrums of life, love, family, and loss". She sits atop a boulder on one of the whipple-truss bridges over the restored canal.
The miniature remote-control sailboats you see puttering around the rewatered Erie Canal were inspired by the model boat races that have long taken place at Conservatory Pond in Manhattan's Central Park, and Canalside is still the only other place in the world that has them. As you stand alongside the edge of the water, you use the remote-control unit that the folks at Sail the Canal give you to adjust your boat's sail and rudder — but as with a real sailboat, the wind does all the rest of the work. For that extra touch of authenticity, they'll even sell you a captain's hat.
The Ice at Canalside is New York State's largest outdoor ice rink, two and a half times the size of a regulation hockey surface and three times the size of the skating rink at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. Located on the new northern extension of the Commercial Slip — the site of both the Erie Canal terminus and the playing surface at the old Memorial Auditorium (a special insignia on the surface of the rink pays homage to the Buffalo Sabres' former home ice) — the Ice at Canalside opened just in time for the start of the 2014-15 skating season, and also hosts broomball, curling, and other winter pastimes. Skates and "ice bikes" are available for rent as well. In summer, the Ice at Canalside is converted to a lovely reflecting pool, with old-fashioned whipple-truss bridges crossing over the water that evoke the bygone days of the Erie Canal.
Ralph C. Wilson Children's Museum
Explore & More was founded and spent the first quarter-century of its existence in the village of East Aurora (best known as home of the Fisher-Price toy company), but moved in 2019 to an all-new four-story space in Canalside with a revamped set of exhibits based on telling the story of Buffalo to the littlest youngsters through the medium of play. Kids can pilot boats down a miniature Erie Canal in the "Moving Water" exhibit, learn about "Being Good Neighbors" with folks of different backgrounds, or strap on a hard hat and play architect in the "Building Buffalo" exhibit, constructing their very own house or bridge using play tools and building materials. And on the first Friday of each month when they're open late, the rooftop terrace is a great place to catch the Buffalo Bisons' post-game fireworks display at nearby Sahlen Field.
Courtesy of Water Bikes of Buffalo (see below), both young and old can cruise their way around the rebuilt Canalside canals on their choice of six adult-size paddleboats or 12 child-size double-passenger boats. Boats are rented for 20-minute intervals on a first-come-first-served basis from the kiosk at the east end of the canals, adjacent to Main Street. Life vests are provided free of charge and, even though the water is only 18 inches (45 cm) deep, are mandatory for all ages.
Erected in 1907 in commemoration of the assassination of President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition exactly six years prior, this gleaming 96-foot (29 m) obelisk of Vermont marble anchors Niagara Square at the focal point of Joseph Ellicott's 1807 radial street plan. The McKinley Monument was designed by Carrere and Hastings, the same architects in charge of the Exposition; the lions and turtles resting at its base (symbols, respectively, of strength and eternal life) were carved by well-known sculptor A. Phimister Proctor. The monument was also the subject of Carl Sandburg's poem "Slants at Buffalo, New York".