Niagara Falls

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Crossing into Canada to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, where we were staying, was an adventure with the camper and Customs. There are a lot more questions when you enter a country with your house in tow! But we made it in and went down to explore the falls. They were absolutely breathtaking, and awesome to stand and take in.

The area has embraced the tourists who flock to the falls as well, offering everything from "Maid of the Mist" boats rides that take you into the mist of the Horseshoe Falls to the Vegas-like strip of things to entertain, albeit Niagara's version was a little more family-friendly, with arcades, Ripley's, wax museum, and big name fun stores like Hersheys and Coke. We declined on the super duper package with the Maid fo the Mist, the Whirlpool jetboats, the behind-the-falls tour, and all of that. It would have been fun, but somehow the view seems better from the top, where you're already getting misted by the falls...versus the drenching ride on the boat that, despite the poncho and protective gear, probably isn't a great view precicely because of the mist that you came down to the lower river level to see.

So, what we did do is view the falls, of which there are two: the American Falls, and the Horseshoe falls, which are on the Canadian side. The view of both sets, which simply come from the river being split just above by an island, is better from Canada. They are eroding, which you can tell by the piles of rocks just below. They have moved farther and farther from the Great Lake that they dump into for hundreds of thousands of years, and despite damming efforts, they continue to do so. Better hurry, you may only have a few thousand more years to go see them!

We also walked around the shops and amusements, and then went to see the imax movie about the falls. It was interesting, as it described the falls from when the native americans were the only people living near them, to today. It also showed a couple of the people who went over the falls (some on purpose for fame, others by accident). Then at the end of the film you exit into a museum of sorts, which has a collection of some of the barrels and vessels people rode over the falls in. Some of them didn't survive, but many did. It also showed how popular it was, and still is, to tightrope walk, juggle, and ride bikes over the cliffs and falls. Whew! Neither of us though much of that idea, but it was interesting to see and read about.

Then at night we came back to have a look at the falls. They're lit up at night with a rotating color palette, changing from white to green, blue, red, yellow, and so on. It was a beautiful sight! And though we decided not to, you can go up in their space needle-like tower and have dinner in a revolving restaurant to watch the falls at night, or simply go up into the observatory. Overall, it was an awesome stop. Yay Niagara Falls!!

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Comments

[Ellen]

Being a "Maid of the Mist survivor," I can attest to the "drenching ride!" Hugs.

[Linda]

Niagara Falls
U soooooooooo should've gone in the Maid of the Mist boat!!! It was soooooo worth it!! :) I'm not gonna lie, I did get soaked, but being THERE at the bottom of the falls I got to see the most beautiful thing I've seen in my life!!! And I got some good pics too! Hehehe!