Those are
the words spoken on the loud speaker as the Maid of the Mist boat gets near
Horseshoe Falls.
As mentioned
in my last blog post, Laurie and I went to Niagara Falls from June 10-14. I
plan on doing a series of essays about many different aspects of the trip. We
had a lot of fun in the three full days we were there. The falls are big and
beautiful. There is a ton to do and getting bored is not an option. The scary
thing is Niagara must be the biggest tourist trap in the world. There is no
shortage of vendors, gift shops or restaurants willing to take your money at
ridiculous speed. We did get burned by a few overpriced or undervalued
attractions and restaurants.
We did a lot
of things over the course of three days. We visited both the American and
Canadian sides of the falls. We stayed in Niagara Falls, Ontario but spent an
entire day at Niagara Falls State Park, NY.
First and
foremost, there is a myth that the American side is not pretty and there are no
views. False. The Canadian side is prettier, there is more room to spread out
and see the falls, but the American side is also nice. The state park is well
maintained and getting around is a snap.
If you ask me the rumor that there are no views on the American side was
probably started by a Canadian.
To me, there
are two types of attractions. There are those that are directly related to the
falls and those that are meant to appeal to tourists (traps). We did both
types. Even though I refer to tourists attractions as traps, I still enjoyed
them and was surprised by my own interest.
When you
consider how many people live within eight hours of Niagara it is no wonder why
it draws eight million visitors a year. I don’t know how many people reading
these essays are considering taking a trip but I hope these posts help.
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