Niagra Falls

After our drive to Niagra Falls, we settled into the Shearton Hotel in Canada and headed to the Crown Plaza (next door) for dinnner. Their dining area had a great view of the Falls and since the sun was setting while we were eating, we were able to watch them turn on the light show that lit up the water. Back at our room, we had a wall of glass that also overlooked the Falls to the left and the city of Niagra on the right.

Friday, we started the day with a bountiful breakfast at our hotel restaurant (again, overlooking the falls), then headed out for a full day of touring. Our first adventure was just across the street where we took the famous "Maid of the Mist" boat tour. It took us past the American Falls (I may be bias, but I thought that the American Falls may be a bit prettier) and into the midst of the Horseshoe Falls. The power of the thundering, rushing water is incredible (and loud). The mist from the impact of the water on the surface went hundreds of feet into the air and would have saturated us if not for our ever fashionable rain garb.

After our boat trip (a must-do), we walked along the path, past the American Falls, to an eye level view of the Horseshoe Falls. The speed and swiftness of the surging water was breathtaking as it fell over the edge. We took a "Journey Beneath the Falls" which took us 125 feet straight down in an elevator and out onto a platform where we could see a side view of the water cascading from the Horseshoe Falls above. (Also a very wet tour... thus the yellow rainwear). We were able to walk through a tunnel that led behind the falls to two portals where we could view the water coming straight down. I thought that part was a bit disappointing since you could see absolutely nothing but a white wall of water covering the opening, but Paul, really got a kick out of the sound of the thundering water reverberating off the walls... (I think it has to do with the inate urge of the engineer to think outside the box... or tunnel). The walls of the tunnel were lined with historical and informational posters about the Falls (which I found very interesting).

After a full day of sightseeing, we headed back to our hotel for dinner, and then out to the IMAX to see a movie about the knuckleheads that tried to barrel over the falls. Only about 15 people have tried (which surprised me), and 1/3 of them died in the attempt. The most interesting story was a 7 year old boy in the 60's that was in a boating accident. He only had a lifejacket and a swimsuit on, and survived without any problems (...except for maybe a fear of boating :)

The next day, we drove a few miles down the Niagra River to see the whirlpool and rapids. The Niagra rapids are known to be one of the most difficult rapids in the world. It is illegal to try to ride down them anymore (for good reason). Then we took the Rainbow Bridge back into the United States. The streets on the American side were anything but appealing (filled with run down Indian cuisine restaurants), but there was something comforting about being back on "our" side. We headed to Goat Island State Park (a good name, don't you think?) to view the falls from the American side. You certainly don't get the same effect since you can't really see both falls at the same time, but the view was still amazing.

We are now on our way back to Illinois. There were quite a few times during the weekend that we wondered how it would work to bring all 6 (soon to be 7) kids with us. It would be a challenge, for sure, and being that we saw no one with more than 3 kids, I'm sure we'd be almost as much of an attraction as the falls, but a trip back with the whole family has been our intention from the beginning. Now that we have an idea of the worthwhile (and affordable) sights, the only question is when...

Oh, and THANKS sooooo much to both of our parents for taking such good care of our crew while we were gone!!!!!!!