A trip to Niagara Falls

I mentioned our recent trip to friends and had to explain. Visiting Niagara Falls wasn’t at the top of my list of places to visit. I felt that it was kind of old-fashioned. A place people used to think romantic for a honeymoon. Like many Americans , I’ve seen those pictures. Yawn.

So it was a side-trip. A lucky choice.

Niagara Falls is the most impressive view I’ve seen on the East Coast. It ranks up there with the Rockie Mountains and the Grand Canyon. Since we had the time, we chose to do the local tour. My husband likes the convenience of someone else finding parking, getting tickets and generally explaining the features.

Our first stop was the power plant. Huge turbines turn on both the American and Canadian sides.

Niagara Falls carries one fifth of the world’s fresh water supply. Of that, fifty percent of the water goes through the electric turbines not over the Falls. I can’t imagine what a full flow would look like and neither can anyone alive since the last time one hundred percent went over the Falls was in the 1880s. Electricity is supplied to the entire East coast of the United States from this place.

We stopped at the whirlpool where water is forced through a narrow gorge before reaching the river. The waters churns like an old-fashioned mixing bowl.

We descended to the Cave of the Winds and looked up at Bridal Veil. It’s too early for the decks to be erected and we walked as close as allowed.

I didn’t see the rainbows since it was cloudy but the birds were too numerous to count. It seems that any fish caught in the current gets ground up by the turbines and the birds gather to feast.

From the observations tower we could see the boats being readied for tourists. The Maid of the Mist isn’t in the water during the winter, but my husband vowed to return to take the voyage under the Falls.

I walked out on the Three Sisters, a set of small islands extending into the river above the Falls. Because of the location, it feels like the water will wash over your head at any second, a wonderful and scary place to take a picture with your feet at the edge of the rolling water.

Niagara is a small city with the biggest surprise being the Seneca Casino in the center of town. It seems the New York constitution doesn’t allow gambling in the state so they land was deeded to the Indian tribe who built the glass structure.

Another place to visit on another day.

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