Saturday, August 1, 2015

7/30 Niagara Falls, NY

I have vague memories of coming here as a child, and I certainly have been here several times as an adult, but it has been many years since my last visit.

I have to admit that I was more than a little disappointed.  I can remember when you just parked in a lot and walked over and looked at the falls. Now, there are hoards of tourists, which I guess are to be expected in July, but I really disliked going into this state park's visitor center and finding food vendors, ticket booths, and a 3D movie being hawked.  (Strange to pay to see a movie when you could just step outside and see the real falls.)  It had more of a Cedar- Point-on-a-hot-Sunday feel than one of our national treasures and a natural wonder.  (Did I mention it was 88 degrees outside?)

The worst part was the attempt to sell you a combination ticket for $38 per person that got you into six attractions, including an aquarium, the Maid of the Mist boat, the 3D movie, etc.  All I wanted to do was take the Maid of the Mist, so I searched around and found out how to buy a single ticket for that. 

Anyway, if I ever come back here, it will be off-season, and I will ride my bike around some of the quieter spots around Goat Island.

So here are some photos: 



Looking down at the Maid of the Mist from the observation tower.  Glad their was an elevator to get down.

It was hard to keep the water droplets off my camera lens, so please forgive the tiny spots.

Things were getting wetter here.  They give you a thin, blue "souvenir" raincoat to keep yourself relatively dry.

It was a very short trip, but you do get very close to the base of the falls and get to enjoy the spray.  Actually, it felt pretty good on this hot day.


There was so much spray, it was almost impossible to get a photo close to the Horseshoe or Canadian Falls.







This last photo was taken from the other side of the falls on Goat Island.  I was too tired and hot to walk around much, but it looks like there are bike trails here.

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