We heard it time after time at Niagara Falls—“People who haven’t visited for
11 or 12 years say they hardly recognize the place.”
The transformation on the Canadian side of falls occurred,
we were told, when the government issued a permit for a casino. Upon learning
that, major hotel chains bought up every available foot of property in the
prime area for viewing both the Horseshoe and American
Falls and launched a building boom.
The concentration of high-rise hotels brought with it $30-a-night
valet parking with few alternatives and outrageous pricing in hotel
restaurants. There are ways to beat the system, but we were celebrating, not
economizing, so we didn’t hold back very much.
Our anniversary observances usually include casino visits
and the best steak dinner we can find. So we set aside some cash we could
afford to lose if lady luck was unkind and planned to dine in our hotel’s upper
level restaurant, which featured first-class views of the falls at night when lights
provide a fantastic spectacle.
“The view is everything,” our trusted advisers said. We thus
blew a good part of the budget on a “falls view” mini-suite at the Embassy
Hilton. It was well worth it. One local resident said he and his wife once a
year book a room at the Embassy and spend a day and a night doing nothing but
looking out their window at the falls.
We intended to conserve some cash by visiting only two of
the best attractions—a voyage on the “Maid of the Mist” and a trip through the
tunnels that takes you behind the falls. Well, that’s what we intended.
What we did was sign up for a very expensive tour of the
whole area that included our top-two attractions and just about everything else
worth experiencing. That turned out to be a good decision. We had a great tour guide who presented the
history of the area in detail, emphasizing intriguing stories about the various
daredevils who have walked high wires and performed other death-defying acts at
the falls.
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| The morning view from our room. |
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| You can get closer on an observation deck. |
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| Or, you can walk through a tunnel behind the falls. |
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| The Maid of the Mist can hold 600 people, but it looks pretty puny going past American Falls. |
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| Whirlpool rapids are among the wildest and most dangerous in the world--we looked, but didn't boat there. |
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| The floral clock is a place to make a wish. We did. |
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| Just as our Maid of the Mist voyage was ending, the sun came out and a rainbow signaled the end of a terrific tour. |
Our guide wasn’t exaggerating when he said his tour packed
two days of activities into one. We topped off a great day with the most
expensive restaurant meal we’ve ever eaten.
Beautiful wife Sandy said it also was the best. Our server rewarded our
appreciation with a huge, delicious dessert in honor of our 51st year
together.
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| We took one last look out of our hotel window. |
We were 50 miles into our trip home when Sandy said, “It seems strange, but we have
some money left.”
We were enjoying the falls and nearby attractions so much,
we forgot to visit the casino!
