Day 5: Niagara Falls, Ontario

Alright, so you already know that we're in Canada. Although, I wouldn't call Niagara Falls a piece of true Canada. This is a 100% tourist destination. You've got all of the trappings of the Vegas Strip or A1A in Daytona Beach... sky coasters, endless buffets, wax museums, and random shopping galore. I think Steph put it best when, while driving through the most cluttered, touristy street she said, "this is like I-drive on crack". Before heading out this morning, I took a quick picture of our room. This is honestly the first time I've seen a jacuzzi suite where the bed and bath are side-by-side.

Our 1st item of business this morning was to grab some breakfast. We initially intended to have brunch in Skylon Tower overlooking Niagara Falls. However, it was so overcast this morning that the falls were not visible from the observation deck. So, we cancelled our reservation. Face it, our willingness to pay top dollar relied on our ability to view the falls. While driving around we quickly spotted a nice little German restaurant that advertised breakfast. It's hard to see in this picture, but all of the details of the building were nicely done.

As the morning turned to afternoon, the weather started to look up. Although the stormy clouds never truly disappeared, they did hold off long enough for us to get some good shots of the falls. Everyone I'd ever talked to about Niagara Falls told me that I had to see them from the Canadian side, and now I understand why. There are two curtains of falls that make up Niagara Falls. The first is referred to as American Falls, and the second (larger) set of falls is called Horseshoe Falls. From our side of the falls we got a great view of Horseshoe Falls and a front-on view of American Falls. Had we been standing on the U.S. side, we would have seen only half of what we saw from the Canadian side. It's also important to note that Horseshoe Falls is what people often picture when they think of Niagara Falls. The picture you see here is the right 1/3 of Niagara's Horseshoe Falls.

At any given moment there were at least 3 different 'Maid of the Mist' ships traveling between the two sets of falls. Anyone who's seen Bruce Almighty might remember this ship from the movie. We opted not to ride the ship. Too much turbulence for me! I would've blown chunks for sure.

Now, we've never attached a video file, but I'm going to try. There's really no way to capture Niagara Falls in a snapshot. This is a 30 second clip that covers Horseshoe Falls from right to left and scans down to show a Maid of the Mist ship in the gorge.

The picture found below is a picture of Niagara's American Falls. These falls are located on the U.S. side of Niagara. The city of Niagara Falls, NY can been seen in the background. I feel a bit naive for saying this, but before visiting here, I swear I'd only seen pictures of "Horseshoe Falls". Both curtains of falls are pretty spectacular in person. I did learn, however, that only 1/3 of the water in the Niagara River actually flows over the falls. The other 2/3 is diverted through electrical plants for both the U.S. and Canada. Approximately 10% of Niagara River's water volume flows over American Falls (seen here). Another 23% flows over Horseshoe Falls. Could you imagine how ridiculous the falls would look if 100% of the water travelled over the falls?

My mom and dad always remind me to take pictures with us in them. I can hear my mom now saying, "we want to see you, not just the sights". Well mom, this photo is for you and dad. Until tomorrow . . .