Our Summer Adventures Part 2: Niagara Falls

​It’s been awhile since I last updated, and I realized I haven’t finished chronicling our summer road trip. I better hurry up and finish before we leave on our next epic road trip, which is coming soon over spring break.
 
After leaving the beautiful Traverse City (which we totally fell in love with and will be back again), we drove across Ontario, Canada to see Niagara Falls. I had seen Niagara Falls when I was in high school, but from the U.S. side, so we decided to stay on the Canadian side. It took us awhile to get through customs, and then it was a very flat and Ohio-looking drive to get to Niagara. Once we got there in the late afternoon, we were greeted with a VERY busy city block and a long wait for the parking garage in the hotel. We finally checked in, got our bags out, and then walked across a couple of blocks to get our tickets to the Horn Blower (the Canadian version of Maid of the Mist). We got on the boat, the kids were awe-struck at the beauty of the falls, and then we started our boat tour of horseshoe falls. The noise was way too much for our sensory-sensitive little Selah, so she cried the whole time while I held her. The boys enjoyed the boat ride even though they got soaked. After exiting the boat ride, we were bombarded by photographers pushing photos of us with a fake background of the falls for way too much money and lots of cheesy souvenir shops. We managed to get through all of that with our budget still intact, and then we walked back to the main strip and started looking for a place to eat dinner. The kids immediately noticed the RainForest Café and begged to eat there. We decided to oblige and went in to put our name in. It took us about 45 minutes to get a table, and then once we ordered, it took over an hour to get our food. I was getting pretty frustrated, but luckily the kids were very happy to watch all the rainforest-y things going on around them. After waiting way too long and paying way too much for mediocre-at-best food (although the kids still say eating at the RainForest Café was their favorite part of Niagara), we walked out toward the ferris wheel on the main strip. The ferris wheel is London Eye-esque and gives a great view of the falls when at the top. Although we waited in line about 45 minutes, the kids had a blast on the ferris wheel. It was dark when we were finished, and we started walking back to our hotel. Things on the strip got a little sketchy at that point, and we contemplated and then dismissed $7 ice cream cones and just went to our room for an early night. 

Overall, we were pretty disappointed in Niagara Falls. The falls, of course, are beautiful and worth checking out. But the area around the falls is so touristy and expensive, it takes away from the experience. We recently watched a national parks documentary, and interestingly enough, part of the reason that the national parks were founded was because the government considered the development of the area around Niagara Falls to be “a national embarrassment.”  They didn’t want any of the other natural wonders of the U.S. to be tainted by developers trying to make money from tourists. They wanted everyone to be able to see these natural wonders in their untouched state. Generally, we agree. We’re glad we saw the falls (and also glad we only planned to stay one night), but it really solidified our love for the national parks and the beauty they preserve.