NIAGARA FALLS

We all know about Niagara Falls. A place for honeymooners to go, a natural spectacle, the place the Erie Canal was built to go around, and so on. When we were planning this trip, I knew this was one of the things that I wanted to see. And yesterday, we saw Niagara Falls, from different angles, and up close and personal. It was a beautiful day, and our plan was to check out the falls, and see what else we might stumble across in the area. When we got there, it was pretty impressive, to say the least. I've seen a few waterfalls, many, a lot higher, but never anything with the raw power of so much water cascading over a cliff. When you consider that 4 of the 5 great lakes drain over Niagara Falls, it's a little easier to comprehend what you are seeing. We paid the $13.50 each for a ride on the famous Maid of the Mist boat, and it took us past the American Falls (pictured), and right into the middle of the Canadian, or horseshoe falls. There are actually 4 boats. Two each, on both the American & Canadian sides, and each pair does a round robin, with a boat departing about every 15 minutes. Having been a business owner, I often look at these operations from that perspective. On average, each one of the four boats, depart about every 7 1/2 minutes, and conservatively, each boat had well over 100 people on board. In an 8 hour day, those 4 boats gross $86,400! Even with high overhead, I'd be willing to bet that the Maid of the Mist operation is very lucrative. The fact that they have been in operation for over 150 years, tells the story by itself. It was a very cool experience, and well worth the $27. On our way back to the RV park, which is about 15 miles, we stopped at a brand new Wally World, and picked up some groceries. Today, the weather is overcast, and I think we'll drive to Lockport, which is on the Erie Canal. I've always been fascinated by this 400 mile canal, that was dug almost entirely by manual labor.