Day 38 – Those Of You In The Front Row Will Get Wet

This morning started with a humongous waste of time as I got on the trail of finding a hairdresser (I need to resolve my growing roots situation). After driving round for about an hour, following the GPS to every local salon it listed, I returned to the hotel with my natural color still trying to break through. Forget it brown, I will get rid of you once we make it to a town that values hair care…

Sensing it was time to do something less frustrating, we made our way over to Niagara Falls! Even though the weather was cloudy, it wasn’t freezing, so we went straight to the Cave of the Winds; a walkway built right into the falls. They’re nice enough to give you a rain poncho and flipflops so your clothes and shoes won’t get soaked, but don’t be fooled this will not save your coat sleeves or pant legs!!

After taking an elevator down through the rock you start at the timid bottom and climb up a wooden walkway in the mist of Bridal Veil Falls (one third of Niagara Falls) to stand under the main spray. All the rain this week made the water a monster and by the time you get to the top, you give up caring about keeping dry because it’s too late! It would have been amazing to get more photos, but unfortunately you can only shoot for about five seconds because water and electronics don’t mix!

With no way to dry off we had to walk around with wet calves and cuffs. A small price to pay for such an amazing experience. This was one of the funniest things I’ve ever done; it feels damn refreshing to stand in the wake of something so grand! After getting a hot drink to warm up, we explored the rest of the state park in our soggy clothes.

One of the best views of all three falls is from the observation deck. Bizarrely they charge just $1 a person for the privilege. Being that high up gives you a cool vantage point, but Joe didn’t like the height…I just think he didn’t like being that close to Canada because, despite my begging, he refused to let us cross the bridge over there where you get a completely different perspective on things.

Those lucky Canadians may get the forward view, but we sure spent a lot of time trying to find as many views of American Falls as we could…

Eventually we remembered there was another section of Niagara Falls: the spectacular Horseshoe Falls. Of course the best way to see the horseshoe effect it’s named after is either from Canada (Boo to Joe!) or on the Maiden of the Mist boat (Boo to Joe again, another nix on that one…), but still the US side was worth seeing. The whole thing is massive and I would suggest everyone tries to go to Niagara Falls at least once in their lifetime. It’s definitely a must-see, so add it to your ‘bucket list’ now!

As soon as we got in the car it started to belt it down with rain; we didn’t even get out of the parking lot before it covered the windshield…talk about timing, the ‘Powers That Be’ must’ve decided we got wet enough today! So, what is the obvious choice in a downpour? Movie time! We visited another old school cinema and finally saw ‘The Town’, a film about bank robbers in Boston...Affleck making a comeback, love it! Although I’m hoping that’s not the side of Boston we see when we get there…

So, until tomorrow…
Ani

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