Today we got an “early start” and headed south to Niagara Falls. We were excited about having the honor of making Charlie the first in his family to see this impressive sight. I know we never took his dad and his mom told us that in spite of her being from NYC she never made it to the Falls.
Going to the Falls seemed like a good idea at the time but once we left the hotel I was having second thoughts. The traffic reminded me of Los Angeles and what I thought would be an easy 90 minute drive turned out being 2 hours and for some odd reason the gps took us off the freeway for a bit. I suppose it was to save time but just added an unecessary detour that made me consider using a different app.
Upon arrival to the Falls things got worse. Not too surprising there were hoards of people and parking was limited. We finally found a spot for a mere $35. Then we had the long walk to the boats. We found out that The Maid of The Mist, which Patrice and I used in 2013, is USA based and we’d have to cross the border to board one of their vessels. Instead we were directed to the Niagara City Cruises which is the Canadian equivalent of the Mist. When we got to the ticket office there must have been at least 100 people on line. While waiting I tried to buy tickets online without success. I was then informed that after you purchased your tickets there was 90 minutes wait to board the boat. I left Patrice and Charlie waiting on the ticket line while I waited on the entrance line. My strategy worked somewhat and we got onboard the boat after a grand total of about one hour waiting. Unfortunately we were one of the last passengers to board so going to the top level was not an option. We left it up to Charlie where we should stay and he opted for the very front of the boat. To say this would be considered the “wet zone” would be an understatement. We got soaked. But considering how hot it was today, getting wet was a pleasure.
After the ride Charlie needed to use the bathroom and I needed a place to sit down. I found a couple of chairs but the people sitting nearby said they were waiting for friends. I told them I needed to sit and would get up when they arrived. They still didn’t want me to sit down. I told them I felt like I was going to pass out and sat down anyway.
it was 4 pm and we had plans to meet friends for dinner at 8 back in Toronto. Four hours to travel 80 miles seemed adequate since it only took us 2 hours to get to the Falls. We didn’t want Charlie to suffer so we stopped to get him a snack. At 4:20 Patrice checked the route back to the hotel and it said 2:23 so we said we better get going. The ride back actually took 3 hours. Even Los Angeles traffic isn’t that bad.
Luckily our friends were very understanding and greeted us warmly at the restaurant. More about that tomorrow. We are exhausted and have to get up early for a flight to Minneapolis via Chicago. Twenty-three stadiums down and soon there will be one more.
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 