Ahhhh, Niagara (No, not the spray starch....)

The Smurf's at Niagara Falls

We are in Niagara Falls, New York for 3 days, having crossed the border on Thursday afternoon. It wasn't too traumatic...except they took our limes!!! No citrus allowed into the USA. We stayed at a not-so-great campground Thursday night, and then moved to quite a nice KOA in Youngstown, a neighboring community.

The first hint we had that we were approaching a significant water fall was the cloud of mist extending hundreds of feet into the air behind the buildings of the city itself.  As we got closer to the Niagara River, it got louder and wetter. Then, there it was!

The mist from the Falls behind the city

Windy!!

We really thought we might be underwhelmed by the falls... but we were wrong. For those of you who haven't been here, first...put it on your list. Second, there are actually three falls...two on the American Side (American Falls, and Bridal Veil Falls) and a single HUGE one on the Canadian side called Horseshoe Falls.

Bridal Veil (foreground) and American Falls (yes, those are full-sized people along the cliff and shore!)

We took a boat cruise called Maid of the Mist, which takes you right to the base of the falls. Everyone gets a complimentary rain poncho, and we were still drenched. It was great!!! Doubtful these pictures capture the immensity of the falls, or the millions of gallons that pour over the falls each second.

The cruise boat looks pretty small, huh?

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Right at the base of the Falls from the deck of the boat

That evening we walked across the Rainbow Bridge into Canada.  That side of the river has a beautiful terraced English garden, and restaurant right along the river. Behind that is blocks and blocks of casinos, Ripley's Believe-it-or-Not museum, Hard Rock Cafe, wax museums and a pretty cool miniature golf course RIFE with full sized dinosaurs (Note: not real ones) .

The Falls at night

We stayed over on that side late enough to see the Falls as they are lighted up after dark. It was beautiful, but we both agreed they were better in the daylight.

Plus, walking back to the USA costs 50 cents. Weird, huh?

My boyfriend, in Niagara, Ontario, Canada (he's cute, huh?)