They say silence is golden and I believe it’s true

But the roar of Niagara . . .

pounding its power as it breathes soft mist

is music to my ears.

Driving south from Toronto on the Niagara River Parkway, we heard the falls before we saw them. As we rounded the bend, we were met with powdery puffs of clouds, the falls not yet in view.  I had painted a vivid mental picture of how it would look.  . .  but when Niagara revealed her majestic self, it took my breath away.

Niagara Falls is actually three falls:  the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls on the U.S. side, and the famous Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side.

A little History

The Falls were created when glaciers receded at the end of the last ice age.  Almost 700,000 gallons of water per second cascade over the Canadian Horseshoe Falls alone, flowing from Lake Erie down the Niagara River into Lake Ontario.  Then it makes its way into the St. Lawrence River on its way to the Atlantic Ocean.

Our first stop was the Skylon Tower.  There are two restaurants, one with a revolving dining room, gift shop, an arcade and an observation deck.  Lots of fun here!   The yellow bug elevators take you to the top in 52 seconds!

At 520 feet tall, it gives you the BEST bird’s eye view of the falls:

We saw the IMAX movie at the museum– interesting information and history of the falls, including the stories of those irresistibly drawn to ride the water over the edge.  Can I just say how much I love that the first person to survive a trip over the falls was a woman?  63 year old Annie Edson Taylor, who rode the falls in a barrel with her cat, who also survived.    In true IMAX special effects fashion, the film gives the experience of what it may have felt like to actually take the plunge.

The Daredevils

The museum’s Daredevil exhibit tells the stories of the Daredevils (or lunatics, depending on your view) who took a journey over the brink.

You can also get up close and touch the some of actual vessels that made the trip, successfully or unsuccessfully, like this one that carried “Smiling Jean” Lussier successfully over the rim in 1928.

https://imaxniagara.com/

For all you modern Daredevils out there, you can zipline over part of the falls and have some of that adrenaline rush.  Line up you junkies!

http://niagarafalls.wildplay.com/

On to the Falls!

After visiting the museum, we donned our ever-so cute and stylish plastic slickers and boarded the Hornblower Niagara Cruise to get a close up view of the falls.  It didn’t disappoint.

The boat bumped, buoyed and bobbed, making our way over to the Falls, bringing us so close we could feel its thunder,  all of us jockeying for position to get the best photos, the spray drenching us, but we didn’t care – it was awesome!

We got even closer than this, but I didn’t want to ruin my camera.  The boat ride was a thrilling part of our trip and we happily checked this off of our Bucket List!

Niagara Falls welcomes over 10 million visitors every year.  Although Niagara is known as the “Honeymoon Capital of the World”, there are tons of family-friendly things to do with kids here.

Nearby Clifton Hill holds many attractions for all ages:  the Niagara Skywheel, the Upside Down House, Dinosaur Mini Golf, Hard Rock Café (a must-see for us wherever we go, as my husband is always looking to add to his Hard Rock t-shirt collection) and more!

https://www.cliftonhill.com/

However, The Falls are the main attraction – I loved the sound of Niagara – it is the background music for all you do there.  I kept returning to listen and to look at the Falls, after lunch, after shopping – because we were leaving for home the next day.   I wanted to take more pictures of this beautiful landscape and immerse myself in the experience as much as I could.

Eventually, Niagara Falls will disappear into Lake Erie.  But for the next 20,000 years or so, this will remain a great travel destination!