Today's plan was hit the Falls and make some use of the bus passes we'd bought. But first breakfast. Everyone was up late, but we seemed to get moving fairly quickly. When I'm on these jaunts I tend not to keep checking on the time, unless there's something specific to aim for, and today it was just making good use of the time. We'd decided to make our way over to the Queen's Coach again, a wise move given the availability of vegan comestibles, and the fact that it was only ten minutes from the Aerocar parking lot on the Niagara River Parkway.
The Queen's Coach was not quite so busy, so a little easier on my ears. The vegans went vegan, and I opted for the cheap default breakfast again, which I knew was going to negate the need for lunch. The bill was still fairly reasonable for four people, so I think the Queen's Coach gets a thumbs up from all of us.
It really was a short hop to the Aerocar parking lot. Because it was free parking, we weren't sure how busy it was going to be in the middle of the day, and had a backup plan if we couldn't park there. The main, and very large parking lot for the Falls was our fallback, made possible because the WeGo bus pass allowed us to park there without paying the $36 fee, which I thought was quite the deal. As it turned out, we didn't need to drive into the Falls because there were plenty of parking spaces at the Aerocar lot.
The young ones booked Aerocar car tickets for the afternoon, and we all piled onto a bus and let it take us into the chaos of Niagara Falls on a summer Thursday. The bus was slow and very full, although the driver seemed to be equipped with superhuman patience as he exhorted people to move down the bus, and to get able-bodied people out of the "Mobility" area, to allow people with mobility issues to sit. There may even have been a wheelchair loaded, I couldn't see from the back, but either way he had everyone boarded and charged headlong into the heavy Falls traffic.
At the Table Rock Center, the shopping mall that sits just feet from the edge of the Horseshoe Falls, it was manic. There were lines for the toilets, lines to buy tickets for the various attractions, and above all noise. I had to retreat to the outside and wander around, marvelling at the Falls and at the all the people milling about rather have to deal with the assault on my ears. To be frank, I wouldn't normally attempt Canada's most visited tourist attraction during the summer, but when there's a school-aged child in the mix, there's no choice. That said, it is part of the overall experience, and the crowds are very International. Tourists from China, Japan and Korea flock to the Falls, as do Americans (the US is literally just on the other side of the river), and of course, Europeans. I saw footy shirts being worn, from Chelsea, Arsenal, and Shamrock Rovers of Dublin. As I said, a truly international gathering.
We sauntered up towards a position opposite the American Falls, but didn't get very far. We watched various iterations of the "Maid of the Mist" boats driving loads of poncho-wearing tourists into the spray at the base of the Horseshoe Falls, and we took in the sights.
What we didn't do was head up Clifton Hill, which is a street that runs up from the river into the Hotel District. It's Canada's answer to Blackpool, or Pigeon Forge, a street so full of tacky diversions and ways to relieve you of your money that I would pay good money just to avoid it. Yes, I'm getting old and grumpy, and maybe Charlie will appreciate it when he's older, but for this trip, we kept away from the place. The strip of land along the river on the Canadian side, and pretty much most of the way to Niagara-on-the-Lake, is controlled by Niagara Parks, a quasi-Governmental organisation that still has some standards. Yes, the attractions along the river are expensive, but all of the outlets are Niagara Parks branded and you know that some of the money is going back into maintaining the place and not into some wealthy person's already bulging pockets. The Parks also limit the worst commercial excesses, and if you want to know just how bad the Falls area could be if left to private enterprise, just visit Clifton Hill.
While I'm on the subject of who runs what, I have to say a word about the WeGo buses. There are a couple of routes, one along the river and one up the hill into the town, and they run every fifteen minutes during the day. The vehicles themselves are the lovely "Bendy" buses, and while fairly new and full of innovate things like wheelchair ramps and "kneeling" suspension, they did scrimp a bit on the seat padding. I'm certain they're operated by a local bus company, but it's all under the auspices of Niagara Parks again, which keeps them honest with scheduling and the like. When we visited last time, a long while ago, the buses were the green and white Parks buses and they stopped running after Labour Day. Just take that in; Canada's most visited attraction and the transit system stopped at the beginning of September. That was old thinking, where it was imagined that everyone went back to work in September and nobody visited. Thankfully Niagara Parks has moved into the twenty-first century now and the WeGo buses run all year round, albeit on a reduced schedule away from the summer. There's also the link up with the attractions and the parking, where you can by one ticket that covers everything, which is another innovative move, although I have to say that it was long overdue.
Anyway, back to our day. We decided to buy some tickets for the "Behind the Falls" attraction, a walk in the tunnels behind the cascade, and out onto a deck right at base of the falls, pretty much where the Maid of the Mist boats travel to. We had to time it so that we could get the kids back to the Aerocar for their trip over the Whirlpool, then come back to the falls for the tour, and that involved yet more bus rides. We were getting value from the tickets we bought.
We were early for the timed ticket entry for the Aerocar, so hung about the gift shop and any shaded areas we could find, because it was a very warm day. They wouldn't let the kids in to the ride until 3pm, and even then it was a twenty-five minute line up before they could get on the Aerocar, but the they did get on, and I think they enjoyed the ride. For those that don't know, the Aerocar is a big cable car that runs across the Whirlpool, the circular pool in the river formed by the river taking a right angle turn at that point. The river does fairly rush through a narrow gap before entering the whirlpool and then lurching off towards Lake Ontario. When you remember that Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie all drain through this little gap, you can imagine the quantity of water that's gone through there to create the whirlpool.
Aerocar trip completed, we boarded the bus again and made our way back into the Falls area. On the way, the bus diverts from the Parkway into the town of Niagara Falls and the combined GO railway station and bus terminus. I have to say, and others on the bus said it too, that two blocks off the Parkway and you're into a seriously run down area. Boarded up buildings, empty lots where buildings have been pulled down, and even Queen Street, the main shopping area, looks as run down as any little Ontario town. Then, two blocks east and you're back on the razzle-dazzle of the Parkway.
The tour of the tunnels under and behind the Falls was self-guided (although we knew that), but involved a forty minute line up where you collect a yellow plastic rain poncho and line up for the elevators. Part way along was a young man in charge of a camera, whose was taking pictures of people with an exciting backdrop. I didn't want my picture taken but was nudged into position by one of the youngsters. I kept my hat down over my eyes, too. The photographs were available at the end of the tour, but we passed on that, and I didn't even take note of the cost, which I'm certain would have been exorbitant.
Down in the tunnels and out on the terrace there were too many people to make it enjoyable. That said, standing at the base of Niagara Falls is quite the experience. The noise and the spray frame the view up as millions of gallons of water continually cascade over the lip of the falls. We'd done the tour before, but even with all the people, it was well worth doing it again.
Back up above the falls, we made for the bus stop and yet another journey out the Aerocar parking lot to collect the car. It's worth pointing out that all the attractions have good public washrooms available, and that I put down to Niagara Parks influence; I doubt commercial enterprises would be so keen to provide such things for free.
In the car, we opted to go straight back to the Lemon Tree restaurant in St Catherine's for another vegan food-fest. Second time around it didn't have quite the wow factor, but it was still a good way to end a busy day. Of course back at the hotel, there were a few ships to watch through the lock before bedtime, ad I felt the choice of the Inn at Lock Seven was inspired if only for the canal excitement.
I would be packing up day tomorrow, and an end to the trip. There was one more excursion, though, which I'll document in the next post.
