His View 

Niagara Falls - Feliks' perspective

The drive to Niagara Falls on Friday was not the most exciting, until we started getting close. We started seeing all the casinos, the lights, and the mist coming up from the falls themselves. Since Caywood had been there before and seen the falls from the US side, we decided to cross the border and risk going to Canada. The line for the cars to get across spanned the entire Rainbow Bridge, so our plans was to use the bikes to save time on walking. Don't use the bikes. Bikes are not allowed on Rainbow Bridge due to a metal gate that a bike would not be able to fit through. If you want to take the bike, you will have to go where the cars are, sit on Rainbow Bridge, pray you don't get hit, while suffocating from the exhaust of the cars around you. The walk across the bridge did not take nearly as long as I thought it would, and the Canadian custom people were just as nice and polite as they make them out on TV. We got to Canada about 9:30 and were informed of the impending fireworks at 10:00. Lucky us! 

I cannot describe the amount of people running towards the river when they shot off the 15 minute fireworks warning. As Caywood and I tried to make our way through the flood of tourists, we did get some awesome pictures of the falls at night. Now I've seen the falls on TV and in pictures. They're definitely not as tall as they make them out to be, but they are definitely as magnificent as you'd expect. It is impressive the amount of water that goes through those falls, and the amount of mist they put into the air. Those Canadians did it right and lit up the falls with all different colors, and the pictures captured everything. 

We did try to get some food on the Canada side, which I recommend you don't. Everything is geared towards tourists, and priced accordingly. The fireworks were surprisingly really, really good - better than some of the ones I've seen on the Fourth of July. Right after the fireworks ended the flood of people turn and ran back to the casinos and hotels they came from. This made it easier to get the perfect shot of both falls. The walk back across the border to the USA side was slightly different. First, there was a toll. And a much bigger line, as to be expected after the firework show. A few questions from the border patrol and we were back in the van, and on our way to Cleveland.

Overall, I see why people go to Niagara Falls. It is a magnificent display of natural beauty and the power of flowing water. Parking was easy, even on a Friday night at 9:00. I'm sure it's different during the day. The roads were a little bumpy. I'd recommend staying out of the city.