Visiting Niagara Falls wasn’t at the top of my list of
places to visit. I felt that it was kind of old-fashioned.
A place people used
to think romantic for a honeymoon. Like many Americans I’d seen those pictures. Yawn.
So it was a side-trip.
Let’s go there since we’re in the area.
Niagara Falls is the most impressive view I’ve seen on the
East Coast. It ranks up there with the Rockie Mountains and the Grand Canyon.
We chose to do the local tour since my husband likes the convenience of someone
else finding parking, getting tickets and generally explaining the features.
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| Birds waiting to feed, Bottom of Falls |
Niagara Falls carries one fifth of the world’s fresh water
supply. Of that, fifty percent of the water goes through the electric turbines
not over the Falls. I can’t imagine what a full flow would look like and
neither can anyone alive since the last time one hundred percent went over the
Falls was in the 1880s. Electricity is supplied to the entire East coast of the
United States from this place.
We stopped at the whirlpool where water is forced through a
narrow gorge before reaching the river. We descended to the Cave of the Winds
and looked up at Bridal Veil.
We didn’t see the rainbows since it was cloudy
but the birds were too numerous to count. It seems that any fish caught in the
current gets ground up by the turbines and the birds gather to feast.
The Maid of the Mist isn’t in the water during the winter,
but my husband vowed to return to take the voyage under the Falls.
I walked out on the Three Sisters, a set of three small islands
extending into the river above the Falls.
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| Barbara Edwards on Three Sisters |
Because of the location, it feels
like the water will wash over your head at any second, a wonderful and scary
place to take a picture with your feet at the edge of the rolling water.
Niagara Falls is one of the places every American should visit. It is an example of how American ingenuity and Nature's power can partner to fill a basic need.
I'll certainly be going back.
Visit my website http://www.barbaraedwards.com
and my blog http://barbaraedwardscomments.wordpress.com
Ancient Blood available from the Wild Rose Press
