Niagara Falls: My God, it is WONDERFUL to be back. The American and Canadian Falls, in fact, the entire Niagara Falls area – is as spectacular and breathtaking as I remember, and to share it with the entire family is really a dream come true. To be at the falls again, to just sit there and be entranced by the beauty and power – well, it was just amazing.

The Falls are just so beautiful – but what’s really interesting about this visit is that there was so much familiarity with them – even though I’ve only made this trip once before, Niagara felt as familiar as home.

The Falls look spectacular at night, when they are lit with various combinations of colored lights. I learned that a total of 21 Xenon lights are used to illuminate the Falls. Each Xenon spotlight illuminating the Falls at night has a brilliance of 250,000,000 candlepower.

And the fireworks – wow! Every Sunday and Friday, there is a spectacular free fireworks display over the Horseshoe Falls, across from Queen Victoria Place. A large crowd had gathered to watch these pyrotechnics. The fireworks looked to be just over the basin of the Canadian Falls, and were constant, boom, boom, boom, with an impressive finale. What a treat to see this lightshow over the falls! To be at the Falls is impressive enough; to see fireworks over Niagara was awe-inspiring. I snapped a few shots but wanted to enjoy the moment with Sue.

Monday, July 11, 2005: Our first destination was the top of the falls, so we walked the distance from Clifton hill to the top of Niagara. The weather was excellent and not a cloud to be seen in the sky. I took a lot of pictures today – over 200!

Because of the perfect weather, we’d decided to do the “wet” rides today – Maid of the Mist, and Journey behind the Falls. We got the seven of us to the dock, donned our lovely souvenir rain coats (now cheap plastic rather than heavy oilcloth coats), and boarded the diesel-engine boats that take visitors to the base of the American Falls and then on to the basin of the magnificent Canadian Horseshoe Falls. (On June 9th 1960, the Maid of the Mist II was instrumental in the rescue of seven year old Roger Woodward who had accidentally gone over the Horseshoe Falls. And the passengers and crew of Maid of the Mist IV, of course, witnessed Superman’s rescue of a young boy who fell over the falls in July, 1979).

Man, you get soaked riding this trip but it is SO worth it. I wisely brought the older (read: cheaper) of the two digital cameras for the ride – there’s so much foam and steam near the horseshoe falls that it’s impossible to get any kind of picture – but the excitement and thrill of the voyage is absolutely exhilarating.

Journey Behind The Falls was next. What a rush! You emerge far below the rim of the gorge. “..You’ve journeyed deep within to touch the heart of Niagara. Before you, the mighty river explodes after free-falling more than thirteen stories…” The sound is deafening, the sight, awe-inspiring. Seeing the falls from this completely different perspective is beyond exhilarating. The Journey Behind The Falls attraction, located in the Table Rock House Plaza beside the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, starts with a long line where you get your group picture taken. I amused Mom and others by wearing my raincoat like a cape. We took the quaint old elevator 250 feet down to table rock. The observation platform at the base of the falls is reached through the Creepy Slippery Ghostly Tunnels ™ (very wet, yellow light, and everyone looks all gray). One of the many things I had forgotten about Niagara is how awesome this view of the falls is. You can’t help but laugh like a kid as you get soaked and pounded by the falls. After snapping some photos I just stood there and let the full brunt of the falls hit me – the closest you can get to Niagara without getting killed. It was breath-taking, it was awe-inspiring! We were all like squealing children at Table Rock. Just in-credible.

Late in the afternoon we once walked up a STEEP, San Francisco type hill and again traveled back in time to the Imax theater to see Niagara—Miracles, Myths & Magic. I had forgotten a lot about this film, but I remember the striking image of Lelawala and the implication that she saved Roger Woodwood, the boy who went over the falls. As before, the most interesting scenes occur in the final segments, which showcase humans trying to conquer Niagara. First-person shots of the steamship "Lelawala" traversing the rough waters are well done, while the tightrope walker is clearly a (poor) special effects shot. And I LOVED the recreation of 63 year old schoolteacher Annie Taylor climb into a barrel and ride it over the Niagara's edge. What a Looney.

(No one has ever dared to conquer the American Falls in a barrel. All daredevil activities have always concentrated on the Canadian Horseshoe Falls because it has a larger water flow and fewer rocks at its basin. )

It’s a great film, typical of the Imax genre, but good nonetheless. I bought the DVD of the film.

Many of the daredevil crafts that actually went over the falls are now displayed at the Imax theater, including the Ray Weaver crafts seen at the Gorge in “Superman II.”

Over 150 of the images I took of Niagara Falls are available at www.GillisPhotos.com

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