Niagara Falls used to be a very popular place to go for a honeymoon. Fifteen or so years ago, when our son, Brian, got married, he and his wife couldn't afford to take the time off work to go on a honeymoon. So Carolyn and I, always the supportive parents, volunteered to go on a honeymoon for them. This is where we went on that honeymoon. I hope Brian and Lisa appreciate the sacrifice we made, and I hope they enjoyed the honeymoon we went on for them.
I didn't have a blog back then. I'm not sure blogs had been invented. So here I am, back in the Niagara Falls area to take honeymoon photos for them to enjoy.
The Niagara River is probably the world's shortest major river. It's around 35 miles long, and its headwaters are in Lake Erie. Lake Erie is around 325 feet higher in elevation than Lake Ontario. The Niagara river drops those 325 feet over its 35 mile course. There are some rapids, some whirlpools, and, of course, Niagara Falls along its short course.
This is the northern part of the Niagara River, just before it empties into Lake Ontario.
My brother, Kenny, and my sister-in-law, Ellen, are with me during this part of the trip. They're standing in front of the Floral Clock, a tourist attraction near the falls. The flowers of the clock aren't very impressive this year, but the hands of the clock itself are so large that if you watch the minute hand carefully, you can see it moving. Sorry you can't appreciate that in this still image. A video of the minute hand moving would be so boring that I didn't do any video of that.
There's a sharp bend in the river below the falls. The currents down there are quite chaotic. Only a powerful jet boat can maneuver easily in this area. Back in the old days people would sometimes go over the falls in a barrel. The barrel would be watertight, of course, and, therefore, air tight. The person would survive the plunge over the Canadian side of the falls, and the barrel would end up spinning around in the whirlpool area. They didn't have the jet powered sight seeing boats back then, and the person in the barrel would often suffocate while waiting to be rescued. The cable car, which you see in the photo below, goes from one part of the bend to the other. You get a scenic view of the whirlpool from the cable car. Apparently, in the past, at night, the operators of the cable car made extra money by taking illegal aliens across the chasm. The aliens thought they were being transported to the US. They paid their money and were let off on the other side. Imagine their dismay when, the next morning, all the flags they saw flying in the area were Canadian flags.
My favorite spot at Niagara Falls is right at the edge of the falls on the Canadian side. You can see the power of the water going over the falls, and, in the late afternoon and evening, you can see the rainbow close up.
There are lots of rocks at the bottom of the American falls. I don't recommend going over that side of the falls in a barrel, or any other way either.
People who wish to get a closeup view of the falls from the bottom can do it from Goat Island, the island that separates the American falls from the Canadian falls.
The next shot is the sight seeing boat, Maid of the Mist getting as close to the Canadian falls as it generally gets. I'd tell you the story behind the name, "Maid of the Mist," but it's too depressing to even think about.
Finally, there's a shot of the power plant upstream from the falls. By diverting lots of water from the falls into the power plant, they make lots of electricity, and they slow down the constant recession of the falls so that they recede only about a foot every ten years.
