Canada Day Celebrations Niagara Falls

We say 'huh', they say 'eh'.
We spell theater, the spell theatre.
We have Fourth of July, they have Canada Day.

As is typical with US-Canadian relations, things are similar on both sides of the border, but not exactly the same. T
his is the case for July 1st, AKA Canada Day. Canada Day is much like our Independence Day, but it celebrates the unification of Canada, rather than its separation from Great Britain. Either way it's a national holiday filled with picnics, fireworks and trips to Niagara Falls.

My morning tour was a lovely group visiting from Vallejo, California, a community near Sacramento. Although they were from the opposite side of the country, our home states share a certain amount of political turmoil. Just like the US-Canada relationship, the California-NY relationship is similar, but not exactly the same.

And this is one of the lessons I've learned as a tour guide, that people separated by geography frequently share the same hopes and problems. The group was kind and generous and I wished I had more time to spend with them.


On my evening tour I hosted a family from Cleveland, Georgia and husband and wife team visiting from Des Moines, Iowa.

For better or worse I introduced the Georgians to Buffalo Wings, which is a delicacy we eat here from the parts of the chicken that normal people throw away. They seemed to like them and asked about whether we call soft drinks 'soda' or 'pop'.

I believe I did a good job of touring because by the end of the evening Seth (our always energetic young one) was pooped out and fell asleep.
One of the highlights of the evening was the excellent fireworks display that celebrated Canada Day. Our view from the Observation Tower was perfect and we were wowed by the beautiful barrage of colorful (or is it colourful?) firewworks.

My heart was warmed to see out Des Moines couple, married for 30 years, holding hands and embracing as they enjoyed the display. Watching them from a distance you could tell they were enjoying this simple pleasure together and that they are deeply in love.

It is these moments that remind us of what really is important in life-times shared with family, enjoying and exploring this wonderful planet.

Happy Canada Day, eh!

A hot day at the Falls

Saturday was an unexpectedly busy day on the American side of the Falls. I say unexpected because the morning tour was fairly smooth. Minimal lines at the attractions allow guides to pack more stuff into the tour. Temperatures in the low 70's greeted our 9 AM group, which is just about perfect.
Stephanie, a young lady on our tour is a dead ringer for the young gifted actress Miranda Cosgrove, who starred on Drake and Josh and I, Carly. What do you think?She traveled with her mom and grandmother. For some reason her brother stayed back at the hotel with Grandpa, something about not liking to go on a boat ride. Stephanie thought the tour was "...pretty awesome."

Afternoon Tour

Temperatures went from the 70's to the mid 80's for the afternoon tour, which is not surprising for this time of year. The number of tourists at the Falls, however, was unexpected. The first surprise was a 50 minute wait for the Cave of the Winds attraction. The staff at the Caves tries to make the best of it. They use barricades to lead people to areas that are in the shade, which makes the wait more pleasant.
Our group was eclectic to say the least. We had a Connecticut couple that was celebrating their honeymoon as well as two sisters and a brother who were visiting from Jakarta. One gentleman's home was Poland and another family originated in Romania.
Here's a snap of them on the Observation tower after a refreshing ride on the Maid of the Mist. The two little ones in the foreground are the children of Romanian parents. The kids have been thoroughly 'Americanized' and were much fun to interact with.