Athena Trying Very Hard Not to Be Impressed By Niagara Falls
Posted on October 28, 2008 Posted by John Scalzi 31 Comments
“Hey, I spilled some water from a great height just yesterday! Why should this impress me?”
It was actually the first time I’d been to the falls as well. Personally, I thought they were fairly impressive. Also, am in no great rush to go over them, in a barrel or otherwise.
You know I think you’re getting into bershon territory with that one.
She’s very nonchalant there. I think that’s what they call “a pose of studied indifference” in books. ;)
I visited them. I think I felt about the same way Athena does. Although I also thought there was an impressive amount of water going over at any point in time, and it was very loud. And wet.
And then I went and got lunch and drove back to my hotel.
Try Victoria falls somtime :-)
It is very loud. It’s as if millions of gallons of water are typing in ALL CAPS at the same time.
You were in Niagara Falls and you didn’t let your Buffalo fans know?!?
Heh. My whole life isn’t a public appearance, you know.
Once a long time ago when I was very drunk, the Falls (from the US side) were the world’s largest urinal.
Hey, I really had to go. You hear all that water, after all.
Like I said — a long time ago…
Of course, those are actually the Horseshoe Falls. The actual “Niagra Falls” are a pathetic trickle located on the American side of the border. So I can understand Athena not being impressed with those ones.
Actually she is staring over your shoulder at the stuffed animal from the nearby gift shop that is telling her to throw you over the fence.
I got to see an ice bridge over the bottom of the falls one January when I visited. Yes, it was cold, but this was a rare phenomenon. The next time, I went, I took my daughter and we took the boat tour that gets you very close to the falls (it was in the summer). She was probably fourteen at the time but I think she was impressed.
We grew up about an hour east of Niagara Falls, and spent our childhood visiting the Falls every time friends and relatives came to visit. Know the area on both sides of the border very well, and have viewed the Falls from both sides, day, night, summer and winter! Have even seen them flowing at full power a time or two. A return visit in 2001 did not disappoint and brought back a lot of memories.
Winter viewing is interesting. The lakes on either end of the Niagara River might get partly frozen, but the sheer volume of water in the river heading over the Falls keep the Falls from freezing. However, the mist you see rising delicately in the background clings and freezes on every surface. You can measure the “mist fall” in feet, not inches. Which means the railing you see behind your ladies is, if you’re lucky, at knee level!! The rest of the landscape is pretty spooky as well.
And it was on a family visit to the then new Skylon Tower (right across the street from where this pic was taken on the Canadian side) many years ago that our family discovered our favorite Canadian folk singer – Gordon Lightfoot! He was taping a segment for Canadian TV, singing, appropriately enough, “The Long River”.
Did you go on the Maid of the Mist ride? You get a much different opinion of the falls when you get that close.
“What, I’m supposed to be impressed by THAT? That’s just universal gravitation at work. Heck, you can see that anywhere in the universe. Boring!”
What, scouting out an escape route to Canada if the election doesn’t go your way next Tuesday?
;-)
Are you sure that’s studied indifference? Is it possible she’s actually thinking: “Dad, get that camera out of my face because the wind is in my hair and I don’t want this picture going up on your blog! Look, Dad! Get that camera out of my face! Now! Now, Dad! Or I’ll rip your lips off! Do it now!”
Or was she thinking: “When I said I wanted to go to a water park, I was thinking Kalahari Resort in Sandusky. Gee, thanks.”
Coyote, are you a Wonderfalls fan? By the way, everyone should get the DVDs of that show and watch them immediately.
I enjoy the falls. Big, loud and fast = good.
Some friends of ours took their daughter to Niagra and, standing right about where you are, asked her “How do you like the Falls?”
“What Falls?”
You can definitely see teenagerhood from here.
@17 — That theme song is gonna play in my head all day. ^___^
The last time I was there, which was a long time ago, you were able to go back behind the falls. You could get to within about six or eight feet of the falls, and the noise, and the vibrating of the walls was very impressive. Hope you got a chance to do that.
I keep being impressed with the falls every time I visit. And I do recommend seeing them from the American side as well. While it’s impressive to watch the water crash down, from the American side you get the full impression of the water flowing by (although it’s not as picturesque). But the Cave of Winds tour is much more fun than the tunnels on the Canadian side, but that’s only during the summer.
The thing that really gets me, is that the water over the falls is restricted now, during the day, I think it’s only something like 33% of it’s natural flow (at night they get it down to 15% or so IIRC). The rest is diverted to 1) slow the erosion and 2) generate a lot of hydro power.
Oh, here’s an oddity. I have photographs from a vacation my family took when I was a little kid–and the falls were turned off!
Yep. In order to shore up the rocks and clean out some of the debris, they diverted all the water over the horseshoe falls. What you had were the Niagara Cliffs. I wonder how rare those photos are, come to think of it. I’ve mentioned them to people before and they don’t believe me.
Actually found one on the web. It was 1969. Here’s a link to a photo:
http://www.niagarafrontier.com/image/CTdewater.jpg
Mark Terry – Hey, we’re showing our age!!
I too remember the falls being turned off, it was the year after we moved from outside Buffalo to the NYC area. I think we made a special trip back to Western New York the next summer just to see the Falls off!
I’m sure if I dug around in my Dad’s old slides I’d find the photos we took then, maybe even some 8mm movie film.
Well, I was 5 at the time!
“Slowly I turned, step by step…”
I agree about Wonderfalls–get the DVD. The one season they produced is a lovely, satisfyingly self-contained story.
That is the horseshoe falls behind them. They are on the Canadian side. The Maid of the Mist and Cave of the Winds definitely are worth doing when you’re up there. Getting right under the flow itself is fun. And the Cave of the Winds is the only place I’ve ever seen Seagull babies before.
What I found most intriguing when I was there was how rundown the American side was near the falls. The only nice hotel/eatery/anything is the Indian Casino and most of the houses look like their abandoned and condemned. (Late night wandering looking for a drug store)
Ah, yes, Niagara Falls, Ontario, where a slightly younger Mycroft failed to faint…
I was in a choir out east, that performed wherever. We were asked to do a show at the Bandshell in Niagara Falls (that’s east of the highway – sort of looks like Las Vegas off the strip and downtown, compared to the Falls side; you know, like people actually live there?) So we did.
July evening. 33C. 90% humidity. No wind. Facing East, into the almost setting sun (because that way the audience can see), so surface temperature somewhat higher than ambient. Oh, did I mention full formal uniform, wool suit, tie, and hat? You could listen to the sun setting by noticing which voice was out of time, because the sun blinded their view of the conductor.
There was *lots* of water “backstage”, and nobody actually fainted. Great show, though.
Step by step….inch by inch…..