The next day (October 14) was gorgeous and spent mostly on
the U.S. side, and I have to say the landscape there was far friendlier for
general carousing. Instead of hotels and casinos marching in unison toward the
rim of the gorge, much of the U.S. side is preserved within a large state park
with much to see and miles to ramble. It’s true that the views of the falls are
somewhat more panoramic on the Canadian side, but it’s really no less dramatic
on the American side. We took the one-dollar elevator down to the river path
and walkway to the base of American Falls, and later enjoyed eagle-eye views
looking over the brinks at several locations.
In hindsight, I think I’d rather stay on the U.S. side, then
make a wandering foray across the Rainbow Bridge to the Canadian side for the
added views, assuming those pesky high-rise developers haven’t consumed the
rest of the greenspace. I shouldn’t be so critical, since the Canadians also seem
to have preserved a bit of a green strip along the gorge. And the giant
elevator shaft on the American side, I’ll admit, is a distraction as well. The
high platform provides a nice overlook, but I might have preferred a shaft sunk
down through the rock with a boardwalk below. I suppose I’m a little late with
that idea. For Ontarian Niagara, the problem may be more about building heights
than location (as in way too many stories), which one would think could easily
be solved by lopping off the upper half of the ten tallest buildings. How hard
can that be? Saw ‘em though the middle and set the tops down on new foundations,
say, a kilometer from the falls. It would be like two hotel-casinos for the
price of one.
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| Rainbow Bridge. |
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| Lake Ontario. |
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