Buffalo, NY The Maid of the Mist

I do have one regret from my childhood trip to Niagara Falls.  I remember looking at the passengers of the Maid of the Mist boat tour with envy.  I wanted to go on the boat ride so badly but my parents told me that it was too expensive.  Traveling with four kids and having to multiply every expense by four did rule out cool things like the boat trip so I do not begrudge my parents for not taking us on it but I was determined to give my kids hat experience.

The Maid of the Mist departs from just off Goat Island but a distance from the lot we had parked in.  For $2 for adults and $1 per child, we boarded the trolley on an all day wristband.  The trolley runs around Goat Island and to the Maid of the Mist and the observation tower.

The boat cost us $18 and included a second set of decks and stairs at the other side of the American falls and free run of hte observation tower which extends over the river.

We received a second rain poncho and boarded the boat. There is no way to describe the sound of hte falls and give it justice.  It was such an impressive roar of water.  As we approached the falls, it was like being in the middle of a torrential rainstorm.  The water came in gusts and as soon as I got the confidence to pull out my camera, another big gust of water would envelope us.  Here are the few pictures I could manage.

 

I cannot describe how impressed I was with the falls and I strongly recommend that anyone traveling to Niagara falls budget the money for the Maid of the Mist boat trip.