Niagra
We went up to Niagra Falls for the first time today and all and all it was pretty cool. The surrounding area wasn't at all what I expected though. Having been places like the Grand Canyon I was thinking there would be a visitors center and some contained pockets of civilization surrounded by carefully controlled park land. This is not the case at all. For those of you who don't know, Niagra Falls sits right on the border of the US and Canada. Save for the small amount of parkland directly around the visitors center overlooking the falls (which are every bit as impressive as you expect them to be) the city of Niagra, NY has a dirty abandoned amusement park feel to it that's mildly depressing unless you fancy running a troupe Sabbat game there. The focal point of the town is the Seneca Casino, which although incredibly impressive on the outside, has touches of Niagra, NY's deflated aura within despite being filled with colorful gambling devices. (It does however have a fantastic buffet, which we ate at!)
Once you cross the Rainbow Bridge (yes, it's for real real) into the separate reality of Niagra, Ontario everything changes. Not only is the view of the falls ten times better on the Canadian side (the famous horseshoe shaped falls are on the Canadian side), but the city is actually awake and alive. The city is much brighter, there's more stuff (shops, bars, restaurants, casinos, etc.), it's cleaner and there's more people flitting about. The only thing that made me mad was the casinos, and that's a non issue because I lost money at a casino: that's what's supposed to happen. I was also sad because I only got to see the horseshoe falls lit up at night for like 2 minutes. Anyhow, moral of story: Going to Niagra? Go Canadian.
Once you cross the Rainbow Bridge (yes, it's for real real) into the separate reality of Niagra, Ontario everything changes. Not only is the view of the falls ten times better on the Canadian side (the famous horseshoe shaped falls are on the Canadian side), but the city is actually awake and alive. The city is much brighter, there's more stuff (shops, bars, restaurants, casinos, etc.), it's cleaner and there's more people flitting about. The only thing that made me mad was the casinos, and that's a non issue because I lost money at a casino: that's what's supposed to happen. I was also sad because I only got to see the horseshoe falls lit up at night for like 2 minutes. Anyhow, moral of story: Going to Niagra? Go Canadian.