Maid of the Mist – Niagara Falls – (NY)
Info:
Location & Parking: 1 Prospect St, Niagara Falls, NY 14303. Get Directions & Parking Info
Cost: $25.25 per adult & $14.75 per child; 6-12 years of age. Note the cost may change by the time you read this.
I’d recommend buying your tickets for the boat tour online before departing.
The adventure begins high above the water on the Niagara Falls Observation Tower at Prospect Point. Enjoy the view for a bit, then take the elevator down to the base, which costs ($1.25).
When you get to the base and look up, you realize just how high up that viewing platform is, and I couldn’t help but notice how it looks like an unfinished bridge.
We arrived early and the line moved along pretty fast. Raincoats are provided for everyone, and I’d highly encourage you to put them on!
It didn’t take long to start enjoying the ride. Even waiting for the other passengers to get on board was pleasant as there was plenty to look at as the falls called to us from the distance with their thundering roars.
The American falls were very impressive, and the boat sailed by without the mist getting us wet at all. The sound was amazing, and the sheer volume of water that flowed before my eyes was astounding.
Just after the American falls, you could watch as people explored the base of the falls from a walkway as part of the Cave of the Winds tour. We took that tour later in the day and it was great!
I was unable, or unwilling to take pictures near the horseshoe falls. To be honest, I was a little too busy taking in the thundering sound of the falls, the constant barrage of mist, and the sheer excitement of being so incredibly close to something so powerful. If the boat was not under my feet; my position at that exact moment would surely be the death of me. While I was completely safe, I was well aware that in another life, or in slightly different circumstances, these falls were in control, and I would be powerless. It felt liberating and scary at the exact same moment.
The boat turned around and as it moved away from the falls, I could sense that something had changed inside of me. I had stood in a place that several hundred years ago would have delivered a different fate, at the base of nature’s fury, with a rainbow overhead.
If you are in the area, do take the ride!
