This year, to celebrate the fourth, we decided on a repeat visit Niagara Falls, Canada. A couple of years ago, we made the trek across the border to Clifton Hill, and as excursions go, it made for an excellent day out. The area was meticulously maintained, the Falls were every bit as impressive as we'd heard, and the endless shops and attractions kept us entertained for hours. We topped off the day with dinner at the Rain Forest Café, where, as my dad put it, "one can dine under the private parts of an elephant". All in all, Canada showed us a pretty good time, and Niagara Falls was put on our list of places to do again.

The morning of the fourth was rainy and cool, and we hemmed and hawed until eleven, before deciding to make a go of it, with one slight deviation. Due to our late start, and the iffy border situation ( iffy you knew where your birth certificate was), we chose to visit the American side of the Falls instead.

We dressed for the weather, wearing sensible shoes and sweaters, topped off our outfits with matching umbrellas, and made the thirty-minute trip from Williamsville, to Niagara Falls.

Shortly after crossing the 4000 ft expanse of the North Grand Island Bridge, we passed the imposing, and strangely out of place, Seneca Niagara Casino. The lights were not lit, but the awesome design of the structure was impressive enough to make one wonder how such a marvel could be bad for the local economy.

Continuing on the obviously not so scenic route to the falls, we passed through an older section of town, until we came to a traffic roundabout, and apparent gateway to the tourist area. The center of the round-about, which was full of dead shrubbery and foliage in various stages of neglect and decay, offered an amazingly unappealing, yet strangely apt introduction to Niagara Falls.

We had no trouble parking, as most of the lots were fairly empty, and quickly made the short walk back to the falls area, where things were looking much better. The park grounds were neatly groomed, and of course, the falls were magnificent. Dozens of tourists had indeed braved the rain to take pictures in front of the falls, visit the Cave of the Winds, and take a ride on the Maid of the Mist. We waited in line a short ten minutes for a spot on the boat, and what turned out to be the best part of our excursion to the falls. It was well worth the ticket price of $12.50 per person to see the falls up close and personal. In fact, there was something quite humbling about standing beneath the falls with bunch of other tourists, all wearing a hefty bags.

After leaving the falls, we had lunch at the Hard Rock Café, then decided to walk around a bit. Despite the action at the park, and a break in the weather, foot traffic on the main drag was relatively light, which given the general lack of curb appeal, was no big surprise. The area appeared shabby, run-down, and unfriendly, as if everyone would prefer the tourists just stay home.

A couple of blocks into our walk, we stopped in at the Twist of the Mist for ice cream, where we were told the twist machine was broken, and we wound up settling for vanilla. After that, we visited a shop or two, but the stroll around town had dampened our spirits more than the rain, so we decided to call it a day.

As we passed thru the traffic circle on our way out of town, and I wondered why a city so blessed with location, location, location, would pay so little attention to aesthetics. Niagara Falls gives the impression of hosting a "going out of business sale", rather than that of a city seriously courting tourist trade. Perhaps the economy is depressed, and there's no money in the budget for large-scale rehab, but a little bit of elbow-grease and community pride might go a long way toward attracting business that would actually benefit the area, and revitalize what appears to be an extremely apathetic business district.

Is it any wonder people prefer the Canadian Falls? After all, why settle for plain old vanilla, when you can cross the border and get a twist?