Have you ever been to a natural wonder and thought “you know what this needs, a casino and mini golf?” If so, Niagara Falls may be for you.

Eric and I arrived to the falls earlier than expected, so we headed straight there to view them at night. Fighting the masses to find parking, we parked outside a church and skateboarded down the streets filled with cheesy restaurants and bars, towards the visitor center. We found out that a firework show happens at 9:30pm, so we strolled along the massive waterfalls waiting for the display to begin. Celebrating our last night in Canada, we snuck in some local beer and cider to cheers with as the fireworks lit up the sky and water. We spent the night in style at our last Wal-Mart parking lot, and woke up to a traditional breakfast of maple crullers and burnt coffee at Tim Hortons.

The most anticipated activity of our stay was the cruise on the Hornblower up to the base of the falls. It exceeded our expectations, and we would highly recommend taking the time to do this. These falls a truly massive, and getting soaked by the mist was a quintessential Niagara Falls experience. Cruise completed, we took the long way ’round back to our truck and trailer, and found ourselves navigating through dinosaur golf, wax museums, Ripley’s believe it or not, and a sea of fat tourists with awful children.

We departed Niagara scratching our heads, asking why natural beauty invites boardwalk attractions. We are so grateful for legal protections of lands afforded by the National Park Service so that this is not the case everywhere. However, every once in a while, these tourist explosions are pretty entertaining.

10/10 would go to Jersey Shore: waterfall edition again.

Song: Canadian National Anthem

Click here to view the whole Niagara / Trans Canada album