Final Photos of the Niagara Falls Trip, 2011

Canadian Horseshoe Falls

Between Goat Island and Table Rock

American Falls

Between Prospect Point and Luna Island

With Maid of the Mist Boat (which was AWESOME!)

American Falls on the Left

Smaller Falls to the Right is the Bridal Veil Falls

Between Luna Island and Goat Island

Fort George

Built by the British between 1796 and 1799 to guard entrance to the Niagara River, Fort George played a strategic role in the War of 1812 and was used by General Isaac Brock as the base for British military operations in the area. The fort was overrun and burned by the Americans in May of 1813. More than a century later during the Great Depression, the fort was restored to the original specifications of the Royal Engineers as a make-work project. All 11 of the original 14 buildings restored are furnished as they were from 1797 to 1813; all hardware used in the restoration was made by hand at Fort George in the Artificer's Shop.

In the center of this photo is Brock's Monument

Major General Sir Isaac Brock died here in one of the fiercest battles of the War of 1812. The original monument was built in 1824, at which time Brock's remains were re-interred in the vault below the monument. Queenston Heights became a popular tourist destination, and for almost 100 years lake boats brought thousands of visitors from Toronto to this site. In 1840, the monument was blown up by one of the Mackenzie rebels. A new monument was completed in 1857, which has endured, with some repairs, until today.

A climb up the narrow spiralling stairs to the top of the monument at 50-meters (190 feet), will leave you breathless. It is this same escarpment edge where, about 12,000 years ago, the mighty cascades started to grind and wear away seemingly impenetrable rocks to form the ll-kilometer-long (6.8 mile-long) Niagara Gorge.

Nicole, as we reached the very top of the Sky Wheel

And, yes! That IS a Hershey Kiss you see here!

A block from our hotel was the Hershey store....Did we stop? Of course not!

So, now it is time to say goodbye to the Falls and head for home....only for them to become memories of a trip that we both enjoyed so much................

.......with a promise that these Falls aren't going anywhere anytime soon and maybe we will get to see them again.................