Mallory's Camera

And here I am enjoying the ne plus ultra in tourist kitsch: a REVOLVING RESTAURANT high over the Canadian portion of Niagara Falls!!!

Does tourist kitsch get any better than this?

Honestly, it doesn’t!

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I will say the hotel chains, revolving restaurants, casinos, and Tim Horton shoppes make it difficult to catch a glimpse of the Canadian portion of the Falls when they’re not being rotated around.

The hotel chains etc., all build barricades around the view. Literal barricades! Twenty feet high. They won’t let you see the Falls unless you pay them to let you see the Falls.

There is a park (named after Queen Victoria) traversing the Niagara River Gorge. If you can make it to this park, you’ll enjoy some lovely views:



But the Canadians running Niagara Falls apparently have not heard about that trend of barring automobile traffic around natural wonders. Or maybe after 150 years, the commercialism surrounding the Falls is just too intense to buck.

There is crazy traffic getting down to Queen Victoria Park.

Plus it was like 90°, so walking down the ridge to the park—and then back up the ridge to the car? Not pleasant.

I wanted to be filled with awe! Under the right circumstances, I’m sure I would have been filled with awe.

But these were not the right circumstances, and if you strip a miracle of its true context, you’re gonna be left with kitsch.

Look at that, I thought, staring at the Horseshoe Falls. Lotta water.