Maid of the Mist- Niagara Falls New York

The legendary Maid of the Mist.  The legacy of this tour dates back to 1846, when the first boat named "Maid of the Mist" made its appearance in the area.  Sure, early on it wasn't taking thousands of tourists each day for a close up view of the Falls, but it has had a presence in Niagara Falls for well over a century and a half.

I do recall seeing the boats going out on our previous visits to Niagara Falls, with the blue rain coat wearing passengers getting the best view of the Falls imaginable.

On those previous trips, we dismissed taking the ride.  I think we kind of felt like seeing the Falls, meant.... well, seeing the Falls.  I still kind of feel that way.

BUT, I really wanted to make this visit to Niagara Falls our ultimate visit.  I wanted to get it out of our system, in a way.  I wanted to feel like we had conquered the Falls.  AND, since its not legal to go over in a barrel, we bought our tickets for the Maid of the Mist.

Its a relatively short ride but it packs a punch.  It is totally worth the ticket price.  We bought our ticket and we were given cool souvenir postcards of one of the boats.  On our way down to the boat, we received the famous blue rain ponchos with the boat's logo on the front.  Though the process is what you would expect at a famous tourist attraction that attracts lots of people (it is a cattle atmosphere as you are rushed through line and squeezed tightly onto the boat) it is still an amazing experience once the boat gets going.  To be honest, I don't mind the rush to get you on the boat- time is valuable when you are on vacation.  Moving through a slow, leisurely line is not something I want to spend my time doing at a place like this.


Oh, by the way, I did something a bit different on this trip because of all of the water we would be getting exposed to.  I took 2 disposable water-proof cameras (Fujifilm Quicksnap Waterproof 35mm) with me.  I thought I should use them on the Maid of the Mist, and a couple of other things at the Falls.  So, the top seven or so photos you see were taken with my pocket sized digital camera, and the bottom few were taken with the disposable.  The colors on the disposable camera photos are a little off- but I think that is more due to the mist and the bright sunlight and water issues going on.  To be honest, I was thrilled with the quality of the pictures from the disposable cameras.

The boat first went to the Canadian Falls.  It was a total thrill feeling the thick mist from the Horseshoe Falls.  For a moment, it was a bit of a white-out experience!

After a nice pause to admire the Canadian view, we moved on to the American side.  Again, the view, AND the powerful mist were simply amazing.

We passed another Maid of the Mist boat as our boat moved around the area.  We also saw the Hornblower- the Canadian version of the Maid of the Mist go by.

On the Hornblower, the passengers are given read ponchos, so it is easy to tell the Hornblower from the Maid of the Mist.  Other than leaving from different countries, the two boats seem identical.

After we left our boat, we were able to get a look at the Falls from an observation tower that is part of the Maid of the Mist complex.  This is actually a great place for photos on the American side.


As we left the area, we were routed through the very well stocked gift shop.  I picked up a patch and some postcards.  I asked for a large bag so I could carry around my souvenir poncho too.