Great Lakes Keychain

My favorite Great Lakes travel story: My wife and I took a trip one summer that included three of the Great Lakes and brought us within 50 miles of the other two. It was what my wife calls a "mystery trip". I plan it and surprise her with the itinerary, sometimes not even telling her where we're going until we get there. Other times, I have to let her in earlier because I've planned a choice for her to make. On this trip I had surprised her with events in Detroit and Toronto. I have to tell you, the worst traffic around the Great Lakes is in Toronto. Worse than Chicago. Way worse than Detroit. We had been to see a Blue Jays game, arriving late because I had no idea how much time to allow for the horrible traffic, and after the game it took us two hours to get from the parking lot to the city limit. What a nightmare! We headed south along the western shore of Lake Ontario, and at some point my wife fell asleep, having no idea where we were headed. Well, we passed several signs for Niagara Falls without her noticing. After a good nap, she woke up and finally noticed a sign that read "Niagara Falls 20 km". She suddenly became alert and asked "Oh, can we stop there?" "What do you think?", I laughed. "We drove 1000 miles to within 12 miles of Niagara Falls and that's not where we're going?" A short time later it was a moment of deja vu as the American Falls came within view across the canyon. I knew that view so well it was as if I had been there before. I was stunned that the falls appeared while we were right in the middle of town. I had no idea the town was so close to the falls. It was cold and drizzling and at times we couldn't see across the river, but we had an awesome evening on the Canadian side. 30 years earlier I had driven past Niagara Falls while taking a shortcut across Ontario to get to Vermont. I figured I'd get another chance to see it. That was foolish, because it would be a shame to have been that close and have never seen it. Don't make that mistake. If you're anywhere near the western end of Lake Ontario, or the eastern end of Lake Erie, you have to stop. There are thousands of spectacular views around the Great Lakes, but Niagara Falls is certainly the most spectacular of all.