Contest Poll

There were many great responses to the “Stupid Questions Asked by Tourist” contest and we had a hard time picking just one. We have picked 3 of the best ones and have left it to a vote. Your vote can only be counted once. We will review the results in 24 hours from now and at that time the winner will be contacted. Good luck to those in the final 3.

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The Town That Was Also a Theme Park

From the book The Second Greatest Disappointment by Karen Dubinsky

The growth of tourist services–or the “tourist plant”–at Niagara was staggering. On the Canadian side the number of restaurants, for example, increased from 40 in 1945 to 79 in 1955 to 115 in 1965. Motels appeared almost out of thin air; there were none in 1945, 79 ten years later, and 115 in 1965. By the early 1960s Ontario’s Niagara region, with one-eighth of the province’s population, contained 20 per cent, pr one-fifth, of the province’s motels. The local Chamber of Commerce estimated in 1958 that 80 per cent of the overnight accommodation in town had not existed ten years previously. Across the river in Niagara Falls, New York, the story was the same: the town boasted the United States’ highest concentration of motels outside Miami Beach.
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Time is Running Out

The “Stupid Questions that Tourists Ask” contest is coming to an end soon. Get your entries in today.

20 of the Most Popular Posts of 2007

Man Stands at Waters Edge to Niagara Falls
Freestyles Outside of L3
Teen Gets Pushed into Chess Game at Pen Centre
Shrinking Mill in Port Colborne Ontario
David Copperfield vs. Niagara Falls
Allanburg Bridge Disaster
Mr. Welland
Marineland Sign in Niagara Falls
Fight Down by the Falls
Crazy Woman in Port Colborne
Suicide at Niagara Falls
A Christmas Story Shot at Local School
Blue Ghost Tunnel Part 2
Dangers of the Welland Canal
Niagara Magnum in Motion
A Trip Down the Welland Canal
House Fire at Geneva and Welland Streets
Cool Illusion at Ripleys in Niagara Falls
Fight Breaks Out on Clifton Hill
Mailman with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

I Am Sick of Winter

The groundhog was wrong and I have had enough with winter. Who is with me on hanging this snowman?

2 Nights in the Tailrace Tunnel of Niagara

“Behind the raging horseshoe falls of Niagara there lurks a dormant monster, a century old tunnel painstakingly laid brick by brick. There is no recorded tally of its human cost but in 1906 it would be the biggest tunnel of its type in the world. Like the secret hideout of a super villain, it defies belief and comprehension, a secret stronghold behind the crashing waterfall. A rappel through the treacherous bowels of a decrepit powerstation is the single entrance. With great confidence the three foreigners converged upon Niagara Falls wherein they sought adventure and challenge of the highest caliber. Their hearts brimmed with equal measures of excitement and anxiousness in attempting what less than a fistful before them had achieved. Thus it was scribed: the unabridged tale of how Jondoe, Stoop and Dsankt laid their bold plans to conquer the mighty confluence, infamous tailrace tunnel of Niagara.”

Read the whole story of how 3 British Men spent 2 nights in the Tailrace Tunnel in Niagara Falls at SLEEPCITY.NET

Stupid Tourist Questions Contest

If you have ever worked in tourism anywhere near Niagara Falls Ontario, you have heard your fair share of stupid questions. The most common ones are “What time does the falls shut off?”, “Are we in Canada yet?” & “How far into Canada do I have to go before we have to drive on the other side of the road?” There are hundreds of stories out there, involving tourists, and I would like to compile a list of them.

1. Submit your story/question below.
2. Use your real email address.
3. Must be or have been a resident of the Niagara Region of Ontario or New York State.
4. If you win, we will contact you by email to get your full name and address.
5. Contest closes on April 29, 2008 at 11:59 pm.
6. The best story wins a $50 gift card to your favourite chain store or restaurant in Niagara.

Good Luck

UPDATE: The voting has begun.

Allanburg Bridge Closure

The Allanburg Bridge on Regional Road 20 will be closed this Friday for the installation of machinery. According to the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation, no vehicles will be permitted to cross the bridge between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m.

Also see: Allanburg Bridge Disaster

Seeking Memories of Erie Beach

Former Fort Erie resident, Gord Bowes, is looking for your stories about the Erie Beach Amusement Park.

I had the chance to meet with Gord last week and he said that he plans to write a book about Erie Beach and is interested in talking with anyone who may have something to share. If you have photos, videos, memories or even just stories related to Erie Beach, please email him at eriebeachbook@gmail.com

Check out Gord’s blog at eriebeachbook.blogspot.com

Tragedy on the Ice Bridge

It was a bitterly cold February day in 1912. The Ice Bridge, at the bottom of the falls, was crowded with people, most of whom came to the falls on excursion trains.

Without any warning, the formation began to break up. “Red” Hill Sr., a local river man, shouted for everyone to head for the shore. Everyone, except Mr. and Mrs. Eldridge Stanton from Toronto and two men from Cleveland, Ignatius Roth and Burrel Heacock made it to shore. Hill was able to pull Roth off a floe and Heacock could have made it too, but he turned back to assist the Stantons.

Before the ice approached the two bridges over the Whirlpool Rapids, the floe broke into two pieces dividing Heacock from the Stantons. Ropes were sent down from the bridges, but did not make contact with the doomed trio.

People have not been permitted to go on the ice bridges of Niagara Falls since that tragic day.