This 1,275 word story describes a short one-day trip from Toronto with suggestions for meal stops, tourism infromation sources, etc.

NIAGARA, THERE'S MORE TO IT THAN THE FALLS.

By Pam Hobbs

Accordingly I have seen the famous Falls in all seasons, and all weather. I arrived one day at seven in the morning and found the main attraction marred by a film crew and its attendant gear. I have seen them in January when the spray turns roadside trees into a fairyland of frozen filigree and icicles several feet long. In April when Queen Victoria Park is carpeted with 500,000 daffodils, and a month later when frothy blossoms of fruit trees line the parkway. Once we brought a mustard-keen photographer to the Falls only to discover the American side turned off for repairs!

September is my favorite time, when the maples turn scarlet and black squirrels outnumber people, and we buy baskets of grapes and pears from roadside stands.

Seventeenth-century Jesuit missionary Father Louis Hennepin was the first white man to record seeing the Falls. Natives living in the area called it Onigra, (Thunder of Water) and sacrificed some of their most beautiful maidens over them. Why honeymooners continue to flock here is anyone's guess. Perhaps Napoleon's brother started the trend .