Niagara Tourism In Winter: It Could Be Worse!

Being a tour guide in Niagara during the winter months lacks the sort of 'fly by the seat of your pants' frenzy that it generates in the busy months.  Winter Festival of Lights Tours and Private Tours are great fun and certainly break up the monotony of the slower Niagara tourism season.  For someone who is used to talking non-stop for months in a row, the pace can be quite an adjustment.  One day you have 40 attentive adults intent of hearing everything you have to share with them about Niagara Falls.  The next day you can't even persuade your teenager to pick up his towel off the bathroom floor.  But hey, I have no reason to complain. 

UPDATE: Niagara Ghost Walks now runs through the winter

My father often reminded us to be grateful, especially at the dinner table.  "Eat all your food", he would say.  Then he would remind us, "There are starving people over in France, you know".   I had time to reflect on that concept this week.  While researching for an article I was writing on Bukisa,  Some Of The Most Dangerous Countries To Visit,  I was struck with a sense of gratitude and appreciation for how fortunate I was to be a Niagara Tour Guide as opposed to........let's say............a Somalian tour guide.  Undoubtedly their phones aren't ringing off the hook.  The Somalian Cruise Ship industry is a hard sell as well, no doubt due to the exorbitant fees they are demanding.  ATM's are non existent so tourists are encouraged to carry plenty of cash.  I spent quite some time on google, searching for a link to a Somalian tour company or private tour guide that I could 'talk shop' with.  Finally, I concluded that it was a waste of bandwidth and I'd move it over to my 'bucket list'.

I'M A "STINKER BRINKER"...WHAT ABOUT YOU?

It's amazing how one can fool themselves into thinking that it's not winter yet just because there is no snow on the ground.  Conversely, it's just as easy to trick yourself into thinking that winter is here when actually it is still autumn.  Today I was guilty of the latter. 

Yesssiree!  From the moment that I found myself nagging my teenage son to shovel the driveway to the moment where he tried to bribe me into getting him fast food if he did it, I knew that Old Man Winter was upon us.  While waiting at the Arby's Take Out window for what seemed like forever, I began to reflect on what winter means around here and what I have to look forward to.  Then it dawned on me that the Rink At The Brink should be ready.  Last year I bought a season's pass with visions of actually learning how to skate once and for all.  Five or six years ago, I bravely put on skates for the first time since childhood.  I felt empowered and adventurous.  Those pretty white skates really made my feet look petite and elegant.  They looked surprisingly good.  Without the blade, a skate is no different than a awkwardly tight foot and ankle girdle.