5,000 people mob Whirlpool

We took Gord on his normal walk Saturday. It is about 3 miles. As we neared the playground in Whirlpool State Park we saw incredible crowds, throngs really.

Sure the parking lot only holds 250 people but it is no longer Whirlpool State Park. Now it is Niagara Falls State Park, a move made by Gov. Kathy Hochul to attract more crowds to our front yard.

There were actually 5,000 people there because, obviously, each vehicle brought 25 people. We count the same way the state does. The state claims 9 million annual visitors in the same park.

A guest at Whirlpool Park counts once when they walk down and look at the aerocar, once when they walk over to see the stairs, once at the picnic shelter and each time they use the washroom. 

The state also, in announcing the renaming of Whirlpool State Park to Whirlpool Park, part of Niagara Falls State Park, claimed the park enjoys 450,000 visitors a year. 

That's how I arrived at 5,000 visitors counted on Saturday. It's like the Allentown Art Festival used to count its crowds before being called out by the Buffalo News.