Tour Tales

I’ve been collecting countries in interacting with World Cup visitors.

It’s not enough to make up for the Canadians who are boycotting until we have regime change, but there are numerous guests staying in Southern Ontario, Buffalo and Niagara Falls who are in town specifically for soccer.

Within the last week I have encountered people from Italy, Venezuela, Columbia, Peru and, yesterday, Croatia.

They don’t care about Buffalo. They care about Niagara Falls. We are the Niagara Region.

Other interesting guests

I had an Amish family of 8 from Ohio. The parents trailed behind their 6 children all day, with teenage daughters looking after the 4 young boys including a rambunctious 4-year old named Orville.

The kids were disciplined, well-behaved and attentive. The parents were practically disengaged, leaving care of the younger children to their daughters who were 12 and 13 years old. It was fascinating. It was kind of a new take on free range parenting.

Conservative Yemeni guests

We also had a party of 7 Yemeni guests who were Conservative Islamic with the women in full Burqas.

At the Maid of the Mist ticket window, we hand off one ticket at a time as the guests pass through.

The patriarch of the Yemeni group would not allow me to hand tickets to the women. Only he could do that. It is important to be sensitive and accepting about things we don’t understand.

About that fire escape

The crane is still in place. The Crow’s Nest stairs are still not open.

Steel steps at the top have been repositioned but they still kind of mar the view.

On the bright side, state parks said the stairs should be open by Memorial Day. Maybe it’s just that we don’t know which year.

About that viewing platform

The state does not like to talk about it, but the viewing platform remains closed as work begins on building taller railings.

There were 4 suicides from the platform last summer. The new railings will make certain the jumpers go somewhere else.

The idea that we can end suicides is unfortunately unattainable. We can, however, prevent people from landing on the concrete below.

What’s up with the Maid?

There has been no announcement about new ownership for the Maid of the Mist, but with the passing of patriarch James Glynn last year, there eventually is likely to be some new structure for ownership.

It is very common for businesses to fail in transition between generations or for a lack of planning to result in a forced sale.

Operationally, upgraded computers and timed tickets might make a big difference.