There are experiences in travel that move you, from something that reminds you how awesome the world can be to a horror movie amount of flies moving you and your picnic back to the car. Every place I’ve been has had at least one.

Hurricane Deck, Niagara Falls: I realize Niagara is the punch line to a lot of travel jokes, with a reputation for tourist hordes and honeymooners. But if you mentally prepare yourself for the stop and go traffic and detours necessitated by group photos, you can see why so many people have the same idea. There’s the usual suspects like Maid of the Mist (which you might as well get used to having in 95% of your pictures) and surprises like Three Sisters Island. But to experience the intense power of the falls, the Hurricane Deck is it. I loved every single minute. And there were a lot of those, since I stood up there until my skin was a nice prune consistency and bystanders started wondering if I was trying to get a month’s worth of showers in one go.

Shark & Ray Touch Tank, New England Aquarium, Boston: Seattle’s aquarium was my first touch tank experience, and was awesome. It’s based on their local tide pools, so you can exasperate sea urchins and the like. But as the name implies, Boston’s is filled with small rays and sharks. I danced around like a little kid from the time we got there until we could go in. There’s something surreal about sticking your hand into water with creatures you would normally do your best to avoid. The rays loved it, forming a circular conga line to get a pet. The sharks? Not so impressed, but I did manage to touch one (sandpaper, and I don’t know how but it felt dry even though it was under water).

Not Pike Place Market: Seattle was before I took pictures with wild abandon. At least this was taken in Seattle. 

Pike Place Market food tour, Seattle: I’d seen this place on TV so much I felt like I knew it. It was on my ‘someday list’, and noshing our way through all good stuff without waiting in lines was the best way to check that box. We also went Super Tourist at Market Spice, and I came home with an ounce of every salt they sold. Apparently TSA dogs don’t like salt as much as gourmet brownies because my treasure trove made it back, but I’m sure if one of those airport reality shows had been around then my suitcase and it’s tiny baggies would have been on it.

Now that would have been a blog post.