Here it is: the last vacation recap of my trip to Niagara Falls! On our last day of vacation, we visited the American side of the Falls. Originally, we hadn’t planned on visiting this side since so many people said it wasn’t worth it, but after spending time there, I vehemently disagree with that assessment. While the Falls are obviously more beautiful from the Canadian side, I still think there is such beauty and incredible experiences to be had on the American side and it is well worth a visit.

Cave of the Winds

Cave of the Winds was, hands down, my favorite experience of this vacation. And this is why I think visiting the American side of the Falls is a must. It is the coolest experience and I couldn’t believe we were there, so close to the Falls. Cave of the Winds is a boardwalk built right next to the Bridal Veil Falls that you can traverse up and down, getting rained on throughout your jouney by the Falls. You will get wet during this journey, which is why you’re given a poncho and a set of water sandals. At one point, the stairs to go up to a new platform were completely covered in water, so it’s a very good thing not to wear your own shoes! (However, the poncho kept my clothes quite dry!)

There are multiple sets of stairs and multiple platforms, and as you traverse up each set of stairs, things get windier and wetter and more chaotic. And I loved every second of it! There was truly nothing like being rained on by Niagara Falls and to be able to see the Falls so closely like this. We could almost touch the Falls, we were so close to them!

The platform at the tippity top of the boardwalk is the one that is the craziest. You will get drenched! It’s so loud and windy at that level and I was pretty sure my mom wouldn’t want to try for a photo opp here. Remember, she didn’t want to visit Niagara Falls at first because she wasn’t keen on “getting wet.” And when I said that I wasn’t sure about going to the spot on this platform where the waterfall is directly coming down on you, my mom said she kinda did. I mean, I also wanted to but I wasn’t sure how my mom felt. But she wanted to experience it and wanted a picture. So that’s what we did and I’m so glad we did because it was incredible. The best experience of the vacation!

Terrapin Point

After our jaunt in Cave of the Winds, we walked over to Terrapin Point, which is this huge observation area with a great view of the Horseshoe Falls. It was pretty busy when we were there with lots of people wanting to get that perfect spot for a great view, but Mom and I were able to snag an open spot pretty quickly. The views here were amazing and it was fun to be on the other side of the Falls after spending two days previously staring at it. We took in the view for a little while, strolled around the observation area, and then took our leave.

Niagara Scenic Trolley

My mom and I were both delighted to find that the American side of Niagara Falls had a great little trolley system that would take you from attraction to attraction. We weren’t delighted because we’re, like, huge trolley fanatics or anything. Our feet were just tired after five days of vacation and we liked not having to walk to the different destinations. Ha! Vacations are exhausting! The trolley picked us up right near Terrapin Point and brought us over to the other side of the Falls, which is where you can get on the Maid of the Mist and go up to the observation deck that overlooks the entirety of the Falls. It was a really nice trolley ride, though, where we learned a bit more about Niagara Falls and enjoyed lots of great views.

Observation Tower

 

Our final stop of the day was the observation tower. I had seen this huge tower from the Canadian side of Niagara Falls and was so intrigued by it. It seemed so high and that you could view the entirety of the Falls from this vantage point. So we headed up there, but we couldn’t figure out how to get to the super-high platform. (There was some very confusing signage about an elevator.) We were a bit tired by this point and vacationed out, so we stuck to the first platform, enjoyed the views, took some silly pictures, and then said goodbye to Niagara. We took the trolley back to the main parking lot and decided on an early dinner at Olive Garden before we returned the rental car to the airport. (Our flight didn’t leave until the next day, but it was a 5:45AM flight and I wasn’t keen on doing a 4AM car rental return, no siree.)

And that was our vacation! It was wonderful and I had so much fun with my mom—I always do! I’m so glad we took this trip together and that we got to see Niagara in all of her glory for the first time ever. She’s a beauty and it’s well worth a visit to see her. And if you’re considering a trip here yourself, don’t forget to visit Bengal Law website, just in case of any unexpected incidents.

During my research as I planned our Niagara Falls trip, I kept seeing reviews about this adorable small town called Niagara-on-the-Lake. Located 30 minutes east of Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake makes for the perfect day trip and it’s well worth a visit.

Mom and I first stopped for breakfast at an IHOP at a nearby hotel where I enjoyed a plate of chocolate chocolate chip pancakes (IHOP does chocolate chocolate chip pancakes better than anyone). It was the perfect fuel for the road! We left Niagara Falls around 10:30 and the drive to Niagara-on-the-Lake was a scenic one. We passed winery after winery after winery! (Too bad my mom and I aren’t winos—we’d be in heaven!) Neither of us drink wine, though, so we bypassed a winery visit.

We made it to Niagara-on-the-Lake around 11 and found a great parking spot right away. The parking gods aren’t always in my favor, but they were on this day. The first thing I wanted to do was go to the cute Old Niagara Bookshop; I hadn’t stopped by any bookstores in Toronto or Niagara Falls and I was desperate to find at least one or two books to bring home. Unfortunately, when we got there, the bookshop was closed and, at first, I thought I had gotten something mixed up and the bookstore wasn’t open on Sundays. Thankfully, my mom saw a sign that said they open at 1 p.m. Okay then! We can keep ourselves busy until then!

Our first stop of the day was Just Christmas, an adorable store that was filled with Christmas ornaments, decorations, and more. I was astounded at how large the store was! It felt like I could walk forever and not see everything there. I got myself a small ornament to remind myself of my trip to Canada, and I was pleased when my mom decided to treat herself to a Christmas puzzle along with her ornament. She’s gotten super into doing puzzles lately, so how fun will it be to do a puzzle that reminds her of our vacation?

After that, we strolled around for a while, taking a trip down to the lake to enjoy the view and see the “famous” gazebo at Queen’s Royal Park.

We popped in and out of a few stores and took a moment at Exchange Brewery where my mom enjoyed a lager and I sipped on a cider.

Right next door to the brewery was an old-fashioned apothecary that was part-museum and part-retail store. I took my time strolling through the museum section while my mom beelined for the retail store (our personalities in a nutshell, ha). I loved how old-timey this place felt, right down to the original wood floors that made that specific creaking noise every time you took a step. This apothecary was an actual, real-life apothecary, established sometime in the 1820s and was restored in the 1970s to function as a National Historic Site of Canada.

Once we left the apothecary, it was a little after 1 p.m., so I was ready to head back to the bookshop and do some perusing! Unfortunately, when we got there, the bookshop was still closed. Wah! My mom suggested that we sit by a stone wall near the shop and wait and see if the store would open a little later. You know how small towns work; those open hours are likely more of a suggestion.

Our patience paid off because right around 1:30, the owner drove in and opened the store for us. She wasn’t a particularly friendly owner, but she left us to our own devices to look around and that’s all I wanted. This bookshop was so, so charming. It had old-fashioned bookshelves, chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and lots of cute trinkets adorning every available space.

I picked out three books: Book Lovers by Emily Henry (this author is so hit-or-miss for me, but so many people are raving about Book Lovers that I’m going to give her one more chance), Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery, and a new edition of Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. I love to buy books by local authors when I travel, so I knew I wanted to select at least one book by a Canadian author and when I saw L.M. Montgomery’s name, I knew I had to snatch up her books. I would love to have a collection of different editions of Anne of Green Gables, since it’s my very favorite book.

My mom sweetly offered to buy the books I had selected, to say thank you for planning a fun vacation for us, and I wasn’t going to turn her down! When we went up to the desk to purchase, things got insanely adorable. First of all, the owner pulled out a receipt pad and hand-wrote our receipt. Title by title, she painstakingly wrote down each book we were buying. Then, just as I was wondering if we needed to have cash to pay (because there was no way this bookshop accepted credit cards if they were hand-writing receipts!), the owner took out one of those old-school credit card imprinters!!! Y’all. It was like I had stepped back in time. I wasn’t sure what decade I was in. How friggin adorable.

After our lovely trip to the bookstore, it was time to make the trek back to the United States! We took a pit stop at Tim Hortons for some coffee and Timbits (we had to!) and then we were on the road. Unfortunately, Apple CarPlay decided it didn’t want to work in our rental car and nothing we did could make our phones connect. It was really frustrating to me because I like having the GPS right on the screen so I can make sure I’m following the right path, but instead, we had to do it old-school on my phone.

Thankfully, we crossed the border without a problem and were soon checking into our hotel in Buffalo. We had originally only planned to stay in Buffalo for one night, but ended up changing that to two nights when I realized we didn’t need as long in Niagara Falls as I had originally thought. My mom booked us a hotel right by the airport, so we weren’t technically in Buffalo proper but close enough.

We had some chill time in the hotel before heading to Pearl Street Brewery for dinner. I had found this brewery while planning on trip; my mom loves trying out local beers when she travels, so I wanted her to get a chance to do it in Buffalo. She ordered a beer flight (her second of the trip!) while I had a cider, which wasn’t very good. But I did thoroughly enjoy the pizza I ordered and gobbled most of it up! Ya win some, ya lose some.

After that, we headed back to the hotel and prepared for one last day of vacation.

On Saturday, we spent another day at the Falls, this time exploring some of the other areas of interest around Niagara. There is really so, so much to do here! I was astonished at how many different attractions we could visit, plus there are tons of hiking trails and wineries nearby. I think I might become an evangelist for seeing Niagara Falls. It’s such a wonderful place to visit! If you’re a beach lover, I’d also highly suggest you check out these Maldives private island honeymoon packages!

But I digress. Let’s see what we got up to on Saturday, shall we?

Wego Bus

Our plans for today were going to take us all around Niagara Falls and much further away than where we were yesterday. Thankfully, there is a great public transportation option called Wego that makes stops all throughout the Falls. I was nervous about using Wego because my mom and I had a terrible time using public transportation in Dublin when we were there in 2019. (Where we live in Florida, public transportation is pretty horrendous so we’re not used to using it at all!) But this ended up being a wonderful experience! There were clearly marked stops at each attraction and a bus would come by every 10-15 minutes, which was nice. We took the first bus from a spot near the Queen Victoria Place Restaurant (where we went for lunch yesterday), which was only a half-mile from our hotel, and it took us all the way to our first attraction for the day (which would have been a 3-mile walk from our hotel—v glad we did not have to walk to that!)

Whirlpool Aerocar

Our first adventure of the day was doing the Whirlpool Aerocar, which is a contraption that takes you right over the Class 6 Niagara rapids. It’s funny—I wasn’t one bit scared of getting into the car and soaring over the rapids but when I posted some of the above pictures on Instagram, I got a lot of comments about how terrifying it looked. I promise it was totally safe and not scary at all! The car went very slowly down its line and we got to enjoy the incredible views of the rapids that were so powerful. The water here has had quite the journey, coming from the top of the Falls and traveling down to the rapids. We also crossed the international border during our trip across the rapids, and my mom kept saying how she couldn’t believe the USA was right over the water! It really is incredible when you think about it.

White Water Walk

After our trip on the aerocar, we hopped back on the Wego bus for our next destination: White Water Walk. I was really excited about this place and it did not disappoint! White Water Walk is a short boardwalk along the Niagara rapids with scenic overlooks every so often. You can get really close to the crashing rapids at these overlooks and the one at the very end is at a spot that’s really rough so you can get splashed just by standing there! I loved walking along the boardwalk, though, and taking in the views. It was really peaceful and the weather was great at this time. We really enjoyed ourselves!

Rainbow Bridge

We hopped back on the bus after our stroll along the rapids and our next destination was a fun one: Rainbow Bridge! This bridge has a walking path and halfway across the bridge is the international border between the United States and Canada. So my mom and I wanted to be silly tourists and get pictures of us with our feet in both countries.

There is an easy staircase to get up to the walking path of the Rainbow Bridge and then you have to pass a turnstile that costs a quarter to enter the bridge. And then we were on the bridge! It was super windy, of course, but we got to see some amazing views of Niagara Falls. And then we saw the international border sign! It was so cool! Luckily, a stranger was walking by when we were admiring the sign and I asked her to take a picture of my mom and me. So for a little while, we were in different countries. 😉 We also took pictures of each other standing with one foot in each country AS YOU DO. It was a fun time!

After passing the sign, we turned around and walked back to the Canadian side of the bridge. But to leave the bridge and go back into Canada, we needed to have our passports and an ArriveCAN QR code. I’m glad we thought to bring our passports! Some guy who was leaving the bridge as we were coming in told us we didn’t need it, but he was dead wrong. Thankfully, we had our passports and I had already signed up for ArriveCAN so I just had to register us as making another trip, this time over the Rainbow Bridge, and we were good to go.

Chill Time at the Hotel

After walking the Rainbow Bridge, we walked to a shop I had been to yesterday that had a mug and shirt I wanted. It’s near the Hornblower cruise and we had perused the store after our excursion but I didn’t want to tote around a mug to all of our other adventures yesterday. I was able to get both of the souvenirs I wanted and then we hightailed it to a nearby Wego bus stop that would take us back to our hotel. It dropped us off steps away from our hotel, and we were so happy to back to our room and chill out for a few hours.

Last Night in Canada

For our last night in Canada, we went to Margaritaville for dinner (I know; how very Canadian of us, eh?) and I thoroughly enjoyed my quesadilla. I hadn’t really been enjoying much of my food on vacation (curses of a picky eater) but my quesadilla was delish. I also got a fruity cocktail in a very fun glass, but somehow, I never even took a picture of it! What?? Vacation fail.

Afterward, we stopped by an ice cream place that’s right in our hotel and each enjoyed a waffle cone. Yum, yum! And then it was back to our room to pack and prepare to leave the hotel. By that time tomorrow, we’d be back in the States!

Have you ever been in two places at once?

Happy Thursday! I’m continuing my vacation recap with what we got up to on Friday, which was a fun day exploring the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. We packed a lot into this day (for us, at least!) but we had such a great time together. We ended up walking 16,000 steps on Friday so it was quite an eventful day for us!

Here’s what we did on Friday:

Hornblower Cruise

I booked us 11 a.m. tickets for the Hornblower cruise, which is the famous boat that takes you super close to the Falls. (On the American side, it’s called Maid of the Mist.) It was probably one of the most insane experiences of my life! It was incredible to get so close to the Falls and experience their power. When we were near Horseshoe Falls, it felt like being in the middle of a hurricane! The wind was crazy, the Falls were drenching us with water, and everything was so loud. I just remember laughing like a crazy person because it felt so unreal! It was so worth every bit of money we spent and I was thoroughly soaked after the cruise. (They give you a poncho to wear and that kept my clothes fairly dry but I couldn’t keep the hood up when it got super windy and also take pictures with my phone, so my head got so wet.) A must-do experience when you’re at Niagara Falls, for sure.

Journey Behind the Falls

After the Hornblower cruise, we walked over to Journey Behind the Falls, which takes you behind the famous Horseshoe Falls. You take an elevator wayyyy down to the base of the Falls and from there, you can view a few lookout points where you get to see the Falls from an entirely different angle. What do they look like from behind? There are two lookout points and we didn’t realize that they were both essentially the same, so we stood in a long line for maybe 30-45 minutes to see the lookout point further away. This lookout point was cool; the water was crashing into the little enclave and it was so powerful!

After that, we ventured to the deck outside the Falls and got to get super-close to Horseshoe Falls. There were two sections to this deck: one at the base of the Falls and one further up and we got to see some truly incredible views from this angle.

Queen Victora Place Restaurant

Mom and I were both very excited to have lunch (okay, we were mostly excited to sit down after spending the last few hours on our feet, lol). I chose the Queen Victoria Place Restaurant that’s a short walk from Journey of the Falls. We were seated quickly and had the most amazing view! I ordered this watermelon cocktail that was so, so refreshing. There weren’t a ton of lunch options at this restaurant (less than 10, I think). I ordered a chicken sandwich with goat cheese and it was just okay. Nothing special. My mom ordered a burger, though, and she said it was the best meal of the trip for her! So, obviously, I just chose wrong.

A Mid-Day Nap

After lunch, it was time to walk back to the hotel. I planned for us to have a little downtime between lunch and dinner to just chill out and take a mid-day nap. As we left the restaurant I told my mom our hotel was a mile away when it was really only half a mile. Tehehe. Okay, she wasn’t very happy with me for tricking her but hey, we got to the hotel much faster than she imagined!

To get back to our hotel, we had to walk up a street that had a very steep incline. We’re Florida gals, and we’re not used to hills like that! Gimme flat roads or gimme death, you know? Anyway, we walked very slowly up the hill and our calves were screaming at us by the end. But eventually, we got back to the hotel and we both collapsed on our beds and snoozed away for two hours.

Skylon Tower Observation Deck

We had 7pm reservations at Skylon Tower for dinner, but when we arrived, our table was not yet ready so we headed up to the observation deck to check out the view. And what a view it was! The lighting was perfect, there was a sweet rainbow in almost every picture I took, and the views were insane. I snapped so many pictures because I just couldn’t get enough of the view. I had a hard time leaving the observation deck when it was time to return to the restaurant. It was just so beautiful!

Dinner at Skylon Tower

We left the observation deck and made our way back up to the revolving dining room. Our table was not yet ready so we got a drink at the bar and enjoyed people watching. When our table was ready, I was so happy that we were seated by a window so we could enjoy the view throughout dinner. As the name suggests, this dining room moves slooowly around so you get to enjoy the incredible views of the falls and surrounding scenery throughout dinner. It was so nice!

I also really enjoyed my dinner. I want to warn everyone that this place is expensive. We decided to make it our fancy dinner, but be warned: You’re going to spend some money here. I really enjoyed my meal, though. The steak I got was cooked perfectly! It was a great meal and I’m glad I did it, but I don’t think it’s something you have to do while you’re in Niagara. The observation deck is definitely worth a visit but the restaurant? Meh.

An Hour at the Casino

Our hotel had a great little walkway to the Fallsview Casino, and after dinner, my mom asked how I would feel about going there to play the slots for a little while. I’m not a huge fan of casinos, but I know my mom is and I was fine with spending her money playing the slots, haha. We played a few of the slot machines around the casino and in the end, I left empty-handed but my mom won enough money to win back all of her original bets so she only really lost a quarter to our little casino rendezvous! It was a nice ending to a really, really fun day. If you enjoy casinos games, you might want to check out บทวิจารณ์ UFABET ที่ครอบคลุม.

Have you ever had dinner at a revolving restaurant? Have you ever played the slots at a casino? (I find it kinda boring, honestly.)

I am so excited to kick off my trip recaps today! We had such a wonderful time in Niagara Falls; it truly might have been the best trip we’ve ever taken. There were no injuries, no meltdowns, no fights. The weather was beautiful and we got to do and see so many cool, once-in-a-lifetime things. Today’s recap encompasses Wedneday afternoon and our day in Toronto on Thursday. Let’s get it started.

Crossing the Border

I was really nervous about crossing the border by car into Canada, mostly because I had no idea what to expect. But when I saw the border crossing, I exclaimed, “Oh, it’s just like at Disney World!” With the different open lanes available, it felt like we were at an Orlando amusement park, trying to get our parking pass for the day. Ha! The border crossing went as smoothly as possible and it wasn’t scary at all! Right now, to cross the border, you have to download an app called ArriveCAN, which I did a few weeks before we left. I added myself and my mom as “travelers” and scanned in our passports and vaccination cards. Then, three days before we left, I filled out a form on the app that listed what bridge we would be crossing to get to Canada and the time we planned to cross. From there, we received a QR code but when I handed the border patrol our documents to cross, he only wanted our passports! Very weird, but I wasn’t about to question it. I’m just grateful the border crossing went smoothly and quickly, and before I knew it, we were in Canada!

Hilton Fallsview Hotel

You can see the Falls in the distance; they’re multicolored!

During our time in Canada (we checked in on Wednesday and checked out on Sunday), we stayed at the Hilton Fallsview Hotel. This hotel was great and I loved that we could see the Falls from our window and be right at the Falls within 10 minutes. Every night, there is a fireworks show at the Falls and we could enjoy the show from the comfort of our hotel beds! That was super cool.

My First Tim Hortons Experience

One of my must-do’s while in Canada was to visit Tim Hortons! (Or as my mom kept saying, Tom Hortons.) We don’t have them near me and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I got an iced mocha latte and a breakfast sandwich, and I also shared some Timbits with my mom. My coffee was delicious and the Timbits were exceptional, but the breakfast sandwich was a bit of a letdown. Still, it was a good experience and I’m glad I got to enjoy Tim Hortons for the first time!

Driving to Toronto

During our first day in Canada, we drove to Toronto to spend a day in the city! I did all the driving on vacation and everything went really well (aside from one time when I nearly hit a pedestrian crossing the street, oops). I sipped my Tim Hortons coffee during the hour-and-a-half drive and listened to podcasts while my mom mostly slept, ha. She always gets very sleepy during car rides! It was a nice drive, though, mostly done on the highway and it was fun to start seeing all the big buildings once we finally entered the city.

Lunch in the Distillery District

We found a parking garage near the Distillery District in Toronto and our plan was to stroll around the District and then walk to St. Lawrence Market for lunch, but we had arrived a little later than planned so after taking a short walk around and popping into a cute pet boutique (that was more of a dog boutique with no cat toys to speak of—rude!), we found a restaurant called The Beer Hall and decided to stop there for lunch.

The Beer Hall was delicious! My mom ordered a beer flight and she loved all of the beers she chose. I got a cider that was just okay, nothing to write home about! And we ordered an array of apps for lunch: a giant pretzel, chicken wings, and poutine. I wanted to try poutine while I was in Canada but, y’all, I was not impressed with the poutine at this restaurant. I’m not a huge gravy fan as it is, so maybe that’s why? When I posted about the poutine, though, on Instagram, someone responded to tell me the real poutine is in Quebec and what I had was a very sorry imposter. So if I ever make my way to Quebec I will try poutine again!

Nathan Phillips Square

One of the things I wanted to do while we were in Toronto is visit Nathan Phillips Square where the famous Toronto sign is. Is it sad that I saw this on an episode of The Bachelor and that’s why I wanted to go there? PROBABLY. It’s also a very touristy thing to do, but I love being a cheesy tourist! When we got there, it was packed with people. Lots of tourists, lots of people on their lunch breaks. (One guy parked himself in one of the “O”‘s of the sign and chowed down on a messy sandwich, womp.) We took lots of pictures of the sign, strolled around the square for a little bit, and enjoyed some people watching. Eventually, though, we needed to leave and high-tail to the CN Tower as we had a 3pm reservation!

The CN Tower

My mom and I booked tickets for the CN Tower later in the day, and by this time, we were both a bit wiped out from our busy day! But we powered through so we could enjoy the experience in the CN Tower. Unfortunately, it seems like we got there just as a few school groups also got there so it was busy, filled with lots of middle school-aged kids, and very loud. It was a bit overstimulating for me! And finding a spot to enjoy the view wasn’t very easy. We also booked tickets to the Skypod, which was interesting but nowhere near as thrilling as what we did last year in Chicago (the Tilt experience at 360 Chicago and the Ledge experience at the Willis Tower). All in all, a kind of lackluster experience, which I think was mostly due to how crowded it was.

And that wraps up the first two days of our trip! After spending about an hour at the CN Tower, we left and headed back to Niagara Falls. It was a loooong drive back to the hotel (a demerit for me, as we started the journey back during rush hour). But tomorrow would be a fun day: exploring Niagara Falls!

Have you ever crossed a border by car? Canadian friends – should I give poutine another try?