On the second day of our road trip, we woke up in Ashtabula, Ohio and continued our drive towards the border to cross into Pennsylvania. By the time we made it into Pennsylvania, Andrew and I started seeing signs for Niagara Falls. For the longest time, I have wanted to visit the falls. I put the blame on the desire partially onto The Office. They definitely hyped the experience up. Once we crossed over to New York, Andrew and I talked about stopping in Niagara. I kept getting anxious about taking such a serious pitstop and the fact that I have gephyrophobia didn’t work in my favor either. Considering Niagara is surrounded by water, there was going to be several bridges that we had to cross. Not cool.

We ended up stopping an hour away from Niagara Falls at a gas station in New York. We all took a bathroom break and then picked up a few brochures and spoke to some tour guides on the best way to approach our visit. They told us the best way to go about it was to park in a local hotel parking lot and walk over to the falls. Once we got back into the car we put in the address for Niagara Falls in the GPS and decided to take the leap and officially visit! On the ride to Niagara Andrew and I discussed what we should do once we arrived. We knew we wouldn’t be able to see everything if we just walked around so I pulled up the boat tours on my phone and we both agreed that if we were going to visit Niagara and see the falls, we needed to do it right and take the girls on the boat tour.

After our pitstop, the drive to get to Niagara was very straightforward. We ended up crossing all the scary bridges with great results and drove into the parking lot of a Holiday Inn Express. After paying $60 to park in their lot ouch, we rounded up everyone out of the car, I loaded my camera with film, and we made our way to the falls. The entire walk was so picturesque. We made our way towards the falls and walked around for a bit longer before getting in line to purchase our tickets for the boat tour. Now let’s fast forward a few hours of waiting in line and having multiple people cutting in line and pushing through so that we can get to the fun part, the actual boat tour! Once we made our way through the line and down the elevators, we were each handed a blue plastic poncho (even Poppy got a mini poncho) and put it into the line to get onto the boat.

When we got on the boat we made our way towards the back of the boat so we were looking at the bridge that connects the United States to Canada. At this point we were all so excited, the girls couldn’t stop looking at the water as the boast took off towards the falls. The boat eventually stopped right in-between both falls and we all ran to the front of the boat to see it. Water splashed and misted us, getting our faces and hair wet. We laughed as we wiped the water away and tried to get a better view of the waterfalls.

The boat tour itself was only a thirty-minute endeavor. After we got off the boat, it took us another two hours of waiting in line just to get on the elevator that took us back up. Right alongside the line to leave the boat tour was a huge staircase that was on the outside of the waterfall that you could walk up. At that point, we were all cranky and tired and eager to get back to the car so we opted out. Once we finally made it to the top of the elevators, we made our way back to the car (after stopping to take a bunch more pictures, of course). We sat in the car, eating our lunch and reminiscing on how beautiful Niagara Falls was. And before we knew it we were back on the road again, prepping for several more hours of driving so that we could make it to Vermont by that night.

Tips

a few of the things that we learned from our visit

• Make a whole day trip out of it! We were there for only a couple of hours but I wished that we had stayed longer. There was so much that this cute little town had to offer. The park that is around the falls is huge and there are so many cute little places to eat and shop. There’s even a trolley ride. Talk about cool!
• If you’re taking little ones on the boat tour, don’t bring a stroller. We opted out of bringing Poppy in her stroller and I’m so glad we did. It just ends up getting in the way and while you’re waiting a long time for the boat tour, it sits in an unwatched area where people could easily take things out of it.
• Expect for people to be rude and cut in line while you’re waiting to get to and from the falls. It’s going to happen because some people are just like that. Choose your battles and understand that some people think that it’s acceptable to treat others this way.
• Plan to stand in line for the boat tour for a VERY LONG TIME. I think we stood in line for a total of 4 hours and we, unfortunately, didn’t prep for this. I would make sure that you wear a backpack and keep water and snacks in it. Standing in line for long periods of time can take a lot out of you!
• Do as we did and park in a hotel parking lot away from the falls. This makes it easier and less stressful to find a place to park and it gives you a good excuse to see and experience the town on your walk there.
• Because you’re going to be standing in line and walking a lot, make sure to wear good shoes and comfortable clothes. This will make your visit a heck of a lot easier and nicer since so much of it is waiting in limbo.
• This seems like a no-brainer but I’m going to say it anyway. BRING YOUR CAMERA. It’s gorgeous there and it deserves to be documented over and over again! If you’re worried about your camera getting wet during the boat tour, the poncho sleeves were big and long enough that I could just tuck my hand inside to protect my camera during the places where we got extra wet.
• And last but not least, have fun! Taking a trip and visiting a new place can be stressful (especially with little ones) but don’t forget to enjoy and focus on the positive. You’re getting to experience a new place and it’s amazing!

Other 2018 Road Trip Posts:

Vermont Road Trip
Santa’s Village, NH
Toledo Zoo