Niagara Falls

When we started thinking about what we were going to do in Upstate New York, one thing that came to mind was Niagara Falls. My parents live only three hours away from the Falls, so we knew that we wanted to try and visit for at least a day trip.

After perusing Groupon (and also still wondering why we never used Groupon for our honeymoon), we found a great deal for a hotel stay at the Hilton Hotel and Suites on the Ontario side, that included a view of the Falls and a few vouchers for restaurants in the hotel.

When we arrived at the border, we spent some time on the U.S. side looking at the American Falls. Unfortunately, Niagara Falls is notorious for charging for everything, including parking at a State Park. When we got to the parking lot for the American Falls overlook, we saw that parking was free for the first 20 minutes, and we raced against the clock to see the Falls (and save $10). We did it with one minute to spare, and got a bit of exercise in the process.

Once we crossed over the border, there was a walkway that gave us great views of the American Falls, and a little bit of the Horseshoe Falls – it was really misty and wet as you got closer to the Canadian Falls.

If I had to describe the waterfalls in one word, it would be: breathtaking.

Just standing near the edge of the walkway made us realize just how small we really are. The area was of course very touristy, but even all the shops and money-making attractions couldn’t take away from the beauty of Niagara.

After spending a bit of time admiring the waterfalls, we walked back to our hotel which was connected to a food court and casino. We had lunch at Tim Horton’s, and would advise everyone against buying their new Tuscan Chicken Panini. Thankfully we were able to check into our hotel early, and enjoyed the view from our room before having dinner at Brasa Brazilian Steakhouse. Dinner was just “meh,” but the grilled pineapple was definitely well worth it.

We are so excited to continue sharing our adventures with everyone. 🙂 We hope to keep the blogging streak alive, and post at least once a week. Tomorrow we leave Elmira to visit my grandparents in New York City, and are excited to spend some time with them before we start the drive down to Florida.

Keep praying for traveling mercies, and peace as we say our goodbyes!