Hart Family Vacation 2024 (Days 8 & 9 - Niagara Falls, Lansing, Home)

We ended Day 7 very late (early morning of Day 8)...so we slept in a bit on Day 8. The only stop on our itinerary for today - Niagara Falls.

After grabbing breakfast and packing up the van, we started the drive to Niagara Falls, about 45 minutes away. Once in Niagara, we planned to see the city and falls from Skylon Tower. 

We parked in the same lot that we did the previous night (Clifton Hill) - parking at the back of the lot, ala Clark Griswold in National Lampoon's Vacation. 

The elevator to the observation deck of Skylon Tower (775 ft above the falls) is on the outside of the tower with large windows, allowing for great views of the city as you ascend. Maddie wasn't too keen on the idea of the large windows...

We couldn't have asked for a better day to view the falls from Skylon Tower. The blue skies with a few fluffy white clouds, the sun shining - the views were crisp and plentiful! It truly was breathtaking!

With the glass between us and the girls on the other side looking at me, it reminded me of the old hospital nurseries...with the nurse holding the baby for the family (on the other side of the window) to see. Of course, I had to explain what I was doing, so it wasn't as funny. However, Maddie snapped a pic of me (really close up!) and now this is her favorite picture of me! LOL. 

We took the elevator back down and looked through the gift shops at ground level.

No Moose for us. We were sad.

From the tower, we took the stairs and walkway down the hill to the falls area. 

After taking some time to enjoy the lower view of the tower and the flower gardens, we crossed the street to the overlook area. We headed south along the overlook area, taking in as many different views as possible. 

Will noticed that our hair was full of static/standing up. Pretty fun to see on all of us (well, except Matt, Ha!)

We continued walking north along Niagara River Pkwy, stopping and taking in the falls. taking lots of pictures along the way. 

As we approached the Clifton Hill area, we watched this group zipline down towards the water. 

We walked up to Clifton Hill to find lunch, water & respite. It was really hot (88°) and the sun was out in full force! Unfortunately, it was peak lunch time and the food spots were crazy busy! We had already decided that we would try Tim Horton's for lunch, so we headed there and waited in the very long line. Worse then the long line was the lack of tables. We sent the kids to look for a place to sit while Matt & I waited in line. What a fiasco! Luckily, they were finally able to secure a table (minus a few chairs since other guests stole chairs from all of the tables!). Didn't matter in the end, a few of us sat on the window ledge. 

While the twins secured a table, Kaitee went out to this water kiosk to purchase waters for everyone. 

We were also bummed that this particular Tim Horton's had a very limited menu. We decided to try their Flatbread Pizza (evidently new to their menu) and found that they were pretty good. 

And of course we had to try the Tim Horton Timbits (super yummy donut holes)!

We left Niagara Falls and hit the road towards the Point Edwards border patrol check point. We stopped in Sarnia to purchase more Timbits for a snack/breakfast. We also wanted to shop at a Dollarama before leaving Canada. We love our Dollar Tree and wanted to see if Dollarama was similar. Unfortunately, when we walked in to the Sarnia store, they had a sign posted that their credit card machine was down (Cash only). Since we only had a limited amount of US Dollars on us, we left. We weren't sure if they would even take US money...and we'd be losing money due to the exchange rate. We were bummed, but hit the road for the US border. 

The Canadian/US Border Bridge at Point Edward (Blue Water Bridge). 

We had another 2 hours of driving - from the border to our hotel in Lansing, MI. We stopped at Culvers in Davison, MI for dinner and dessert. While there, the skies opened and POURED! It was nuts! We were so thankful to be inside and not driving during that downpour.

When I asked the kids what their favorites were from Day 8, they all listed something from Niagara Falls...and then we all agreed that we were also happy to be back in the US. We are definitely creatures of habit and being in a different country really stretches us. 

We headed to bed, ready to head home on Day 9.

Favorites from Day 8

Matt - Flowers/stairway below tower to falls area

Becki - Tower

Kaitee - Falls area

Will - Tower

Maddie - Tower (not the elevator), Timbits, pizza at Tim Hortons

Day 9 - we woke up to another great weather day. We had almost 6 hours of driving ahead of us (piece of cake, lol!). If all went well (ie - Chicago traffic), we'd be home by mid-afternoon. We pushed through (minimal traffic at the Tri-State! Thank you Lord!), stopping only for lunch and gas. We arrived home mid-day, unloaded the van and unpacked the suitcases/bags, got laundry going, went through mail, etc. I ran up to work to grab my paperwork and Will got called in to work. We were home!

We were gone for 9 days and visited 12 states/2 provinces. We drove 3,700 miles in those 9 days, saw numerous parks, cemeteries, waterfalls, lighthouses and covered bridges. We enjoyed the quiet of small towns as well as the bustle of large cities (could've done without the traffic). 

All in all, another successful Hart family vacation!

Overall Favorite from Vacation

Matt - Portland Head Lighthouse

Becki - Portland Head Lighthouse, Cornhole at LL Bean

Kaitee - Littleton, Seagulls @ Harvey's

Will - Seagulls, Sabbaday Falls

Maddie - Presque Isle, Seagulls