Niagara Falls!

Part 3!

For as long as Josh and I have known each other, we have talked about doing a road trip. But for years it didn’t happen because either the money wasn’t there, or we could get friends to actually commit to going with us. The road trip talk didn’t stop after we got married though, and after careful planning, we figured out a way to make it work.

Josh still had one more Spring Break and we knew that would be as good a time as any to make the trip happen.

Ice House Winery

We decided that our destination was going to be Niagara Falls and that we would drive up through Canada and home through the states. I was excited! I had never been to the falls or Canada and couldn’t wait. Plus, I found an awesome deal on Groupon (again, I don’t get paid to mention them, it’s just my experience) that included our hotel stay, wineries, and other various touristy things. (Yes there are SEVERAL wineries near the Falls, and they are excellent!)

Our drive began on a Monday and we knew that day one would get us all the way to Niagara Falls, Canada. The drive out wasn’t too eventful, but it was still a blast. You see, Josh and I have this crazy ability to be in the car for hours and not use the radio. After all these years together, we can still fill long car rides with endless conversations. It’s pretty awesome, especially since our music tastes don’t overlap by much.

It was gloomy and cold, but that doesn't stop us!

The Falls at night

We arrived at our hotel in the early evening, hungry and happy to be out of the car. The room we got was beautiful. We dropped our stuff off and headed out. It was FREEZING still up there so we were thrilled to have packed our winter gear. After dinner, we walked down to the Falls. They were lit up and we were able to catch our first glimpse. It was beautiful.

The next day was strictly Falls focused. We grabbed breakfast and started to walk. The Falls were breath-taking! Anything you have seen of them on TV or in photos, simply does not do it justice! You have to get there and see them for yourselves. We spent a lot of time there, staring at the water, visiting the little tourist shops, and reading up on some Falls facts in the guest building. It’s an incredible place.

But there is SO much more to do there than see the Falls, which we didn’t know. Turns out, there is tons of tourist attractions, casinos, and like I said before, wineries. So we spent the rest of our day doing those things. It was a fabulous trip. We stayed there for 2 nights/3 days, and got to experience and see so much.

The picture we have on the wall

And then, the drive home ended up being a huge part of our trip too! One of our goals as a couple is to visit all of the NFL stadiums. And since we were in our car and had the freedom to, we decided to stop by some on the way home! My favorite part was of course our drive to Pittsburgh, so I could see Heinz Field! It was just as awesome as I always imagined it would be.

Me in my happy place!

Instead of spending more time in a hotel, and partially because once you hit a certain point in Indiana that leaves you without many options, we chose to drive straight through to home. It was a long day, and LONG night, but we managed to get home around 2am. (And were lucky enough to catch Portillo’s before it closed in Schaumburg for dinner).

Road trips are awesome! And the best part is not planning it out. Sure we knew where we wanted to end up, but we had no agenda for the drives or even once we got there. It forces you to go with the flow and take things as they come. And for someone like me, I need that every once in a while. So we chose a photo we took of the Falls to be our final print in our family room, to remind us to go with the flow and always go on adventures together.