Just an FYI, if you are planning on going to see Niagara Falls in winter - even in late November, which is technically still part of the the fall...
DON'T.
I had the bright idea to take my daughter to Niagara Falls this weekend, and to meet up with some blogger friends and do some shopping in Buffalo, NY. My daughter is getting to the age where she has so much that she doesn't ask for anything special for Christmas anymore. This year, all she wanted was clothing. So I decided to make getting the clothing part of her gift: we went to Buffalo/Niagara Falls.
We arrived Friday at noon and grabbed a cab to our hotel in Amherst, NY - which I mistakenly thought was in Buffalo...long story short, our hotel was in the middle of nowhere and I had to rent a car.
Thankfully, Enterprise Rent A Car had a location not too far, and after our cab never showed up to pick us up, Enterprise came and got us! $120 later, we were driving off in a Dodge Avenger.
Which my daughter has now declared her favorite car in the world.
Friday evening, we were so pooped from waking at 5 am to drive the hour trip to Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport that we simply grabbed a quick snack from McDonald's on the way back from getting our rental and watched a movie on my iPad in our hotel room...
My daughter passed out at 7 pm. I wasn't far behind her, powering down the laptop and passing out around 8:30 pm. What can I say, it was pitch black by 5 pm, and we had a long day!
We went to Niagara Falls this morning and I got a few photos before my daughter decided that she had never been colder in her life and begged to go back to the car and head back into Buffalo.
I was pretty impressed with the rainbows over the water...it looked so majestic, coming out of the mist!
I had been to Niagara Falls on the Canadian side in 2003, and I think it was a nicer view than from the American Falls side. However, being so close to the American Falls was quite the experience! To hear the rushing water so close, and to feel the vibrations in the ground - that was nothing short of amazing!
I'd love to plan another trip for next year, after my daughter has her passport, so that we can also cross the border and she can see the Canadian side!
jess says
I can't wait until my kids are a little older so I can take them to both sides! Although I'm not really a fan of all the tourist attractions...so many creepy wax museums lol!
Liz says
I've heard the Canadian site is prettier from a few people, actually. One of these days I'm going to see the falls. I grew up doing very little traveling, too, and badly want to go on a road trip someday. I don't even want an agenda. I just want to see whatever there is to see. I live in Connecticut. The farthest south I've been is the Florida Keys -- Key West is nothing special -- and the farthest north I've been is Salem, MA -- which is one of the coolest towns I've been to in my life (don't tell Deerfield Beach I said that, though). Salem has an awesome comic book shop and a ton of museums. My sister and I went there when I was in college around Halloween as part of a school sponsored trip. It was fun seeing Salem in its element, but there are a lot of hidden, non-tourist gems there that I fell in love with.
I could go on. I really enjoyed the few places I've been.
Jenn says
Key West is nothing special?! What?? LOL I live in Miami and go there all of the time...it never gets old for me! 🙂 I have always wanted to Salem!
Beth says
We went to both sides when I was a child. If you go to the Canadian side, be sure to take the Lady of the Mist (I think that is what it is) ferry ride. You get to up to the point where the falls push the boat away (or that is what it seemed!) I still remember putting on the rain coats they had!
So what clothes did she buy?!;)
Dawn C says
I love the pictures of the falls! Makes me wanna go and see for myself.
Anne says
It is really gorgeous when there is snow and ice, fall is probably not when it is the best.
Liz says
I don't know, it was a ghost town when we got there, and the beach was nowhere near as nice as about halfway down through the Keys. I adore Florida, don't get me wrong, but Key West so wasn't what I expected. I heard it's more of a nightlife scene, though, so maybe someday I'll go back after sunset. 😀