Niagara Falls baby: Maid of the Mist, Cave of the Winds, Ice Cream, and Fireworks! We did it all!

Our numero uno destination was Niagara Falls. Three-fourths of us had never been there, and none of us had ever been drenched by it. And now we have!

While we were told by many that the Canadian side is better, we kept to the U.S. side, and were not disappointed. It was simply breathtaking.

When arriving, we paid $10 to park in a parking lot right next to the entrance to Niagara Falls State Park. There are walking paths, informational booths, signs, shops, etc. It was very easy to navigate our way around. If you didn’t have tickets for any tours but wanted some, there were plenty of places to buy them.

One of the tours we were told was a must while visiting was the Maid of the Mist. This is a short boat ride that takes you up close to Niagara and Horseshoe Falls.

They give you a blue poncho to wear, which you are going to want. Bring your own raincoat and your shirt might not get wet, but your pants will. These ponchos will cover all of your clothes. And they look great!

The whole boat ride was less than a half hour. We boarded, navigated to the falls, spun around, and returned back. But in that short time, we saw amazing sights and got soaked! It wouldn’t have mattered what side of the falls you hung out on that day, if you were on this boat you got to see up close and personal.

Our ponchos kept us pretty dry except for perhaps our hair given that the wind blew off the hoods. And of course Emma’s socks were wet because she has to wear socks with her crocs!

This tour was definitely worth it for the close views of the falls. While we were up close, all you could hear was the water and the laughs and joy of all the passengers on this boat. It is something everyone should do at least once in their lifetimes.

Despite the kids wanting to hop on the trolley, we decided to take the scenic walk from Maid of the Mist over to the Cave of the Winds tour – about a 15-minute walk. It gave us plenty of time to dry off (before getting wet again).

This tour began with an informational video about the history of Niagara Falls State Park and the industrial area that it used to be before being preserved as a park. You then begin the descent down in an elevator to get really up close and personal with the falls. You are given a yellow poncho for this tour.

I overheard someone say that they wished they saved their blue poncho from Maid of the Mist and doubled it up with the yellow one (the park recycles them when you get off the boat if you wish). How wet could you possibly get? Well, this is how wet….

This was a winding wooden walkway with railings, platforms, and staircases on the cliffs along the right side of the falls. And the mist and water were so strong that it made it hard for your eyes to see at times. I think goggles would have been a good thing, honestly.

I was glad we did the Maid of the Mist first and got to see that first. Because if we thought that was close, this was closer. It really was amazing and also something you should see if have the capability to walk up stairs safely. A once a lifetime thing. And just as Emma’s socks had dried from the Maid of the Mist, they were now soaked again. Crocs without socks would have been the way to go, Emma!

There is a Hard Rock Cafe right across from the falls, which seemed to be quite busy when we passed. There were also many food trucks and vendors along the sidewalks, which were cute to walk by. But given that we now live in the camper, we didn’t really want to accumulate more stuff to store, or more clothes to have to put somewhere. This means staying out of these little stores. What was great was that the Maid of the Mist tour gave us one postcard for each ticket, so Aliyah was able to make out some postcards for some friends and family she wanted to send them to. Great idea from that tour!

One last thing I wanted to make sure we did while in Niagara was catch the fireworks. Fireworks are let off every single night all summer long and are still going on now at the end of September. We were going to go on Friday night but decided not to because we didn’t want to stay awake until 10, and decided to go Saturday instead. Well, Saturday ended up raining in the evening and we were way more tired. Probably wasn’t what any of us wanted to do. But we did it!

We packed umbrellas and headed down to the falls. If only we had kept those ponchos! The park was beautiful all lit up with lamp pools and plants, which glistened in the rain.

Even though it was raining, there were many others in raincoats holding umbrellas there to watch the show. While the fireworks were cool to see and we can say we watched them at Niagara Falls, what was even cooler was how they had the falls all lit up with lights.

The area of fencing that could show the lights was pretty crowded so I really didn’t get much of a better photo than that, as it was through some fencing and staging. The colors were changing. There were blues, purples, oranges, and reds. At one point it was red, white, and blue, even. It was beautiful and the mist from the falls made it all glow.

The fireworks themselves were set off from across the river and lasted about 5 minutes. Just enough to say you saw them. What’s cool is to see them in the video below with all the umbrellas being held high by watchers.

Once the fireworks were done, the crowd scattered a bit and we were able to get closer to the fence for one last illuminated view of the falls – making our Niagara trip complete. If you find yourself in Niagara, don’t miss the nighttime views. You’ll be glad you did!