Niagara Falls did not disappoint us…
Our relaunch out on to the road (details in another post), brought us to one of the most powerful and beautiful water falls poised between two countries. Frank and I have both visited Niagara Falls as teens, but we had no recollection of the sheer power and majesty that fell before our eyes as adults.
As we were on a tight schedule to meet friends in MI, we drove straight through from the Albany area directly to the Falls. Even as we drove toward our campground, we could see the mist and splashes of water rising above the city skyline.
We chose to camp at a State Park in Youngstown, right on the shore of Lake Ontario. The sites only provided electric, but no water or sewer hookup. We chose to park right near the bath house so we would be close to facilities and it ultimately was one of the best views of Lake Ontario. The benefit to staying at a NY State Park facility was the parking pass provided to us for all the State Parks. This pass allowed us to park for free in any of the NYS parking lots during our stay. This saved us $10.00 for each time we visited the falls area. The campground at 4 Mile Creek, was very flat and grassy, the sites were large and the playground was wonderful. Verizon Cell Service was spotty at best.
Once settled into our site, we all took advantage of long, hot showers after a long drive and some clay play on the beach front. 
As we headed to the Falls, we decided it was best to stay on the US side for this trip as we were short on time. Many friends have shared with us that the view from the Canadian side is much better. Since we chose the USA side, we decided to go all in to the tourist attractions. The two main attractions on this side are the Cave of Winds and the A visitor to can definitely see the all sides of this majestic beast,if you take the Maid of the Mist boat tour into the heart of the Falls. We chose to purchase the Discovery Pass, which gives a visitor access to the Trolley, Aquarium, Maid of the Mist and Cave of the Winds. Prices below are directly from the Official Website:
2018 Discovery Pass Prices
Adult (12 years old +)* $46
Child (6-12 years old)* $35
The Cave of The Winds starts with entering a trailer area to get your complimentary pair of stylish rubber sandals and plastic poncho. From there you are led to an elevator to go several stories underground. As you exit the elevator you are director out to a nature path directly underneath one area of the Falls. I guess I expected a CAVE (as in the name), and was a little surprised it was not a cave at all. The nature path led us to several areas of board walks and decks to access different levels of the falls. Each level also provided us with different levels of wetness. For more information, you can visit the official website here.
Once we were adequately soaked from the Cave of The Winds, we hopped on the trolley to bring us over to the area of the park where the Maid of the Mist is docked. Although a visitor is able to see sections of the Falls from the park, the real beauty is blocked by gates that can only be accessed with your tickets to the boat ride. Once inside the gated area, we were overwhelmed by the beauty as seen in the pictures below.
The Maid of the Mist gives its visitors a second plastic rain covering which should most definitely be worn. As we feared that motion sickness may be an issue for most of our family, we chose to be on the upper deck of the boat. An enclosed first floor is available. On our way out to the falls, we were on the right side of the boat and the view was definitely a bit blocked by the many guests with selfie sticks. However, once fully into the falls the right side seemed to be the best side for the “stall” portion of the trip. The boat idles for about 5 minutes and allows its guests to be surrounded on 3 sides of powerful, pounding water. The Maid then does a 180 degree turn and those of us on the right side are able to feast on the beauty on the return to the dock. Further details about the Maid of the Mist can be found HERE.
Have you ever visited Niagara Falls? What was your favorite part or memory? Let us know in the comments!