Niagara Falls: A 5th Anniversary Trip

On our 5th dating anniversary, my (now) husband took me to Niagara Falls and proposed! Fast forward to our 5th wedding anniversary and we planned a return trip. They were both magical vacation that will always be some of my favorite memories together.

This second trip was our first time away from our youngest son, so it was a little emotional for me. I had spent a lot of time preparing myself emotionally and physically (because he is breastfed). Once there, we had so much that I barely even thought about it. Days full of activity and nightly summer fireworks over the falls are a great distraction.

Day 1: Arriving at Niagara Falls, Canada

The first day was mostly travel. We drove 6 hours and crossed the border into Canada, arriving at the Sheraton on the Falls. This was the same hotel that he had proposed to me during our first trip. We had a fallsview room that had a beautiful view of both the American and Canadian falls.

Our arrival day was our actual anniversary, so we had a nice dinner planned at The Keg Steakhouse. This restaurant had a great view of the Horseshoe Falls (Canadian Falls). We could have walked along the river, but it was so crowded that we chose to walk a quieter path through a beautiful park. The crowds were insane! We didn’t realize that our anniversary weekend was also Canada Day weekend which is Niagara Falls busiest time of the year.

After a delicious steak dinner, we walked back to our hotel. There is a bus service called the WEGO in Niagara Falls that can take you anywhere you want if you don’t want to walk around. For me, the walk was nice since I couldn’t stop eating during dinner!

Day 2: Exploring Niagara Falls

Getting Close to the Falls

Last time we visited Niagara Falls, it was November. That means it was cold and so we were limited in what we could do. This time we wanted to get up close to the falls. We bought tickets for the Hornblower cruise (which is just like the Maid of the Mist but leaves from the Canadian side). The tickets were for any time on the day that we had purchased them for. Luckily, our hotel was right next to the entrance so we were able to get up early and go!

The new Niagara Falls Funicular was a cool way to get to the boat. It is all glass so you can see the falls while it takes you down to the level of the river to board the Hornblower. After posing for a souvenir photo, we got our red ponchos and walked right onto the boat.

Going on this cruise is a must on any trip to Niagara Falls. It is so cool to get that close to both falls and feel the force of the falls in the mist that gets kicked up. You will get wet though!

Clifton Hill: The Street of Fun

Lunch at Kelsey’s

After our cruise, we were STARVING! So we went to lunch at Kelsey’s Original Roadhouse on Clifton Hill (Niagara Fall’s most fun street). I loved the atmosphere at Kelsey’s. They had a big patio and really cool decor.

We started with a few wings as an appetizer and they had just the right amount of crunch and heat.

Then, we both had a breakfast burger topped with hash browns, bacon, and a fried egg. It totally hit the spot! I had sweet potato fries with mine and my husband couldn’t keep his hands off them.

Niagara Speedway

After lunch, we went over to the new Niagara Speedway. This elevated go-kart track felt like a real-life Mario Kart track (minus the shells and banana peels). With over 2000 feet of track, it was so much fun! After driving up a four-story spiral you drive down a coaster style ramp and into another spiral, reaching speeds of over 19 mph.

The Street of Fun

There is so much to do on Clifton Hill. From mini-golf to the giant Skywheel, wax museums, bowling, and games there is endless fun on this street in Niagara Falls. To save money, they offer a Fun Pass that includes admission to the Niagara Skywheel, Dinosaur Golf or Wizard’s Golf, Zombie Attack 6D ride, Movieland Wax Museum, Wild West 6D Coaster ride, Ghost Blasters Dark Ride and 5 Midway game tokens!

We didn’t have time to try them all because of the Canada day crowds. I really wanted to ride the Skywheel but the line was just too long. We did get to play some Dinosaur mini golf though! It was a lot of fun and included a volcano that spits out fire. You could really feel the heat!

Dinner and Some Brews

By this time we were hungry for dinner, so we headed over to the Niagara Brewing Company. We had a small beer tasting and a light meal, which was all that was needed after that huge lunch at Kelsey’s. The beer was also available for purchase, so we took s few back to the hotel.

Day 3: Wine Tour and Niagara-on-the-Lake

We had booked a wine tour through our hotel and Magnificent Tours that was planned for day 3. This was a great way to get out of the main tourist area for something a little different. Our bus driver was incredibly knowledgeable and so we were able to learn a lot about the Niagara region that we wouldn’t have otherwise.

Peller Estates Winery

Our first stop was Peller Winery. The tour there started with them sabering open a bottle of sparkling wine. Sabering is exactly what it sounds like, using a saber (a type of sword) to cleanly break off the top of the bottle. We tasted another wine and then put parkas on to go into their 10 below lounge to taste Ice wine. Ice wine is a super sweet dessert wine. To make it, they have to process frozen grapes to get the concentrated grape sugar syrup out. The vast majority of Ice Wine in the world comes from the Niagara region.

Reif Estate Winery

Our next stop was Reif Winery. This was a gorgeous winery with very tasty wines. It is one of the founding family wineries in Niagara and has some of the oldest vinifera plantings in Canada.

Lunch at Niagara-on-the-Lake

We had about an hour to explore this charming town. Since I was breastfeeding my son still and was away from him, I had to use this time to pump. So, we found a little brewery called Exchange Brewery with a bathroom for me to sit and eat a light lunch and have a couple of beers. It was perfect! There are a lot of cute shops in Niagara-on-the-Lake and I wish we had had more time to explore.

Konzelmann Estate Winery

Back on the bus, we drove to Konzelmann Winery. This is a beautiful winery that is on lake Ontario with great views. We could see right across the lake to Toronto. After hearing about the German background of its founders, we tasted the wines. The highlight for me was their peach wine. Turns out that when the property was first bought they didn’t have grapes and didn’t want to wait for them to grow and mature, so they made wine from the peaches that were already there. it was so refreshing that we ended up buying two bottles!

Our tour concluded with a quick tour of a chocolate factory and then we went back to the hotel. It was so much fun but we were exhausted! So we decided to be mostly lazy for the rest of the day. We ended our last full day with dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Day 4: Driving Home

It was so nice to just sleep in on our last day, with nothing to do. We had a slow morning without kids jumping on us. It was the perfect ending to an amazing weekend. We reconnected as a couple and just enjoyed each other’s company. Niagara is a wonderful place to visit and I highly recommend it to both couples and families. Our next trip there will be when the kids are a little older so we can share all our special moments and memories from Niagara Falls with them!