This post is dedicated to my mom who is celebrating her birthday today 🙂

Back in 2017, my mom and I went on a week long trip to Niagara Falls and Toronto as part of a tour group that she was a part of. My mom and I have been on several trips together, however this was the first out of country trip that we took together. It was also her first time using her new passport. The trip was very organized and was an enjoyable experience.

Here are a few highlights from our trip:

Day 1 

The first day was simply a travel day. We left from North Carolina on a nice charter bus with others who were a part of the tour group. Little to my knowledge, the vast majority of the people that would join us for this trip were older and I ended up being one of the youngest people on the bus which turned out great!

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For about 5+ hours, we rode from North Carolina to our halfway stopping point in West Virginia where we spent the night. Nothing too exciting happened that day besides getting views of the beautiful landscape of West Virginia, a state that I never thought that I would travel to.

Day 2 

The first half of our day consisted of more riding for another ~5 hours out of West Virginia where we made a stop in Erie, Pennsylvania. While there, we visited the Erie Maritime Museum where we learned about the history of the ships that have been docked in the area. After leaving the museum, we rode another ~2 hours headed towards the Canadian border. I was very excited for my mom to receive her first stamp in her passport. Since we had a bus full of people, the process of going through customs took a while but thankfully we weren’t in a rush and were able to get through without any issues. It was such a relief to finally be near our destination! The rest of our day included dinner, meeting our Canadian tour guide who would be with us during our entire trip, and settling down at our hotel in the city of Niagara Falls.

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Day 3 

Our day mostly consisted of spending time at Niagara Falls. The year that we were there was special for Canadians as it was their 150th year of Confederation. You can read more about the celebration here or here.

We started off with a cruise that gave us an up close view of the falls. It was really cool being in the boat and crossing the border between America and Canada. We were given time to explore the shops and restaurants around the falls. My mom and I were able to find a cute restaurant called Elements on the Falls Restaurant that had a scenic view of the Falls as we ate.

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On our way to dinner, we stopped by an area that takes you across the whirlpool side of Niagara Falls in a cable car. I really enjoyed this part of the trip because our bus driver showed his adventurous side and got on the Whirlpool Aero Car with the small group that decided to go across. I vividly recall one of the older passengers being extremely concerned about our bus driver going in the cable car in the event that something tragic happened. Thankfully nothing happened and we were able to go across and come back in the cable car unharmed. It was a cool experience, but I was initially a little afraid since the cable car was rocking. After leaving the whirlpool area we headed to the Skylon Tower which has a revolving restaurant at the top of the building. We had yet another scenic view of Niagara Falls and the city while eating. We felt so fancy! After dinner, we all headed back to the hotel and our bus driver offered to take us to see the fireworks over Niagara Falls once it was dark. My mom stayed at the hotel and I join the small group who headed out to see the fireworks. The pictures that I took don’t capture how breathtaking the fireworks over the falls looked!

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Day 4 

We traveled for about an hour to head to the downtown area ofToronto. Due to the time and being with the older crowd, there were things that I wanted to do but could not. I hope to go back to visit again to explore the city. 

Half of our time was spent on the bus riding around the city where we saw the CN Tower. It was really cool to see if at that time because it was a few months after Drake released his “Views” album where he is photoshopped sitting on top of the tower. The other half of our time was spent at Casa Loma, a gothic style mansion that was owned by a financer named Sir Henry Pellatt. I initially knew little about Sir Henry and the castle itself. I later learned that this castle was has been used for a few movies including “Descendants”, the live action version of “Beauty and the Beast”, and scenes from “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows”. It was a flashback in time exploring the various rooms and seeing some of the original furniture. I honestly couldn’t imagine living in a house that massive!

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After leaving the castle, we went to the downtown area to view the Toronto sign. It was an exhausting day so we headed back to the hotel to relax. The bus driver offered another round of seeing the fireworks by Niagara Falls which I gladly joined.

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Day 5

Our next day was full of history as we traveled to St. Catherine’s to visit the Salem Chapel British Methodist Episocal Church (BME). This church is a historical site of Canada and is well known due to Harriet Tubman being one of its former members. This church was a safe haven for escaped slaves who found their way to the area via the Underground Railroad. The history of this church gave everyone goosebumps. It was an amazing bonding moment for my mother and I. After leaving the church, we made a brief stop at the Harriet Tubman Public School and the building was extremely nice!

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After leaving the St. Catherine’s area, we headed to a shopping area in a very quaint town called Niagara-on-the-Lake. I remember being frustrated while there since we went during a time where a lot of tourists were in the area. Most of our time was spent waiting for food at a restaurant.

After leaving Niagara-on-the-Lake, our tour guide took us to a winery called Konzelmann which cheered me up (if you know me, you know that I love wine)! We were given ~6 wines to taste (my mom even sipped a little). Afterwards, we were given time to taste additional wines to buy. The crowd definitely decreased down and revealed the winos! It was a great end to our last full day in the area.

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Day 6-7

The last two days were uneventful as we took the long bus ride back home. We took the same route that we came stopping in West Virginia overnight. The next day was a straight shot back to North Carolina.

This trip was memorable, not only because I was able to travel to a new country/city, but I was able to have the experience of doing so with my mom. It is an experience that we both hold dear and I look forward to many more!

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Cheers to more mommy-daughter trips!