One of the road trip routes we are most often asked about is our route to Niagara Falls. People are often shocked to find out that we actually drove all the way to Canada with two young kids in tow! Although a 41 hour road trip may seem like a daunting task to some, the reward of the sites along the way was definitely worth it. Niagara Falls was the ultimate destination for this road trip, but we found several other noteworthy stops along the way. Some of them were planned before hand and some we discovered as we traveled. Our first destination on this trip was Petersburg, Kentucky to visit the Creation Museum and meet up with some of our dear friends who live nearby (miss you Marcums!). At the time we visited, only the Creation Museum was built. But in 2016 the Ark Encounter was completed and L and I were able to visit there on a school field trip a few years ago. It is located about an hour away from the Creation Museum in Williamstown, Kentucky and is a must see and makes the Bible truly come alive!
After leaving Kentucky, we started our trek through Ohio and made a quick stop along the way to Niagara Falls. As I mentioned in a previous blog, we love to see historical Presidential homes as we travel. Again, I realize this may be totally boring to some people, but we love these historical stops. James Garfield’s home was built in 1876 and includes the first presidential library ever established. It’s a cheap and worthwhile quick stop in my opinion. I realize there are plenty of other worthwhile stops in Ohio, this just happened to be a cheap stop along the way. If presidential homes aren’t your thing, there are several others options you could see and still stick pretty closely to this same route. We plan to go back to Ohio at some point to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (for me) and the Pro Football Hall of Fame (for Brian). There are also a few things in nearby Cincinnati to check out that we have seen on other trips including a Cincinnati Reds game, Cincinnati Zoo (home of Fiona the hippo, and former home of Harambe the gorilla, may he rest in peace), and iconic Skyline Chili.
We missed getting a picture with the Ohio sign since it was above the interstate, but we managed to get a picture with the Pennsylvania sign (even though we only drove through a small portion), the New York sign and ONTARIO! Another fun part of this road trip is that we were able to see all 5 of the Great Lakes. I made the girls attempt to make the shape of the beginning letter of each lake so we would remember which lake was in the picture. On this part of the trip we were able to spot Lake Erie.
Just before we made it to Ontario, we stopped in Buffalo, New York to have dinner at the famous Anchor Bar which is the original home of the hot wing. Brian felt it was absolutely necessary to stop here and he would say its worth the stop. I hate wings and think its too much work for two bites of chicken, but I can vouch for the pizza there, though. It was delish!
We finally made it to Niagara Falls late that same evening and we were able to see fireworks over the falls which was incredible! Sadly, all of my pictures of the fireworks are blurry so its just a memory I have to carry in my mind. It was a long days drive from Ohio to Ontario, but it was worth it when we were able to catch our first glimpse of the falls. All I could say was “Wow! Wow!” over and over again. The girls just kept saying “Mama, you sure are saying wow a lot!” There are truly no words to describe just how beautiful it is to see this place in person. While you can see the falls from the US side, I would say the view is better from the Canadian side and there are more things to do. We purchased the Adventure Pass which included the Hornblower Cruise (boat that takes you right up to the falls), Journey Behind the Falls where you literally get to walk in the tunnels behind the falls, White Water Walk which is a boardwalk alongside the rapids and tickets to a 4D movie experience called Niagara’s Fury. This pass was our biggest expense on this trip, but it was a great value and well worth the money. It was a great way to see all of the major sites at Niagara Falls. This pass also includes transportation on WEGO which is the hop on/hop off bus transportation to all of the major tourist spots.
During our time at Niagara Falls, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Niagara Falls-By the Falls. Brian wrote in a previous blog about how we use travel using hotel points and Holiday Inn is one of hotel chains we often use because we know the experience is typically consistent. One of the extra perks we received during our stay was a complimentary pass to the Skylon tower to see an aerial view of the falls. It was absolutely breath taking even though it felt like we might blow away!
Upon leaving Niagara Falls, we headed to Toronto (only 1.5 hours away) where we stopped for the evening. On this portion of the trip we were also able to see Lake Ontario. We only spent the one night in Toronto before heading out early the next morning, but we did do a little exploring around town that evening. Brian turned into Clark Griswold, planning the next leg of our journey by paper map since we were heading where we knew internet service would be limited.
We traded the big city of Toronto, for miles of sparsely traveled Trans-Canadian Highway on our way to Michigan’s Mackinac Island. This was a beautiful portion of the trip, but be prepared that there are only a few trading posts (yes I said trading posts) with gas along the way and no restaurants to grab a bite to eat. You’ll definitely have to plan ahead if you travel this route and it will be the longest stretch you’ll have to travel with not too much to stop and see along the way. It was fun to stop at the quaint trading posts that were few and far between, and see a really cool snowmobile bridge that I don’t think I would have the nerve to ride a snowmobile across! Keep your eyes peeled for moose along this route, too! We weren’t lucky enough to see one, but at every trading post they told us they were definitely around and to watch out for them.
This route will bring you back into the US via Michigan’s upper peninsula by coming across the international bridge at Sault St. Marie (pronounced Soo Saint Marie). We made it at just the right time to catch a beautiful sunset over Lake Superior.
We spent the night in Mackinac City and the next morning we took the ferry to beautiful Mackinac Island (pronounced Mack-in-aw). This island is one of the most unique places we have ever visited! You can only reach the island by ferry and there are NO cars on the island. Bicycles or horse and buggy are the only means of transportation so it feels like traveling back in time. Even UPS/FedEx deliveries are made by horse and buggy! They are also famous for their many fudge shops so you must try some before you leave. The carriage tour is a great way to see all of the points of interest on the island, including Fort Mackinac, Arch Rock and the Grand Hotel. You can take the early ferry over, go on a carriage tour and then enjoy the lunch buffet at the Grand Hotel. This is a great way to see the hotel if you don’t want to drop $1000 a night to stay there. You’ll also be able to see you’re third Great Lake there, Lake Huron. It’s definitely worth the long drive from Toronto to be able to see this place!
After leaving Mackinac City, we headed towards Grand Rapids but went a little out of the way to see a place our girls still talk about. Sleeping Bear Dunes is along Lake Michigan’s beautiful shore and is such a fun place to explore. When traveling with kids, this is the perfect place for them to run and play after being cooped up in the car. Be warned, however, there are a few really steep dunes that come with a steep fine if you choose to try and go down them and have to call for help to get back up.
The last portion of our trip was a long drive that could be broken up along the way if you choose. We drove from Grand Rapids to Bowling Green, Kentucky but we did stop to see the University of Notre Dame along the way. Some other options could be going a little out of the way to Chicago (this was another trip for us), stopping in Indianapolis (see this blog for Indianapolis options) or Louisville. Brian was a huge Notre Dame fan growing up so this was a must see stop for him. I will admit, my only knowledge of Notre Dame came from watching Rudy, but it was still a really cool place to see. Sadly, they were replacing the turf on the field so we didn’t get the full effect.
From Bowling Green, we made our way on back to Atlanta without any touristy stops on our way. Since we used to live in Bowling Green, this was a route we traveled often but you could definitely stop in Nashville or Chattanooga along the way. If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading and traveling with us!
Traveling Light 