Eastern Road Trip-Niagara Falls

The last stop on our road trip was Niagara Falls. We were going right past it so we figured we better go check it out. It was very different than the Canadian side (Josh and I went a couple years ago, link to that trip), the American side is mostly a state park with a couple touristy things to do. Other than that there wasn't much to do! That was fine by us though because we were pretty worn out from the rest of our trip.

Walked to the falls straightaway. 

We thought we'd better get in line for the Maid of the Mist because when we were in Canada it took forever to get on. We were pleasantly surprised to walk right on!

Gotta get that poncho selfie.

Ike really wanted to take his poncho completely off so we compromised on just the hood.

Picture of the American Falls from the boat.

After we did the boat ride and walked around some we grabbed lunch at Donatello's (pizza and a beef sandwich) then went back to the hotel for the kids to swim a little.






We stayed at the Sheraton by the falls and it was great!

Back out walking again and we finished up the IU Lego that was out on a sidewalk.












We walked over to Goat Island to get a closer view of both falls. It was really neat walking over the rapids leading up to the American Falls.







So close to the American side.

We were getting pretty wet over by the Canadian Falls-very misty!
















Ike really wanted his picture taken in this giant chair.













After a couple of restaurant fails we finally made it to Rock Burger. It was delicious!

We split two burgers between all of us plus fries and tots of course!













We went back to the pool to burn off some calories and then went to bed because we had one more drive ahead of us to get back home. To recap the trip we drove around 2500 miles and spent 10 days on the road. Both the kids' favorite parts of the trip were climbing rocks (they've already asked if our next vacation can involve more of that).It was so fun getting to experience all these new places as a family and we really do all love a good road trip!

Eastern Road Trip-Acadia Day 5 and Travel to Syracuse

By this point in our trip we were out of good hikes for the kids (specifically ones that weren't too long and had lots of climbing opportunities) so I had asked a ranger for some guidance. She suggested we do the Tarn Lake hike-which I think would have been great had it not been so hot on our last day!






There was a neat display about Native American tribes before the trail started.


















Trying to balance.

Love this so much.

The Tarn. It was kind of pretty, but mostly buggy.










It was smoking hot by the time we actually got to the lake part of the trail so we hiked for a minute and then abandoned it to go back to the kids' favorite spot-Thunder Hole.

I think Ike was over getting his picture taken by this time.

Dave was always so far away. Made me so nervous!









While the kids jumped around on the rocks with Josh I walked along the Ocean Path up to Otter Cliffs. It was a beautiful walk!

We had brought our lunch to eat somewhere so we stopped at Fabbri Picnic area to eat. Great place for a break!



















Since it was hot again, the kids wanted to swim in the pool a little that afternoon. After we ate dinner we took the bus into Bar Harbor one last time.

Crazy the difference the tide makes. That's the island we could walk to at low tide!










We ate some more ice cream then headed back to our cottage.








One last picture outside of our lodging for the week!














We got up early Monday morning to start our journey to Niagara. Drove ALL DAY in the rain which was super fun :)  But we did get to see Vermont! We stopped in Syracuse, NY for the night-while I took the boys to the indoor pool (still raining) Josh grabbed us some take out from a place we'd seen on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Dave is obsessed with the show so he was really excited. It was Kitty Hoynes Irish Pub and the food was delicious.

Our fancy dinner eaten on the floor of our hotel room. Shepherd's pie, meatloaf and mashed potatoes, and reuben fritters.











Next stop Niagara!

Eastern Road Trip-Acadia Day 4

Saturday morning we headed over to Southwest Harbor to hike the Wonderland Trail. It was pretty buggy to start but once we got to the ocean it was beautiful and had a nice breeze. The heat wave the rest of the country had experienced made its way to Maine so it was pretty toasty this day!





More rocks to climb, the kids were in heaven.
















Dave and Ike loved playing hide and seek in this area.

Used a rock as a stand to get a decent family picture!









When we left the trail we tried to find the lighthouse that was in the area but we never did locate it. Then we tried to take the kids to Echo Lake (it has a beach) but the parking lot was completely full by 10:30. We gave up on that idea and went back to the cottage to eat lunch.







Watching the Adventures of Gumball on repeat.











Ike's number one goal of the trip was to eat some lobster, so we asked around and ended up going to C-Ray's Lobster which was just up the road from us. It was a no-nonsense kind of place that was very reasonably priced! Also the blueberry pie was so good!







Checking out the lobster tank.





















Ready to dig in. The lobster was great, the mussels were pretty gross in my opinion! But I'm not a seafood fan really.

Dave tried the lobster but mostly ate his grilled cheese!

Ike loved every bit of it.















After dinner we took the Island Explorer into Bar Harbor to do some shopping and of course get some ice cream! We tried Mt. Desert Ice Cream and it was great!

Riding the bus.

Eastern Road Trip-Acadia Day 3

Friday morning we got up bright and early to go hike South Bubble. On the way there we decided to stop at Cadillac Mountain since it was on the way.

Boys posing at the top of the mountain.


















It was beautiful up there!
















The kids found more opportunities to climb stuff. Here's a video. And another one.














We drove over to the trail head for South Bubble but it was completely full, so we had to drive on to Jordan Pond and wait for the bus to take us. The whole park system in Acadia is serviced by a free shuttle system and it was amazing!








Ike in hiking mode.

Made it to the top!

View of Jordan Pond from above.














There's the bubble it is named for!










Since we were parked at Jordan Pond anyway we thought we would hike down and then walk along the water back to are car instead of taking the bus back. We took the scramble way down and man it was a challenge! The pictures do not do it justice-it was at a crazy angle and we were going over huge boulders. Of course the kids were in heaven.








We climbed down forever.

















I thought this tree's bark looked so neat!


















We technically hiked down between the two bubbles (North and South).











Finally made it to the water. Then all we had to do was hike to the other side. :)








By this point the kids were pretty tired of our hike, but we had about 1.5 miles left. They'd complain for a couple minutes then get a burst of energy and go off climbing stuff.







Off on an excursion, wasting all their energy.

The bubbles are straight ahead in this picture-we hiked the one on the right.













Of course Ike is shirtless. It was a balmy 72 degrees.









After our hike we headed to Northeast Harbor and had a picnic by the marina. We saw a bunch of cool boats and watched guys going out to collect their lobster traps. Then we ate some gelato at McGrath's Variety store-they had the best flavors!

It had warmed up some by the time we got back to our cottage so the boys wanted to go swimming. The water was pretty dang cold but they didn't mind.

Grandpa Charlie's vegetable soup for dinner.










After dinner we went to go check out Bar Island which you can only get to at low tide. We drove to where we thought it was only to be stopped by a nice gentleman that told us we were actually on private property...apparently it happens all the time. Oops.





We did see these deer on our detour.
















Finally at the real Bar Island.

You can see the land bridge in this picture-it's only like this at low tide. Otherwise it's completely covered with water.

Lots of tide pools. The kids loved searching for tiny crabs.

Don't worry, no crabs were actually harmed.

Geez that day sure seemed busy now that I'm posting about it. I guess we did take frequent breaks between each activity (and we started out around 8 a.m.!). We definitely make the most of our vacation time!