Grace's Glamorous Getaway (home) |
We had a great week with granddaughter, Grace, Mike’s
youngest daughter.
When we started the tradition of taking our
grandchildren on vacation at age nine, Mike was sure we’d be in a wheelchair by
the time it was Grace’s turn.
Fortunately we proved him wrong!
Monday,
June 23
We headed east from Greenfield, spending the
day driving.
We spent the night at Evergreen Lake Park in
Conneaut, OH, the same park we visited when taking granddaughter Shelby in 2007.
We met some folks from Alabama who were also
headed to Niagara Falls.
Tuesday, June 24 We arrived at Niagara Falls Campground, Niagara Falls, NY about noon, just behind the folks we’d met in Ohio!
After lunch we drove to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada and Grace was thrilled with her first glimpse of the falls and her first international adventure! Our first stop was the Canadian floral clock; it is quite pretty.
We enjoyed the “Journey Behind the Falls” tour, a journey deep below and behind the heart of Niagara where we stood in the mist of the mighty Horseshoe Falls as it tumbles from 13 stories above. It was an awesome experience and something new for the three of us.
We took the incline railway from Table Rock Welcome Center up the hill to dining, shopping and more beautiful views of the falls.
Wednesday, June 25 After spending time in the campground pool, we spent the day visiting New York state parks. We visited Devils Hole and Whirlpool state parks where we enjoyed beautiful views of the Niagara River.
We spent the rest of the day in Niagara Falls state park, where we snapped a picture of Grace with the Nikola Tesla statute, an ongoing family tradition, prior to taking the trolley to the falls.
Our plan had been to ride the trolley the entire route before deciding how we wanted to spend the rest of our day, but Grace was so excited about the Maid of the Mist boat tour we decided to start there.
This was Grandpa & Grandma’s third time on the tour, but it was just as fun and exciting for us as it was for Grace. It’s definitely a must-do when you visit the falls. Video
We enjoyed dinner and beautiful views at Top of the
Falls restaurant, did some shopping and headed home.
One more pool visit before we headed to our
next stop.
We had a light lunch, did a little shopping, and took
the shuttle back to the campground for swimming and relaxing before heading to
Hershey Park this evening.
Grandpa & Grandma aren’t amusement riders, but
Grace had a GREAT time!
She rode the Skyrush and the Comet coasters
multiple times, making friends each time she rode.
She also enjoyed other adventure rides and we
all had fun with the bumper cars.
We stayed until closing, then took the shuttle
back to the campground.
A busy but fun day!
Saturday, June 28
After a morning visit to the pool, we started
our drive back to Columbia, Tennessee.
Grace was impressed that we drove through
Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia before stopping at Natural Bridge in
Virginia for the night.
We stayed at a Jellystone Park, which had a
nice pool, two large water slides, a swimming lake and miniature golf as well as
other amenities we didn’t take time to try.