Crossing From Canada into the US

One of the stops my son and I made on our 2 week roadtrip a couple weeks ago was in Ontario, Canada. I had never crossed the border before by car so I was a little nervous just because I wasn’t completely sure what to expect. Well, our first crossing into Canada was pretty easy (but that’s a different blog post). But then came our trip back to the US. That’s not to say it was difficult, but it was definitely different.

To start with, we were crossing in a much busier area. This time, we were crossing at Niagara Falls. It was bound to be busy. That being said, it was a beautiful sight crossing the bridge and seeing the falls. It was one good reason to hang out in the right lane while you’re on the bridge. But once those 2 lanes go into the lanes where you talk to border control, it’s a free for all. Seriously, it went from 2 lanes to something like 12 lanes. And it was chaos. Some lines seemed to move faster than others so you really had no idea how long it was going to take. While we were in line, there was an officer walking around with a dog, sniffing cars. He ended up circling our car multiple times, which made me a little uncomfortable, but he soon moved on. I wasn’t concerned because we were hiding anything. I was more concerned that we would have to get our car searched.

When we got to the front of the line and it was our turn, I was ready. I had our passports out, a list of all the things we were bringing back that we bought while in Canada, our itinerary from Canada, and all our other travel documents. I rolled down my window and my son’s window in the backseat. The man asked for our passports, which I gave him. This time, unlike when going into Canada, we were asked many more questions. He asked what kinds of things we bought while we were there. What kind of things did we do? How long were we there? He asked my son how he knew me. And when he answered that I was his mom, the man asked him if he was sure.

While the experience wasn’t necessarily unpleasant, it did feel slightly more hostile than when we arrived in Canada.

Overall, it was a fairly simple process. It just might take a while depending on when you go. Hopefully, it’s not too difficult for you if you choose to cross here!

A couple hours in Niagara Falls

At the beginning of August, my son and I went on a 2 week road trip, mostly through the United States. However, we did take a couple days to travel through Ontario. We visited a lavender farm and spent a day in Toronto. On our way back to the States, we stopped at Niagara Falls. I had never seen it from either side, so I was excited. I had heard that it was a beautiful, magical, and quite crowded place.

So, I did my research. Here’s the #1 thing to know about Niagara Falls. It’s a super touristy area. There are actually quite a few things to do in this area. Some have to do with the falls, and some don’t. There are so many different ways for you to see the falls.

You can park and walk along the road to view them. This is definitely the cheapest way to do it. And we did see them from here. But be forewarned, parking is NOT cheap! I think it cost us around $25-$30. And it costs the same whether you’re spending 30 minutes or the whole day there. At times, there can also be quite the line just to get into the parking lot. However, there is a nice overpass walking area to get to the Table Rock Welcome Centre. There are bathrooms and a gift shop here. Take the escalator downstairs and walk outside. You are right at the top of the falls! And it’s beautiful. It is definitely crowded, but we were able to find multiple places to stop and look at the falls.

The first place we went was actually the Skylon Tower. I figured we only had time to do one thing while we were in town so I chose this. You do have to pay for parking (about $15, I believe) and then admission (which was about $27 for my son and myself). You have to wait in a line to get to the elevator and in this line, they have a spot where they will take your picture in front of a green screen. You can then look at these pictures on your way out of the building when you’re done. When we got there, we were one of the first people in the building when it opened so there wasn’t a very large line for the elevator. However, when we left, it looked pretty long. So just as a warning, you may have to wait for a bit to get on the elevator to the observation deck if you don’t get there right when they open.

The views from the observation deck are amazing. The only downside is the bars that prevent you from getting an amazing picture with people in it. If you put your phone or camera right up against the chain-link wall, you can get amazing photos of the view, though. There is also a souvenir shop up here, inside by the observation deck.

Owen’s Notes: “Oh my gosh. It was the best waterfall I have ever seen. If I could, I would go there a gazillion more times! I thought the falls were beautiful. I loved Niagara Falls!”

The other options we thought about were taking the boat up close to the falls or taking the elevator down to go behind the falls, but in the end, I thought the Skylon would be best for our budget and time constraints. We had a great time at Niagara Falls, and I definitely recommend it as something you need to see in your lifetime.

Our Day in Toronto

At the beginning of August, my son and I went on a road trip. One of our first stops was Toronto, Ontario. We didn’t do a whole lot in Toronto, but what we did do was a blast.

Hotel:
We stayed at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel at 123 Queen St W.
One thing you may not see many places is that the self parking is completely off site. First of all, it’s somewhere “across the street” and you don’t have in and out privileges. I didn’t feel super confident about that so I chose to just valet. At least with valet, you have in and out privileges. Plus, you can request your car through a website so that it’s waiting for you when you get downstairs. It did cost close to $50 a night, though.
The room itself was very nice. We received 2 bottles of complimentary water. Plus, we had an amazing view!

The only downside was that there were some seriously loud people in the hotel that woke me up multiple times until 4am. I wanted to call the front desk, but they had a paper in the room saying there was a $400 fine for anyone that had a noise complaint so I didn’t. I wish I had, though.
There is a beautiful outdoor area in the middle of the hotel with large glass walls visible from inside the hotel. My son and I had a great time hanging out in this area.

Check in and check out were both incredibly easy and fast. That being said, we did those two things at very strange times (think 7pm and 7am).
There are multiple restaurants here. We did eat at Shopsy’s for dinner. I got a steak sandwich and it was delicious!

Food:
Of course, since we aren’t from Canada, we had to get some poutine. We decided to go to Poutini’s (1112 Queen Street West). We got the original poutine with just fries, cheese curds, and gravy. Let me tell you, it’s huge! I seriously should have gotten the small. But even my son, the pickiest child ever, liked it. Definitely check it out if you’re in town.

Activities:
Hockey Hall of Fame ($20/adult and $14/child)
This was probably the most fun thing we did while in Toronto and neither of us are even hockey fans. There are some great things to look at (my son loved the medals and trophies) and some great informative displays to read. But it’s the interactive things that really make the museum fun. You can take a picture with the Stanley Cup. You can be a goalie and try to stop the pucks. You can try to shoot past a goalie to make a goal. You can be a newscaster on Sports Centre. You can dress up like a goalie. Plus, they take some videos that you can access for free. It was a great time. We spent about 1 to 1.5 hours there. I’m sure plenty of people spend a lot longer there, but like I said before, we’re not really hockey people. You exit via the gift shop. We bought a mini goalie stick. I would absolutely recommend visiting here if you’re in the area.

Nathan Philips Square
This is located right across the street from our hotel, so we clearly had to make a stop. At first, we were just going to see the Toronto sign, but when we got there, we noticed a stage with dancers on it. It turns out, there was a children’s dance competition happening. We stayed to watch that for a while after taking our pictures with the Toronto sign. It was pretty cool. And it seems like the type of place that would constantly have something going on.

That night, I also went back to the sign to take a picture of it all lit up. It’s beautiful! I definitely suggest seeing the Toronto sign during the day and at night.

Owen's Notes: "I really liked the Hockey Hall of Fame. It had a bunch of hockey stuff. I even got to do a hockey shoot out! And after that, I really liked the cherry Tim Horton's slushy. It was the best slushy I've ever had."

Here are some other things that you can do while in Toronto that we just didn’t have time for, but I had on my list:
-Canoe Landing Park
-Lab Sense (ice cream)
-Beaver Tails (Ugh, I wish we had gotten some. They look so delicious.)