#2 Trip to Niagara Falls | Fall Break in USA

Hello, there!

It's mid-March, and the weather in Ohio is as warm as April in Japan, making me want to go cherry blossom viewing 🌸

This time, I would like to share the story of my trip for two nights to Niagara Falls, NY for a university event during the fall break in October 2024✨

I have also posted photos on TikTok, so take a look!

👉🏻 Click here to see the photos on TikTok!

I'm going to cover all three days, so it's quite long blog, but I hope you enjoy this until the end:)

[Day 1] Drive Up to NY 🚗💨

4 hours drive to Niagara Falls, NY

It was a four-hour drive by highway from Ohio, where the university is located, to western New York, where Niagara Falls is located.

We headed there in three vans (11-seater), taking breaks along the way.

We left at noon and arrived at the hotel just before 7 pm.

After checking in, we all went out for dinner at the “Niagara Falls Buffet”, a Chinese restaurant 🍽️

While my expectations for Asian food have been dropping steadily since I came to the U.S., it was delicious because it was run by Chinese people 😋

After dinner, we went to Niagara National Park 🌊

The park is open at night, so we all went to see the waterfall after dinner for a walk.

It was lit up at night and the atmosphere was very beautiful and different from the daytime 🌃✨

[Day 2] Niagara Falls 🌊 Sightseeing and Walking Across🇨🇦 Border

The weather was clear and perfect day for sightseeing ☀️

We left the hotel at about 10am and went to Niagara National Park ⛲️

The weather was really nice, and although it was mid-October, it was warm enough to wear a long sleeve.

The cruise tour along the waterfall

The first thing we did when we arrived at the park was to take a boat tour "Maid of the Mist" right next to the waterfall.

There were tours on both the American and Canadian sides, and we took the American side.

Link of tour: https://www.maidofthemist.com/

Usually, blue raincoats are distributed on the American side and red raincoats on the Canadian side, but in October, which is "Pink Ribbon (Breast Cancer) Month", pink raincoats were distributed on both sides.

(The reason the colors are different depending on the country is apparently to determine which side will rescue a passenger if they fall overboard lol)

It was so impressive that it's hard to convey it in a photo.

When I got close to the waterfall, I got soaked with the mist.

It was a warm day, so I dried pretty quickly even though I was wet, but if it had been a little colder, I think I would have caught a cold.

Walking across the border to Canada 🇨🇦

After the tour, we had some free time so my friends and I went to Niagara Falls on the Canadian side.

Up until that time, crossing a border has meant flying, so the feeling of walking across it was very refreshing ✨

We even took a video of the moment we crossed the border, and we had about 15 minutes of fun just at the border lol

Speaking of Canada ☕️

It's no exaggeration to say that the place I wanted to visit the most on this trip was in Canada, and I headed there before seeing the falls from the Canadian side.

That place was...

Tim Hortons!

I studied abroad in Canada (West Coast) for two months when I was 16, and this is the Canadian Starbucks I often visited during my time there.

I often bought and drank yogurt smoothies.

It was almost lunch time, so I had a caramel latter and a chicken warp at Tim Hortons. Tim Hortons is famous for its Timbits, bite-sized donuts. I share them with my friends.

Tim Horton's hot cocoa is really delicious, so if you have a chance to go there, I definitely recommend you try it ☕️

Instant hot cocoa is also sold in Canadian supermarkets, so even if you don't have a chance to go to the store, you can buy it for home or as a souvenir!

To my family from Canada 📮

After lunch, we walked around the neighborhood, bought some souvenirs (mostly for myself) and wrote letters to send to my family.

I don't normally write letters to my family, but I personally think it's nice to send letters from a travel destination where I don't know if I'll ever be back, so when I found out about this trip I wanted to go and send one to my family:)

[Day 3] Walking Around the Park until Lunch Time ⛲️

When ordering, I always say "Kaede, K-A-E-D-E."

At that day of morning, I really wanted to drink coffee, so I went to Starbucks first.

When I'm in an English-speaking country, I always pronounce my name "Kaede (/keɪdiː/)", not "Kaede (ˈkɑː.eː.de)." However, if I just say "Kaede (/keɪdiː/)", they won't spell it correctly, so I always spell it "K-A-E-D-E" afterwards lol

The first time I was called by this name was when I studied abroad in Canada during high school, and my host mother "gave (?)" it to me because my host brother and sister couldn't pronounce my name.

As expected, no one in America can pronounce my name correctly lol

Friends who are studying Japanese or interested in Japanese culture try their best to call me "Kaede (ˈkɑː.eː.de)," but most of my friends and teachers call me "Kaede (/keɪdiː/)."

During the autumn foliage season, every scene was beautiful

It was the middle of the autumn foliage season, so all the trees in the park were beautifully colored in red and yellow, and I couldn't stop taking pictures lol

This down below is my favorite photo 📸

The people in the photo look like miniatures, and I think it really conveys the dynamism of the waterfall.

Next Time with Family

This trip was for a university event, so I was with friends, but if I could go again, it's a place I'd like to come with my family.

In fact, my study abroad will end next year (2026), and my mother is planning to come to my university graduation ceremony here.

After that, we are planning a trip within the United States, and she mentioned "Niagara Falls," so it looks like we will actually go there lol

At The End...

The two-night trip during fall break was right in the middle of the semester, and it was a great way to unwind.

I still have the things I bought on the trip in my room, and I still reminisce about it lol

In my next blog, I'll be writing about my winter break in Canada, so please look forward to it :)

Thank you for reading to the end 💖

Bye:)