RECREATION & TRAVEL
Day Trips, Weekend Adventures, and Vacations
In many ways, day trips, weekend adventures, and travel and vacations all blur into one. As I look at life with Hari, we’re just creating memories, big and small, then weaving them together like a quilt. All of the experiences are unique, you can think back and reminisce on those moments, days, weekends. Yet, they all come together to create a lovely and colorful picture that is unique and special to who we are.
Niagara Falls & Buffalo weekend Okay, feel free to just look at pictures, but here’s the scoop on our trip. This was truly a fun weekend; who doesn’t love waterfalls?! Hari is from Buffalo, and I loved getting to see the neighborhood Hari grew up in. We went by his old schools/university. We went to some of Hari’s favorite food joints for some Beef on Weck, Buffalo Wings, and Mighty Tacos. Then came Niagara, and we decided to walk over to the Canadian side. While I was mesmerized by the Falls element, I found the next-level tourism trap that hits as soon as you get into Canada to be off putting. It was a strange contrast that didn’t fit well against the beauty of the Falls. We did get to go on a giant Ferris wheel and eat at a chicken place Hari loves called called Swiss Chalet. The hardest part of the trip was having to wait on the Canadian side until the water colors show and fireworks, because we were told they were best viewed there…but the show ended up being so short that unless you drive in and visit a nearby town, it made for a long day and a long late night walk back to the US hotel we stayed in. On the last day, we got to visit one of Hari’s good friends. We also stopped at a famous Catholic Church that is a popular destination because it’s beautiful with lots of stained glass. My absolute favorite thing on the whole trip was Cave of the Winds on the US aside (the yellow raincoats). If you do ONE thing…let it be THIS! Yes, we also did the Maid of the Mist tour, but it wasn’t quite as cool as this. There’s a fascinating short history video before you enter, then you just feel the power of the water. If we go back, I’d love to do the park tour on the US side.
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Hari and I love day trips and weekend getaways, and we tend to love things that are kid-friendly/family oriented by default. We love simple actives like walking or picnicking in the park, or heading to a beach or the redwoods for a walk. We love train rides and we’ll done day trips on the Amtrak, but also seek out old fashioned train stations with train museums. We go to old-time car or plane museums. We love animal or plant sanctuaries. We’ve even gone to meet the Battle Bots engineers and visited the Peanuts Museum. California really has an endless supply of sites/parks/beaches to see, educational activities and programs, and family adventure spots.
Christmas lights! Hari isn’t such a fan, but he still goes above and beyond to find special Christmas related events to take me to because he knows how much I love the lights! We’ve gone on multiple holiday trains, and we hit up both the Skunk Train and the Festival of Lights Botanical Garden in Fort Bragg. He’s taken me to a few drive through events (Fantasy of Lights and another in Ponderosa). In December, we went to Redding for Garden of Lights. Like all of our longer drives, we make a lot of stops along the way for lighthouses, beaches, trains, or unexpected little finds. Side note: My sister and I love going to see the lights together and love driving around to see the cool neighborhood finds.
Hari and I go to see his parents at least once a year, but it isn’t a vacation, it’s family time with Mom and Dad. I go to my hometown of Chicago with my sister, and we also spend time with family. Yet, we often set aside an extra day or two to stop somewhere like an animal sanctuary or one of the Disney parks. But we do also go on occasional vacations, traveling to somewhere specific. We’ve gone to Arizona Butterfly Wonderland, Washington Snoqualmie Falls, and a few years back, we visited the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.
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