July 13 = Day 17

Synopsis:  292.4 miles driven; 6 hours on the road; Niagara Falls, ON to Ellwood City, NY; Visited Niagara Falls, Lisa's childhood home, Aunt Shirley and Uncle Tony

While others slept in a little this morning, I got up early to go get in line for tickets for the Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls. The first boat is at 9:00 am. Now, here are some things they don't tell you. They start selling tickets at 8:30 am. The line that is there at 8:30 am is usually through by 8:35 am. The tour buses start to show up and drop people off around 8:40 am. The tickets are for no set time...so once you have a ticket, the time it takes to get through the line after the ticket booth is when you will get on a boat. Lisa and the kids got to the stand at 8:50 am (after getting ready and loading the van while I was in line).

We got on the first boat of the morning for the 9:00 am cruise (BTW - cruises last about 30 minutes). The cruise gets very close to the Falls (both American and Canadian) and you definitely get wet (whether upper or lower deck). The kids loved it and loved getting wet - really wet. We were on the starboard side of the boat which is the side opposite of the American Falls but close up to the Canadian Falls. That's how I would choose it if you could.

After the Falls, we got a little breakfast and some souvenir shopping done before returning to the US (across the Rainbow bridge) and heading for Lisa's hometown - Sandusky, NY. We stopped at John & Mary's in Arcade NY - try the A-bomb sandwich and the Chicken Club wrap (they are great). We then got to Sandusky and saw the elementary, middle and high school Lisa went to there. We also got to see the home she grew up in and the church her dad pastored all the years she lived there.

We then headed to Ellwood City, PA and Aunt Shirley and Uncle Tony's house. We caught them up on some of our travels and then had supper with them (delicious). After dinner we ran out to J & T's Drive In for some ice cream (yum).

Hotel Deal of the Day: One night at Aunt Shirley and Uncle Tony's for $0 including home cooked Italian meals!