Why Friends are Important & My Trip to Niagara Falls

Getting married was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I married not only my soul mate, but someone who makes me laugh, who supports me and challenges me and who helps me to be a better version of myself every day. He is truly my very best friend, and without him I’m not sure what I would do.

We spend almost every day together. I love every second of it, running errands together on the weekends, going to dinner every week, cuddling and taking our boy for walks. It’s really is just as overly dramatic and romantic as you think: we are THAT couple. You know, the one that holds hands in the mall and still acts like newlyweds? That’s us…

My husband is my best friend, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have many other friends in my life. I read a few years ago, that the reason we have girlfriends and other friends in our lives besides our spouses is in order to balance our relationships. As much as I want to gab on about the latest drama at work, or the fabulous quinoa apple chili recipe I had while he was on a business trip, it’s hard for him to digest EVERYTHING that I say (I talk… a LOT).

This is the reason we have friends: to balance, to love, to help us get through certain situations and to lean on one another whenever we need to. I have been so blessed these past few years to have found such amazing friends on the Cape. My new friends range in ages and beliefs and it is such a joy to have a diverse set of friends. Friends who are just now losing their parents, who are on lifestyle adventures, diet changes, spiritual journeys, new beginnings, recently divorced, happily married, vegan, raw foodies, newlywed, pregnant, shipping their babies off to college and much more. I am BLESSED to have friends in all stages of life and thrive on their wisdom.

I wouldn’t be who I am today without the beauty of my friends, the ups and downs… the blessings and the advice….the joy and the tears. I have friends who would puppy sit at the drop of a hat, plan a retreat, teach me to eat healthier and more wholesome foods or walk private stretches of beach with me as the sun sets. I have friends who will hold my heart forever, and I there’s.

As I said, it’s so important to have friends of all ages and in different stages of their lives! My mom is a different age, at a very different stage in her life and is someone I now consider to be my friend (note: I didn’t write this article 10 years ago… ah how things change:)). This week, I had a unique opportunity to travel with my mother. Being in the car with her for HOURS & HOURS was quite the adventure… and we did well I would say. We bonded over silly songs, talked about work, discussed family & Christmas, talked about our next adventure (although this was her first in years), ate too much food and walked miles & miles amongst one of the greatest wonders of the world: Niagara Falls.

Hubby has already been there and the way this road trip panned out, we needed to go through the falls to hit our next destination. Mom & I figured it would be the perfect adventure and a fun detour …. and it was!! It’s essential to have life experiences, girl talk, wine, & far too many pictures. I’m so blessed to have gone on this mini adventure with my mom and even more excited that she brought up the possibility of another trip in the future!

Without further ado, here’s a tiny peek into our itinerary! We traveled (by car) through New York State up to Canada. We had heard the falls were far more beautiful on the Canadian side and both of us were so excited to use our passports — so Canada it was. We stayed in a nice place (not to be disclosed, because in my mind it was a 3 out of 5…) and we decided to purchase an Adventure Pass. It was the best thing we could have done because we really only had one FULL day at the falls — and it brought you to all the tourist attractions and included bus fare.

We started off at the White Water Walk. Surprisingly I loved this! I thought it might just be a boring walk… but it was breathtaking. We saw the falls across the river in America, and the falls upriver on the Canadian side. As we walked, the weather started to clear and went from 55 to 65 allowing us to shed our raincoats for a bit and soak in the sun. I don’t think I can use the word breathtaking enough…it was BREATHTAKING. I have never seen anything like them in my life!

We then moved on to do The Maid of the Mist. I am a huge water person, my husband calls me a mermaid and I will often not come up for air if I can help it. But for some reason, I was a big baby on this trip (I’m fully admitting it). I went inside the cabin of the boat in order to get less wet…. it might have had something to do with women airing out their socks and pants in the bathroom at the hand dryers prior to our adventure… or just that it was not ideal weather for adventuring UNDERNEATH a waterfall on an open vessel…. who knows. Mom LOVED this part of the adventure… I wasn’t so sold. But I’m glad we went!

We then grabbed a delicious lunch, walked the TERRIBLE wax museum (nothing like the one in NYC–do NOT go there), adventured into the Hershey’s store, shopped a bit and then hopped back on the tour for more wet adventures.

Our next adventures were our favorites! We saw Niagara’s Fury which we thought would be a silly show about the creation of Niagara Falls. It was amazing! It was cute, silly, beautiful and we got SOAKED. Inside on this little ride, and our sneakers were squeaking. I loved it and so did my mom. We then traveled INSIDE the waterfalls on Journey Behind the Falls…. and we saw the falls up close and inside a cave.

Along the way I won $300 from a borrowed $5 bill from my mom (!!!), we had other mini adventures that included being licked by a baby cow, we stopped at a winery where I sneakily paid for an older couple’s anniversary dessert, we swam, ate good food and spent too much time in the car being silly. I couldn’t have imagined a better mini trip with my mother and am so glad to call her a friend.

Now it’s YOUR turn. I would love to see you take action & go on your own adventure and then comment below. OR leave me a comment about an adventure you’ve recently been on with a friend!

Get out there — find your friends– go on adventures– do YOGA & make life sparkle. I’m sending you major autumn love today. Snuggle up, drink some tea and have a wonderful day!

Sat Nam,
Jenny