It was our birthday fiestas in Niagara Falls, Canada! Learn how we used Groupon Travel Deals to score a vacation to remember!

Antwan and I birthdays are 18 days apart and we literally try our best to go big for each other’s birthdays. Every year we try to go on a vacation for our birthdays. Of course, there have been some years that we weren’t able to travel for various reasons. For example, last year we didn’t travel because I was pregnant with Austin. The year before then, we were facing a big hurricane season and didn’t travel. However, other than that, we vacation for our birthdays (period). We consider this a tradition that we created for ourselves and our family. We have even incorporated this into our children’s lives. For each of their birthdays, we take them out on a vacation.

For Antwan’s 32nd birthday, I decided to surprise him and take him to Niagara Falls.

I’ll admit it, I am definitely the planner in our family. So even before my birthday adventures ended, I began planning Antwan’s. At first, I told Antwan that we collaborated our birthdays, so he wasn’t expecting much for his birthday. Boy oh boy, he had another thing coming.

I began looking for travel deals on Groupon.com, I didn’t particularly have a destination in mind. I basically was searching for any deal that fit into my budget and that was a steal.

I quickly came across a getaway to Niagara Falls, Canada.

Being they we’ve never visited Niagara Falls, I’d thought it would be a great surprise birthday trip. I have found a great deal that included a 5 day, 4-night stay at the Hilton. The deal included Breakfast tickets and 2 tickets to a Winery. The total getaway cost us $515. I decided that we would drive our vehicle. Therefore, I budgeted our transportation cost. The drive was approximately a 5-hour trip. Therefore, cost us roughly about $300 for gas and tolls.

From there, I started to plan out our itinerary on what we would actually do once we got there.

I searched on Groupon and I saw that there was a helicopter tour in Niagara Falls. I immediately booked us for this especially because this was something that we wanted to do! The Groupon was roughly $199 for both us to take a tour around the Niagara Falls. I also made dinner reservations for us at Ruth Chris’ restaurant. Once we got there we learned about some of the famous local wineries and went on a couple of tours.

After the trip was booked and the itinerary was set, I contacted my mother in advance and asked if she could watch our three children and she agreed. So, basically the hardest parts were done! Next, I needed to go shopping for us. before I did, I made certain to check the weather. Once I did, I realized that it was going to be a little bit chilly in Niagara Falls. I was so glad that I checked the weather as it better prepared me for.

I went out and shopped at our local mall and picked up some clothes from our favorite stores JCPenney’s and Macy’s.

Following that, all I needed was for my husband to take off of work for a couple of days and then we were going to be on our way. After pleading with my husband, he requested the time off of his job and we headed out for our birthday fiesta! I even had our cooler packed with goodies and our suitcases were loaded. Once we got to the Canadian border we had to show our passports while Customs checked our vehicle. This was definitely an experience but I am glad to say that we were not packing anything illegal. LOL

As we entered into Canada, Antwan figured out where his surprise trip! It was such a great surprise, so we let the adventures began. We checked into our hotel and parked our car in the self parking lot. From there, we walked around and went sightseeing in the town. The atmosphere was absolutely gorgeous! We went to eat immediately after our walk.

We decided that the next day, we were going to go to the winery for a tour.The first thing the next morning we did just that. We ate breakfast at our hotel, with the vouchers that were provided to us through Groupon. From there we went to a winery. The winery was quite different, we were able to pick berries while tasting some of the sampled wines. The experience was absolutely magnificent.

After the winery, we headed for our helicopter tour. Our tour guy was absolutely wonderful! We were able to take pictures while he guided us throughout the city and over the waterfalls. I have to admit seeing the waterfalls was magnificent! It’s definitely something everyone should see. It’s amazing to witness nature and all of its creation. I recommend taking a helicopter tour instead of the actual walking tour, you’d get soaking wet. While on the tour Antwan appeared to be a little afraid. If you don’t believe me look at the pictures I caught some while he wasn’t looking. This was definitely an experience that we would cherish forever. We had a great time!

We ate dinner at Ruth Chris’ restaurant. To be completely honest, the food was not everything that’s cracked up to be. The menu is overly price. The restaurant was dead in attendance, probably because it was overpriced. After we left there for dinner, we went right across the street to Fridays innate some finger foods. Like literally the food dishes were so tiny. Not the best place we ate at.

Overall this trip was definitely a memorable trip and BTW I was 7 months pregnant with our 4th baby (Livie) and we had a blast together. Vacations are absolutely impactful for relationships. We were able to enjoy each other for Antwan’s birthday. We also enjoyed each other’s company before our 4th baby came.

Our takeaway from this is to spend time with the ones that you love most.  Cherish the moment because you never know when you’ll get another! Tell me what you all think of this trip? Have you gone to Niagara Falls? What you’d think of the experience overall? Until next time, remember that we love you guys!