Texas to Niagara Falls, Canada
 

I need help.

We are taking 15 days to travel from Austin to Niagara Falls and back. We've already partially planned the trip up. Stopping in Hot Springs Village, AR one day to visit family. Sandusky, OH to go to Cedar Point Amusement park for 2 days. And visiting Niagara Falls as our furthest point. But on the way home and stopping points, I'm not sure.

It's a family trip, including just me and my husband, and son who is 10. My son likes adventure, guns, and history. I like the scenery. We are using an RV travel trailer.

If you have any ideas for where to stop between AR and OH that would be great, and which route to take home.

Thanks!

I would go through Nashville - nice things to see and eat and get off the beaten track for a while on the Natchez Parkway - there is a legendary country restaurant that has great fried chicken. There is also a nice stat hwy that leaves south of Mmphis and takes you through some real pretty areas of Northern Arkansas.

Mammoth Cave north of Nasville is an adventurous hike.
There is a famous gun museum in Claremore, OK.
White water rafting on the New River West Virginia might be too young at ten.
You could stay on 75 south to Knoxville and visit trails in Smokey Mountain National Park and go tubing outside Gatlinburg.

It looks like the most direct route takes you through Memphis, Nashville, Louisville, Cincinnati and then to Sandusky. There should be lots of threads on things in those cities. The Louisville Slugger factory is in Louisville, which your son might like and there's a fun restaurant called Lynn's Paradise Cafe in Louisville. Others will have to help with TN.

Are you staying on the American side when you get to Niagra Falls? If you are headed to Canada, do not forget your passports as you cannot reenter the US without them.

The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown is not to far from Niagara.

The NFL Hall of Fame in Canton OH

The ROck and Roll HOF in Cleaveland

As a child we returned to Niagara Falls every summer (I was born there) from Houston,TX. We went to visit relatives. We stopped at the places you talked about on the way there. On the way back we stopped around Mammoth Cave area, then we would vary the return sometimes going through Mississippi, sometimes returning through Arkansas. I remember once going across lower Canada and coming down through the mid-west states. It got to be a very boring trip for us kids! I did take my two kids there once a few years back. We stopped at the Corvette Factory and took a tour.