First hurdle was to cross the border back into the US. I managed to get the meanest border patrol agent so far. He asked me about 3 times what I had bought in Canada. "Um, a bag of ice?" And then he kept asking me if I had any fruits or veggies. "No, just cheese and meat." "You sure have a lot of stuff for a 2-day trip" "Well, the 2 days in Canada is just a part of a much larger road trip." And he even made me pop the trunk to inspect it. I think at that point, he was pretty amazed at how organized the trunk was, cause he barely poked around. Note to self: organize back seat before crossing border next time (it's currently a mess of stuff that I just throw back there).
Immediately after crossing the border, I hit Niagara Falls. I'd been there at least once as a kid, but I had never done the Maid of the Mist boat ride, so I knew I wanted to do that. There was no wait, which surprised me. I bought my ticket and went straight down onto the boat. Couldn't have been a more efficient use of time. But it wasn't until I was on the boat with my poncho on that I realized that I might actually hate it. It's basically a lot of misty rain, and sometimes not so misty, and we are all aware of my feelings on that. But hey, bucket list and all. It was fine. Some decent views, but while being assaulted with water. I didn't do anything else at the falls. I know I did cave of the winds as a kid, so I skipped that this time.
I then drove down to north Tonawanda to go to the Herschell Carousel Factory Museum. It was pretty neat. Lots of old carousel horses and other animals in addition to some exhibits about ho they were made and the history of carousels and the company. There was also a working, century-old carousel that I got to ride. I was the only one riding it. It was cheesy, but pretty fun.
I was, at this point, about an hour and a half ahead of schedule, so I was pretty pumped that I got to go to the Teddy Roosevelt Inauguration Site. I didn't think that I'd make it, but yay! I got the right on time for the 1:30 tour. Although I ended up being the only one on the tour. It's another historic house, but it's been converted for visitors to walk through the story of the inauguration, starting with a short video introduction of the 1901 world's fair in Buffalo, which is where McKinley was shot. 3 of the rooms in the house are restored to what they looked like on the day Roosevelt was inaugurated, while the rest of the house houses other exhibits, like what his office in the White House looked like (he was the last president to not use the Oval Office).
Then it was onto a late lunch at Charlie the Butcher's. I had to try a Beef on Weck sandwich. It was so good!!! Seriously, I'd eat them all the time if I lived in this area. From there, a short 2 hour drive over to the castle (yes, castle) where I'm staying tonight. It's the Belhurst Castle in Geneva. They've converted the turn of the century castle into a hotel, spa, and restaurant. I love staying in historic places like this, except that there is no wifi in the bedrooms. Oh well, there's a tv, so that makes up for it.
Tomorrow - exploring some stuff in the Finger Lakes.
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