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Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Sometimes Ya Win, Sometimes Ya Lose


So, as I said in a previous post, this was our
first camping trip in about a decade.  That 
meant our tent has been in the shed for about 
a decade.  We considered buying a new tent but
we weren't sure if this was something we would
do again for another ten years ~ or ever.
In the night, it rained, and rained and rained,
all night.  Since the air mattress is basically a
raft, we didn't realize just how bad things were
until we got up in the morning.  It wasn't just 
damp, there were rivulets and puddling.  I sent
Wonderful off to find a laundromat to get the
 bedding dry and I stayed behind bailing, wrestling 
a queen size air mattress inside a tent and just
generally cleaning everything.


Once that chore was out of the way, we 
headed out for the days adventures.  We
stopped at a few antique stores and enjoyed
the beauty of the landscape of western NY.


While stopped at a crossroads we spotted a
roadside hot dog stand and pulled in.  When
ordering, Wonderful was asked if he wanted 
a regular or a Sahlen's.  The guy behind him in 
line said, "Get the Sahlen's".  Frankly, (haha)
I couldn't taste a difference from a regular dog.
We just split one and were still hungry when I
saw a kid walking out with sweet potato fries.
We couldn't resist, my advice would be to change
the name to Sparky's Sweeties, the fries were
delish!


After many twists and turns we arrived at our destination
for the day, the Buffalo Niagara Heritage Museum.  Now
you all know how much I love living history museums but
this was one we had a problem with.  When we were paying 
the cashier said some of the buildings are closed because they
didn't have enough staff.


We walked outside and could look through the
doorway of the one room school.


As we walked on ~ closed...


...closed.  There was no one in sight.
We had just been charged $8 each to take 
a 10 minute walk.  It was so bad we had 
to ask for our money back.  I hate having to
do that but in principle it was just not right
to charge an admission to a closed museum.


To try to make up for this bad experience,
we headed across the border to Canada.  The
day before we had planned to visit the Botanic
Gardens but we ran out of time.  This is a lovely
garden to wander through. 


Canadians are keen gardeners and we have 
enjoyed these gardens many times.


There is a horticultural school on the property
and the students maintain the garden as part of
their three year program.


Our college friend Linda lives in western NY
and she gave us names of the best places for
local foods.  Once we crossed back to the US
and got phone service again, we found out the
recommended places were over an hour away
so we went to a place just over the bridge in
Lewiston.  We tried the Beef on Weck, named
for the type of roll, that is caraway seed and 
salt on top.  I found it to be too salty.


Luckily, we also ordered a Haystack ~ it was
delicious.  We often will order a few things and
cut them up so we can sample all the best things.

And here's a travel note:  Ask on social media for
recommendations for the area you will be visiting.
Our friend Linda told us about the long waits at the
border crossings so that prompted us to camp in
the US rather than in Canada as originally planned.
That worked out great for us.  Thanks Linda!

















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