August 26-27, 2015 - Our Last Two Days in Grand Island, NY

Wednesday – August 26 – Something we all were interested in was a boat ride on Ms. Buffalo on Lake Erie and the Niagara River.  The boat was to leave the dock at 12:30 so we loaded up and headed out around noon.  We arrived a little later than we had hoped, but it worked out well as we were able to board right away.  We were fortunate to get a picnic type table right up font where we would have a great view the entire ride.  Dean and Megan took the necessary motion sickness medicine to make sure they were not bothered by any “waves”.  Well, it was pretty overcast today and a bit windier than the past several days.  Not sure we picked a great day to ride a boat on open water!  While no one ever got sick, one or two felt a little rough by the time we got back to the dock.  I was not one of them.  I don’t know why but one thing I am blessed with is never having been sea sick – hope it sticks with me forever!

Josh seemed to enjoy the ride despite it being a little cold especially going into the wind on Lake Erie.  Once we turned north into the river things calmed considerably but it was still a cool trip. 

 

We learned so much on this tour and of course it is now two-three weeks later and I cannot remember a lot of the information provided to us so I’ll provide as much as I can with the pictures I have to share.

 

You can see how choppy the water was on Lake Erie.

 

 

I believe this is the new water intake for the City of Buffalo, where water is taken in and then transferred to the water treatment plant.

 

The Canadian side of Lake Erie/Niagara River.

 

The original water intake.  Notice the current. 

 

 

As we navigated up the Niagara River, we then turned and began our cruise back toward the dock we left from.  This part of the trip included going through the lock system, where the water level must be raised in order for us to pass through.  Here are a few pictures.  You can see how the dockside changes in relation to the boat as the water rises to allow us to pass through the locks.

 

Notice the platform to the left of the picture, and the watermark on the side of the lock.

 

After the water level rises, look where the platform is now - we are above it, rather than below it.

 

You can the water level is almost to the top of the mark in the first photo regarding the lock.

 

 

The gates are opening for our tour boat to pass out of the lock.  Notice the bridge in front of you.



Because it is too low, it pivots to the side in order to let taller boats such as our tour boat and this sail boat pass through.

 

Here is the bridge pivoting back into a closed position.

 

Almost closed now.

 



 

Many old abandoned buildings along the waterfront.  Notice the writing on the walls in the pictures above and below.  The US and Canadian rowing teams use this part of the Niagara River as their practice area.  As they win various meets they decorate their wins on the walls.  There are many, many sections where they boast their success!

 

This bridge is known as the Peace Bridge linking the United States to Canada.  See the flags in the middle showing the boundary and the appropriate side by where the flags are being flown.

This is a section of the original Erie Canal.

This is the "Boat House", a architectural wonder of Frank Lloyd Wright.  It resembles a ship in the way it is laid out.

The skyline of Buffalo from the water.  As you can see it was pretty cloudy although there was never any rain, but it sure did make the water unhappy.

Picture of a beautiful sailboat as we returned to dock.  What a great day!!


Tonight we have reservations at the Cheesecake Factory!  I just had a salad so I would not have to pass up the Carrot Cake Cheesecake-my very favorite!

 

 

Thursday, August 27 – Today is our last full day in Grand Island with Matt, Megan and Josh.  One place Matt told us early on that he wanted to take us was to the Original House of Pancakes.  We are so glad he remembered and that we checked it out this morning.  Oh my!  Megan and I had French toast; Matt had eggnog French toast and Dean had a baked ham and cheese omelet with pancakes.  The French toast was amazing – 4 large slices.  I could only eat 3 of mine – way more than I needed.  Matt had some left over and I had to try it.  If it was possible for the French toast to be even more amazing than what I ordered – it was what he had ordered!  The omelet was huge and puffed up about 4-5” high and filled most of the center of the plate.  It too was very good.  This would definitely make the list of one of my best breakfasts!

Afterwards we headed back to the house, visited awhile and I offered to watch Josh one last time while they all golfed.  I wanted to get all of our laundry done before we leave tomorrow so that worked out well.  Upon their return, they said it was the best game any of them had had this year!  Practice makes perfect!

 

Josh enjoying mom and dad.

 

Clowning around!

Tonight we traveled to nearby Lewiston, NY to visit the Historic Silo restaurant which was made somewhat famous when Adam Richman of the Travel Channel's Man V. Food visited in 2010 where he advised their Beef on Weck (a New York sandwich favorite) should be called "Beef on Wonderful".  The Silo itself has an interesting history.  The Silo and terminal were built as one complex in the 1930's to accommodate thousands of passengers - all transferring from the Great Gorge Railway and boarding steamers in Lewiston taking them on to Toronto.  The Lewiston Silo was home to the coal that fueled the steamers, housing the fuel that help keep the waterfront alive.  In 1938 most of the terminal was destroyed by an ice jam.  The terminal was later torn down but the Silo remained a fixture for many years.
In 1997, Richard Hastings of Youngstown approached the Village of Lewiston with the idea of converting the silo into a place for refreshment.  His idea included building a platform that would encircle the entire structure to provide seating for customers.  This was a great idea as any seat provides a great view of the waterfront.  Richard's son Alan Hastings now operates the Silo Restaurant.  The Beef on Weck known as the Haystack at the Silo includes seasoned rib-eye steak slices with melted mozzarella cheese and toasted hash browns.  It is served on a baked hoagie roll with mayonnaise.  Despite being a bit salty for me it was pretty good.  Dean and I shared the Footlong Haystack.

Here are a few pictures of the Silo Restaurant

 

The Silo - a restaurant on the Niagara River.  Yes, that is Canada on the other side near Niagara on the Lake.

 

Always enjoy the scene of a boat on the water!

Outside of the building.

Thought the sun looked pretty shining on the water and highlighting the inside sitting area.

This picture shows how they added the seating around the silo.

They had a few of these swings along the waterfront.  Very solid built.  Josh was tired of the sun in his eyes.

Thank you to Matt and Megan for being such great hosts, for making sure we saw some of the Best of the Buffalo/Niagara Falls area, and for introducing us to many more great food stops!  Thanks to Josh for entertaining us with his antics.  We sure did love getting to know him better.

 

August 22 to August 25, 2015 - Grand Island, NY

 

Well as you know I am way behind on the blog.  We were very busy at Matt and Megan’s and I had a couple of days I wasn’t feeling quite up to par.  So this is my attempt to bring you up to date in a very abbreviated post from Saturday, August 22 to Thursday, August 30 spending time with Matt, Megan and Josh.  (My original plan was to include everything through August 30, however the post was just too long, so I will be posting three separate ones to bring you up to date through August 30.)

Saturday, August 22, Matt had his monthly Army Reserve weekend and Saturday was Family Day.  Megan and Josh headed out with Matt for a few hours, so Dean and I just hung out at the RV doing some routine chores and I worked on the blog a bit before finishing up the post last Sunday so you all would have it on Monday, August 24.  I also had a chance to get caught up on laundry which is always good to have out of the way.  That evening we had a cookout here at Matt’s with all of Megan’s family which was really nice.  We had hamburgers, hot dogs, bruschetta, potato salads, pasta salad, baked beans, chips, pop and for dessert we had cookie ice cream sandwiches and key lime pie.  It was all delicious and of course even though I tried to be good – as usual I ate way too much.  Josh was in heaven with his 7 cousins there to play with him in his new bounce house and just running around the new fenced in yard. 

The previous owner’s of Matt’s house had taken down fencing and some of the old poles were still in the ground, so after completing the new fence he and Dean worked this afternoon to tear out the old poles, move dirt to fill holes, and all of the necessary cleanup to spruce up this area.  He had put up a temporary woven wire fence he was using for the dogs, and he had placed bricks along the bottom to keep the dogs from digging out.  With the new fence up and the temporary fence removed, Megan loaded up all of the bricks after they returned from family day and built a circular fire pit with them in the middle of their backyard.  Between her and Matt they had a campfire going right after dinner and we all sit and talked for a couple of hours.  We had a great time with Megan’s family.  Unfortunately this was the afternoon I started feeling a little puny but I still really enjoyed spending more time with her family.

Sunday, August 23 - Dean and I hung out with Megan and Josh for the day.    Megan wanted to take me to a shop they have on Grand Island called Kelly’s Country Store.  Dean agreed to watch Josh so off we headed.  This was a neat store and according to Megan has been around for many years.  I should have taken pictures but it never occurred to me until later.  They make their own chocolate candy here and it was delicious.  They also have numerous jars of various kinds of “penny” candy including many that have been around for years that you may purchase by weight.  Megan purchased an assortment of various chocolates including several types of truffles and I bought Dean a half-pound of peanut clusters, his very favorite type of candy.  They were all delicious.  Besides the candy, they also had many knick-knack items including, jewelry, scarfs, home décor items, jellies, jams, dressings, etc.  In the back they had two large rooms that were entirely decorated for Christmas including one area that held many old toys which I enjoyed looking at.  Many stuffed toys and animals were hung from the ceiling.  They take pictures with Santa at Christmas time and they also make chocolate candy for Easter.  Megan said they have almost two rooms full of various chocolate delights during Easter.  Yum!  It seems they have built up quite a following over the years.

We played in the yard with Josh for awhile so he could enjoy his new toys.

As you can tell he caught on real quick how to get up the ladder and down the slide.  It's hard to believe he is only 16 months old.

 

He loves his bounce house, but he had even more fun once his cousins showed up and joined him. 

He loves putting this drum on his head and walking around.  Since it's clear, it works out great.  He kind of reminded us of a deep sea diver or an astronaut.  Wonder if either one will be a future career?

 

That evening we headed to a restaurant on Grand Island called the Riverstone Grill.  It was very good.  I had a wonderful hamburger with artichoke cheese dip and pepper cheese on a ciabatta bun.  Wow!  Unique and very good is all I can say!  We headed back to Matt’s and visited for a while before heading to bed.

 

Something funny was going on! 

Bath time! 

 

Monday, August 24  - Megan is on vacation this week.  Since I was still feeling a little puny I offered to watch Josh this morning so Dean, Matt and Megan could go play golf.  While I originally had planned to play with them I just didn’t feel up to going.  I didn’t have anything contagious and Josh is such a great little guy I knew it would not be a problem to keep an eye on him.  He entertains himself very well, and when it is nap time if he watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse he’s usually out before the 30 minute show is over; and he did that for me today.  Before playing golf Megan went to a local bakery (not sure if it was on Grand Island, or in a nearby town) to buy donuts for our breakfast.  They were very good.  Dean had apple filled, I had strawberry filled and I know Megan had a peanut butter type.  There were other kinds and they were all delicious.  I was very full after that.  I rested this afternoon and then we ordered Chinese for dinner from a place on the Island.  It was quite good as well.  I am gaining weight!!!!  But all the food is sooooo good!

Tuesday - August 25 – Today we decided to head back to Canada to Niagara on the Lake.  I have heard many wonderful comments about this community and asked about visiting here to see for myself.  It was our first experience at exchanging funds from American to another country’s.

Our Canadian money.

 

 

 

 

 

Nearing the border.

 

 

As we drove toward Niagara on the Lake, we began to see many wineries and vineyards. 

One of many vineyards.



Canada has done a great job drawing tourists to this area. 

As we entered Niagara on the Lake.

Headed to the downtown area from our parking spot.

Courthouse in Niagara on the Lake, Ontario

Town clock of Niagara on the Lake, Ontario

It was so beautiful, full of flowers in the downtown area, the parks and almost every house we walked or drove by.  It was amazing.  There were numerous shops with a variety of things for sale.

I resisted for the most part, only purchasing a couple of post cards.  The pictures I posted above are just a few of the many flowers we saw. 

We had lunch at the Golf Course which was right at the mouth of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario.  Matt asked if we could sit on the patio overlooking the water. 

The view from our table of the Niagara River.

As we were leaving I noticed the sign below about the golf course announcing it was the oldest course in North America. 

As we walked back toward the car, we spied this telephone booth.  Dean said he has worked on a many of these.  He had to pose for a picture!

 

We made one last stop at the City Park where I took a few more pictures, including a selfie of all of us and one of Matt and family.

 

Entrance to park, just beyond the horse and carriage giving rides.

As in the park at Niagara Falls in Canada there were many families out enjoying the beautiful day.

Josh is waving at you!

Matt, Megan and Josh

Just a swinging.......

Clapping and having fun!

 

This small fountain/pond was near the entrance.  There were several children who were in the pond fully clothed.