July 18th-July 25th went by much faster than July 10th-July 17th, that's for sure. We all had a fantastic time! Good family bonding and great memories were made! It is funny how expensive memories have become!
Niagara Falls
I must say that Niagara Falls is well worth the trip even if you have already seen it! I had been there twice before but you forget how breathtaking it really is! Absolutely amazing! The rushing river seems to fall right off the edge of the earth and the mist it creates usually forms a rainbow. We didn't make it over to the Canadian side but the American side is beautiful. The view from the Canadian side is just as breathtaking so if all your papers are up to date I suggest the extra few minutes to see it.
The town of Niagara Falls leaves a lot to be desired. Most of the area is under redevelopment and a lot of the houses and businesses are boarded up and it looks quite depressing. You would think that because it is a major tourist attraction that most of this area would have been tended to. Nevertheless, you tend to overlook this minor eyesore because of the natural wonder that is a mere 500ft away.
Buffalo
Bills Stadium, Anchor Bar (home of the Original Buffalo Wing)...that's all I have to say about that.
Syracuse
Jamaine is a huge Syracuse fan so we had to fit this into our schedule. It was a beautiful city. The architecture, the houses, the university:beautiful. The view from the football stadium into Syracuse was great and worth the stop. They allowed us to go into the Carrier Dome (where they play basketball and football) BUT apparently we over-stepped our bounds by going onto the field and we were promptly kicked back into the stands. Ahhh well...we had already taken our pictures! :-) Syracuse also has a beautiful park that has a memorial for the Underground Railroad called "Jerry's Rescue". I could definitely see myself living there...EXCEPT...they get WAY too much snow for me. As I have stated before I hate winter!
Cooperstown
The baseball capital of the country. What we didn't know when we booked our motel here was that it was inauguration weekend for the Baseball Hall of Fame. What we found out once we got there is all sorts of Hall of Famers and MLB players were going to be in town that day! We actually met Goose Gossage and...wait for it......Yogi Berra! Epic!! It was amazing! Jocelyn shook hands with a living legend! Oh, we also saw Pete Rose.
We are a family who knows how to eat...and boy, did we! We stopped at the cutest diner called...ironically enough, Cooperstown Diner. If you ever make it to Cooperstown, EAT THERE! We ordered a jumbo cheeseburger being naive out-of-towners and when we got it the burger patty was 2 inches thick!! I took a huge bite out of mine and it was DELICIOUS and cooked perfectly. I was unable to finish mine but Jamaine manned up and ate the entire thing. We actually went there twice. (Don't judge me)
Cooperstown itself is a quaint little town with a quaint little Main St. complete with a bakery, a diner(the formerly mentioned Cooperstown Diner) and a General Store. It is also situated on gorgeous Lake Otsego. It is where the Susquehanna River begins. We were skipping rocks and watching a mother duck and her babies and watching the sailboats blow whichever way they wanted. It didn't hurt that the weather was perfect either.
The only downside to the Cooperstown stop was the motel...when we returned from the glorious day we had just spent I realized the motel was infested with spiders. I couldn't face staying there and Jamaine checked us out and we found a new hotel. Jamaine was sort of fed up with me at having to leave our cute little motel, but I just can't handle spiders. There could have been snakes and mice all over the place but spiders...no.
I would definitely recommend going to Cooperstown and I am sure we will go back.
Boston
We spent most of our vacation in Boston. We were able to see much of the city and most of the historical sites. There is a trail called the Freedom Trail marked with red paint and bricks all throughout the city. The Freedom Trail, should you choose to follow it, takes you on a walking tour of the city's most notable historical places such as, the South Meeting House where they decided to make a stand against the English and dump tea in the river...waste of perfectly good tea I say..., also the Paul Revere House which was pretty neat to actually see and the USS Constitution. Boston is a great place for history. I am pretty sure I almost bored Lexie to death but she got over it. So. Much. Walking.
There is a wonderful ice cream shop called Emack and Bolio's not far from the USS Constitution...also definitely worth a look. Our trip to Boston would not have been complete without dinner at Cheers. Let me warn you ahead of time that it looks nothing like the set on the show but you can definitely see the inspiration for most of it. The food wasn't great but it doesn't have to be does it? That's not why you go there, is it?
The part of Boston that Lexie liked best was just outside of Boston in Salem. Of course we did all the witch stuff...The Salem Witch Museum (not what I expected...but ok if you don't know much about the witch trials) We also went to the Witch Village and learned where the stereotypes of witches come from...you know, the warts, the broom and the green face? That image was cooked up by the government of the time. These apothecary women were making medicines that the government were also selling at a higher price. The gov't didn't want the citizens buying their meds from these women and wanted them to buy their drugs so they concocted the story about the evil, ugly women making potions and casting spells. Seemed to work.
The House of Seven Gables is in Salem. A beautiful house right on the Salem Harbor and has beautiful gardens that Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote about in his book of the same name. He is also rumored to have wrote The Scarlet Letter in that house.
Overall, the vacation was great. We only had rain and traffic on the way home trying to get through New York City (of course). I would have liked to spend more time in Niagara and maybe another day in Cooperstown. I think an entire week would be good in Boston to actually go into and enjoy all the buildings on the Freedom Trail...we were only able to go in a few of them. I suggest this trip or a similar version to anyone in the Northeast. You really cover a lot of ground without feeling overwhelmed.
No comments:
Post a Comment