Erie Canal and Niagra Falls

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I visited with Kevin and Laura Robbins (and their lovely daughter Anna) on Sunday night. We all went to Davidson and went through the teacher training program together. Kevin and I were also soccer teammates, and he likes to tell folks that he and I "slept together" (we would share a bed at away games). Kevin is the king of the puns, and he did not fail me.

Kevin is pastor of the Lockport Alliance Church in Lockport, New York, outside Buffalo (a lovely municipality, I must say). I thank him now for nourishing me with more than food last night. I look forward to reading One Month to Live (Kerry and Chris Shook) as I travel in the next month.

Laura took me out to the famous Erie Canal. I had no trouble picturing barges being pulled by horses up and down it; an amazing engineering feat. It is now a great place to walk and has many parks and picnic areas along it. Here are a bunch of Canadian Geese, which seems appropriate as we were so close to Canada.

Laura made me laugh when we passed a gift shop, where she declared "they had a lot of TaT, but some nice things too." Ah, the influence of blogging!

It was a short jaunt to Niagra Falls. Wow, what a marvel of nature: so powerful! I got out on the U.S. side, which supposedly is not as beautiful, but I was mighty impressed! This photo is actually only a few feet from the bank.

I stopped at a casino on the Canadian side. The money is a different color, but the rules are the same. I managed to win a bit, even with the exchange rate. So now I am an international gambler. I took this photo of a Hummer in the casino parking lot; as it was in Canada, I used the international salute.

Now I am back with Aunt Sue; we went to the boat club for dinner with the Peter Jones family (two doors down the beach). The kids played bingo. So much like the Hunting Creek Country Club of my youth.

Tonight's beer was my favorite to date: "Burgee Red," a great name for a beer at a boat club. Turns out the boat club changed the name; the bartender told me afterward it is actually St. Ambroise by Canada's top microbrewery, Montreal's McAuslen Brewery.

Here, btw, is the view from Aunt Sue and Bobby's house. Family, look like anything similar?


Tomorrow Bobby and I go into Buffalo and see our dads' old house, and Nichols School. Then I am off to see my cousin Curtis Mills in Gloversville, New York.