Road Trip 2011: Day 19 of 20 (Niagra Falls, Ontario to Summersville, WV)

It was dark when we checked in and we couldn't see the Falls all that well, but we had a great view in the daylight

Our hotel was too big and too busy. The breakfast looked pretty good, but tasted pretty bad.

There was a nice view of the Falls from the restaurant

We visited the American side of the Falls the previous day and today we were visiting the Canadian side

Niagra Falls Incline Railway

Miracle at Niagra

Honeymoon Bridge Collapse

Niagra Falls At Night

The area around the Falls on both sides is nice. Thankfully both the Americans and Canadians have done a good job of allowing plenty of room to roam around and they've kept it from being overly cheesy.

Back to the States

We stopped in Hamburg, New York to see our friend Wendy who used to live in Atlanta and who we haven't seen since 1994. My how time flies!   

I don't know that Helen or I have the bandwidth or the inclination to exert the energry required to maintain a close friendship, but Helen got along great with Wendy and often thought that maybe it could have happened with Wendy had she stayed in Atlanta.

They don't like to practice piano but love to show off the results when they have an audience

Such a cute house

Playing in the creek with Wendy's son

The town grooms this hill in the winter for sledding

When Mom's squishy belly is not available for cuddling, Adam will make do with Derek's

Pittsburgh

Primanti Brothers

Now that's a sandwich! Made even better when paired with an Iron City beer. 

Saturday June 18, 2011

We opened up the curtains in the morning to a beautiful view of the falls. We spent some time enjoying the view and then went down to breakfast. We really liked the Embassy Suites breakfast when we stayed in New York and we were looking forward to a similar experience. We were disappointed. The hotel was pretty crowded and, although the breakfast area was large, it was still a hectic experience and the food quality was poor.

We spent the previous day on the American side of the falls and today we were checking out the Canadian side. The Incline Railway was across the street from our hotel and we took it down to the park that borders the falls. We walked around the park and took in the beautiful views. We were getting wet from the spray thrown off by the falls.

We went back to get our van and then drove across to the American side of the falls before heading on to Hamburg, New York to visit a friend who used to live in Atlanta. Our friend, Wendy, was dating a friend of mine when we met her in the early 90's. She ended up breaking up with the friend but kept in touch with Helen. Wendy and Helen got along well. Wendy helped us with a number of projects when we first moved into our house in 93. In fact, Wendy helped us put up the wallpaper border in our bedroom on New Year's Eve. Wendy is originally from Buffalo and moved back there in 94. We have kept in touch only sporadically through Christmas cards and such.

We pretty much have our family unit and don't do much to cultivate outside friends, but Helen often wonders if she would have been able to maintain the friendship she had with Wendy if Wendy had stayed in Atlanta.

Wendy and her family have the cutest house. We had a nice relaxing time catching up and visiting with Wendy and her family. They seem to have a wonderful lifestyle and seem very happy. It's hard to believe it's been almost 20 years.

We drove through Pittsburgh and stopped for dinner at Primanti Brothers. They have various locations around town, but I wanted to go to the original which is located downtown in an old warehouse area. The Primanti Brothers made stick to your ribs style food for the workers in the area. You gotta love a sandwich that comes with the fries already on the sandwich to simplify things. I also tried Iron City beer for the first time and really liked it. Even Helen, who doesn't like beer, thought Iron City was pretty good.

I had hoped to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater in southern Pennsylvania, but we were too late. We drove on hoping to get as close as we could to home and minimize the driving distance the next day - the final day of our vacation. We ended up at a Hampton Inn in Summersville, WV a little south of Morgantown, home of West Virginia University.