CANADA 1997

Well this trip letter is being written nearly a month after the actual outing so will lack specifics and consequently probably be relatively short. But at least by writing it now we'll have it for our "old age" - which gets closer every year .....

The background/concept was that I would be at GFSC for a couple of weeks of intense thermal vacuum testing of our TRACE observatory, have most of a week off (depending on when the test ended) and then be back at GSFC for a 3 day Science Workshop. In addition, Sabina was going to be a bridesmaid at a wedding near DC at a time that was at about the end of the thermal vacuum testing. So, why not make a thing out of it; meaning call the Kingsburys and see if they want to have visitors - Dawna coming out to see Sabina dressed up and playing with Kingsburys of course. They said sure, and upped the ante to being an outing/tour around Lake Ontario.

So, I went to GSFC, worked night and day for a week and a half, and Dawna showed up on Thursday, September 4.

Friday-1: I continued to work. Dawna got into the swing of things, doing a wash of my dirty clothes for example. In addition, Sabina and one of her friends came down on the train so Dawna picked them up and took them out to "the farm" where the wedding would be taking place. It is near Fredrick and a gentleman farm - mother of the bride's. Dawna dropped off the kids, returned to Greenbelt and we went out for a nice meal (I had rack of lamb with herbs and she had crab stuff flounder (I think).

Saturday-1: Went to Fredrick, picked up Sabina, and went to lunch - seems like Dawna had pretty good crab cakes. Back to S's motel to pick up her friend and took the pair of them to the farm for wedding preparation activities. We two then went back into town to wander around a bit more;

rather neat place but didn't really have time to explore it. Changed into our fancier clothes and back out to the wedding at 4 PM. Out doors, nice weather and view; but really couldn't hear the ceremony and also would have preferred some chairs to sit in. The wedding reception/party was GREAT fun what with a half dozen or so of Sabina's gang down there by then and our getting to interact with all of them for several hours. Neat and of course that was the prime reason for going. Eventually we left and drove "home" while they partied the night away - literally.

Sunday-1: Oh, yes, one of the gang who came down on Saturday was Russell; and we went to the motel, got the two of them, and went to the Cracker Barrel for breakfast/lunch/brunch. Interesting "farm" store with lots of junk to consider buying while one waits for a table and then a quite hardy meal. Drove back to Greenbelt with the kids and took them to the train station for their return ride to NYC. Then I went to work and put in a day's worth. Seems like that night we ate/drank dinner in the motel room.

Monday-1: Took Dawna to Baltimore to catch the bus that would take her to Elmira and I went back and worked. She had an interesting, perhaps even enjoyable, bus ride to the Kingsburys. They went out to an Italian dinner that night I believe. I worked.

Tuesday-1: Eileen, Dawna, and Paul went off a bumming to a ceramics factory (and gift store, of course) in a town called Auroa. They had an enjoyable outing. I worked until mid afternoon. Then I took off and drove the nearly 6 hours to Elmira, basically going over the same route Dawna had taken and enjoying the scenery but wishing the roads weren't so curvy. Got to a straight stretch, went to fast, got a ticket - oh, heck. Did get to K's in time for dinner, however, as they had held it for me since I called them with an anticipated arrival time. Fine hamburgers and vast assortment of drinking options; plus good chatting.

Wednesday-1: Headed off on the trip in "my" rental car - Toyota Camery which was quite reasonable. The weather was on the slightly rainy side but we enjoyed the countryside and received a bit of education about it from Paul. Avoided the interstate as much as practical. Arrived Buffalo where we filled up on "cheap" gas, crossed into Canada where we stocked up on "cheap'Vduty free liquor and went to Port Colborne to find lunch and see one of the lower locks on the Welland Canal. Accomplished both at about the same location first watching a large ship go through a lock and then eating an excellent mid-afternoon lunch/dinner. The fellow running the restaurant (Island House) was clearly gay, very charming and an excellent restaurant operator; and the food reflected it being both good and very nicely served. Several of us had Manhattan style chowder and I had a Monte Cristo sandwich while two or three of the others had Caesar salads. Plus a couple of bottles of quite nice wine from the local areas. This immediately violated our agreement wherein we said we'd have one bottle of wine with each meal and take turns buying it. Oh, well. We then drove northward sorta parallel to and sorta criss crossing the canal. Deliberately went to a Lock with a visitor center and watched two different ships go through from the nice high viewing platform they have there. These ships basically just fit the lock both in width and length. Impressive to watch and I had always wanted to do so at some major canal.

We then went into Niagara on the Lake which is like an East Coast Carmel. Lots of beautiful flowers; many, many shops; and plenty of tourists. I imagine in the summer it is a complete zoo but this time of year the ratio of tourists to shops is much less so it was pretty reasonable. We then headed towards Toronto the plan being to stay at a B&B recommended by the fellow at the Island House restaurant. The road was under lots of construction making driving a bit tricky and even though we pulled off a couple of times to do some hunting we never found the B&B or anyone who had heard of it. So, stayed at a Day's Inn which was rather old (as were most of the motels on the lake) but acceptable. Snacked in the motel room for dinner.

Thursday-2: Had a lousy breakfast at the motel and headed up the freeway towards Toronto. The weather was much nicer than the day before. Went straight into town and to an enormous warehouse full of individual antique dealers. Looked and looked and made a limited number of purchases with Kingsburys being the main purchasers. We then walked through a lot of Toronto ending up (on purpose) at a Chinese restaurant that K's had been at before. We were hungry and ate tons. Dawna got things rolling with ordering many items off the DimSum carts while the rest of us complained she was getting too much and then pitched in to help her eat it. Plus the three meals we others had ordered. Fine/good relaxed meal as a break in our "hike." Continued the walk through much more of Toronto, thoroughly enjoying it. Quite a lot of neat modem architecture for example. Got to the CCN Tower which is the tallest self-supporting structure in the world (or something like that) and went to the top. Splendid views in all 360 degrees on a pretty clear day. Nice to see the lay of the land. They have a section which is a glass floor so you walk out on that looking straight down and it is a bit weird to say the least.

We then walked tiredly back to the car and drove to our B&B. It had been located via the Web and then some phone calls; seeming typical of various options except they would accept a single night stay while most spots required for two nights minimum, plus they had a top floor suite (their words) that amounted to two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom to share "only" between we two couples. Checked in and it was as advertised, not fancy, and inexpensive. Rested for only a few minutes and then headed back to town - via the subway. The goal was to get to Phantom of the Opera on time and Paul and I had planned it out but (a) didn't realize we had to do one subway exchange and (b) didn't know it would take longer than normal to catch the first subway due to some trouble down the tracks. But once we got on things rolled along, the exchange went very well, and we made it with time to spare. The opera house is an old one that has been beautifully restored, our seats were excellent due to the Kingsbury's careful selection and lack of thrift, and the performance was amazing. Good singing, fun story, but most impressive were all the stage effects. Most enjoyable. After the show we walked up town instead of taking the first part of our dual subway ride. The night was very nice and a slow walk was nice but we went through some pretty poor parts of town so the scenery wasn't much to brag about. Caught the subway "home" where we collapsed.

Friday-2: Got up at a reasonable time and had the B&B breakfast along with a half dozen or so other guests. Along with juice, fruit, and coffee there was a baked item sort of like quiche. Pretty good and quite relaxing and rather interesting talking with the other guests. The most talkative was a women who works for Lands End and had amazing stories of all the merchandise they've accepted after it is returned worn out from use and things such as that; but given that the customer is always right they simply replace the item. We then headed northeast along the lake. After a little bit of freeway we got off on local roads more close to the lake, and of course much slower. The first town we got to (Port Hope) was full of antique stores and we did our bit of checking them out. The second town (Cobourg) was also worth walking around with some antique stores. And by then it was time for a heavy lunch which we did up right at an outdoor beer garden like place. Ate a lot and drank a bit and relaxed some more. Unfortunately, this is also where Paul left his charge card on the table ..... but after he discovered that fact later that night he was able to make all the right phone calls and everything worked out OK.

Speaking of charge cards, which we are, I forgot to mention that back in DC when Dawna first picked up the two girls and took them to the farm she ended up back at the motel without her purse. Figured she'd lost it at the train station, made calls, eventually canceled her/our charge cards, and all that sort of stuff. Then next day Sabina found it at the farm. Meanwhile, of course, we had canceled credit cards and a partially canceled checking account. Oh, me. Luckily I have a corporate card for travel expenses so we used it throughout our Canadian venture. By the time we got back to Kingsbury's the new VISA cards were awaiting us. Anyway, back to the main story. Continued slowly driving to our destination of Kingston which is at the top of the lake - along the Loyalists highway no less. The loyalists had really moved into this area back when if one was in favor of Great Britain rather than the new US during the revolutionary war the thing you did was get out of the US. Various nice bits of scenery, came upon a spot where the road stopped at the water and then you take a ferry which is part of the public highway system, and various other mini-adventures. Got to Kingston, went motel hunting and ended up at a comfortable, friendly, and quiet spot. Debated about dinner but decided we shouldn't spend too many evening meals snacking in the room so went to a supposedly Greek but really pretty general dining spot and had a quite reasonable meal.

Saturday-2: Ate breakfast in our room via a few things we had picked up at a store the night before. Went to a super market to buy a large quantity of a cereal that Paul really likes and can't be obtained in the US, and then downtown to play tourist. Did a self-guided walking tour that was most enjoyable along with other general bumming around. The town is quite old and quaint and on the water; like there is a docked coast guard ice breaker boat there which is even a B&B, which we had to go on board to explore. At the end of the walk there was a farmers market where some more items got purchased. Of course by now we were hungry so had lunch at a micro-brewery. The beer was OK but not great and I don't remember the food so we'll say it was average. (Postnote - Dawna reminds me I had a locally produced sausage. By now it was time to cross over into the US and we did that, via a ferry to Wolf Island which is right where the river and lake merge and then after driving across that small island another ferry to Cape Vincent, USA. By now it had started to rain and although it hurt the scenery we were glad it had been nice for our morning walk/bumming activity.

Drove into the Adirondacks along an ever increasingly pretty road although the drizzle/rain and fog made our viewing less than great. Was surprised at the amount of color in the forests this early in the year. Actually began noticing this on the drive through Pennsylvania to Elmira but it was more noticeable in the Adirondacks where we gained a bit of elevation. We were heading to a B&B cabin that some friends of K's had recommended. Before getting there we bought gas, and went to a grocery store and bought a broasted chicken and some odds and ends (like wine) for dinner. Got to the B&B, checked in, told them we weren't interested in having them cook dinner for us but wondered if we could use their screened-in porch for our picnic since it was raining outside. They were very gracious about this option, even providing nice wine glasses. So we sat on the porch, listened to and watched the light rain in the forest, and had a very nice/relaxing dinner. Sat by the fireplace a bit reading and listening to music (yes, I fell asleep) and then went to bed.

Next morning we got up to the rain having ended; and had a nice breakfast including blueberry pancakes. Gradually moved out. The cabin, by the way, was very cozy although pushing the limit on being filled with too many knick nacks, and the owners were very accommodating. Walked around their grounds a bit (snooping) and then hit the road. This cabin was on Upper Saranac Lake; just a few miles from Saranac Inn. As a kid we once spent a week or so at (I think) at Saranac Inn as guests of rich uncle Nate, where "we" means the whole Wolfson clan as well as I can remember. And we have a famous picture of this well dressed fat kid on the putting green. So, drove down the road a few miles to Saranac Inn but only found a golf course and like a motel

next to it. So, went another dozen miles "down the road" to our next destination - friends of the Kingsburys who had just built a cabin on the lake. Stopped there for coffee, chatting and toured the cabin and property. It is a log cabin, quite spacious, well done, uncluttered, and homey. Nice. The property is also nice with a lot of lake front, a boat ramp with boats, etc. The fellow is a real hiker and they were about to go off on another one that day, but alas we had to move on. And from them we learned that the real Saranac Inn had burned down a couple of decades ago, thus explaining why we failed to find it.

Drove a scenic route back to Elmira with the weather constantly improving and thus the spotty fall colors more outstanding. Too bad it hadn't been sunny the day before but nice that it was now. Stopped along the way to buy some corn and other stuff and arrived at the K's house by about 5:30 PM, nearly a full half hour before the guests were to arrive! Unpacked rapidly and got things rolling for the planned lobster dinner/feast. The "guests" were both sons, their wives, a grand daughter and 8/9ths of another grandkid. Had the enormous lobster feast on the picnic table in nice weather with the wine a flowing. Splendid treat in terms of both the food and the company; in the opposite order of priority. In parallel, did some clothes washing. Sleep.

Monday-2: Up and breakfast, both at a relatively relaxed pace. Then the ladies went one direction, including Dawna buying a bouquet of flowers to take to SLC - yes, I mean Salt Lake City, and Paul and I going to visit the "kid's" places of business First stop was Andrew's bar but no one there yet, so over to Paul's bike shop which was just opening up. He has a new place that is greatly expanded over the prior one and it was neat to see all the inventory and learn a bit about some of the more exotic items and the business in general. In moving to this place Paul Jr. bought the building and is leasing out half of it to another concern plus has an apartment he'll be renting out one of these days; thus expanding the Kingsbury Elmira holdings - read on. Then back to the bar and both Andrew and Ali were there now cleaning up in preparations for the days activities. "Toured" his new beer garden plus the building next door that he has taken over and is going to make into a restaurant and saw the old house on the adjacent lot that he plans to obtain, knock down, and turn into a parking lot for these enterprises - re my early comment on the Kingsburys taking over Elmira. Upon completion of our "snooping" we went and met the ladies at the Tommy Hilfiger outlet. TH is becoming a real big name in designer clothes and other items (bags, boots, you name it and he'll put a fancy logo on it and charge you plenty). He is a local/Elmira kid thus the connection with the Kingsburys and the reason the only TH outlet it is Elmira. Of course he now lives and works in NYC. Anyway, the ladies stocked up pretty well on items even buying me one shirt. All this even though the main item they went to obtain (a rain jacket) wasn't available.

With our car now loaded with TH stuff and flowers and our normal baggage we went our separate ways; us heading back to Greenbelt and the K's getting back to a normal life (I assume). The drive back was relatively uneventful and pretty. We did have a lousy fast food meal in the mid afternoon at a Long John Silvers. We both remembered them as having reasonable fish; but this place sure didn't. Back at the motel we reorganized for the next adventures and went to bed.