Scott’s first overnight vacation, at the ripe old age of fifteen months
Monday, Sept. 8 – We left Cincinnati north-bound on I-71 with Scott safely secured in the back seat of our Nissan Sentra. Jim got a nosebleed partway between Cincinnati and Columbus so we had to stop for several minutes but made up the time bypassing Columbus on the beltway. We ate lunch at a Dutch Pantry restaurant up near Wooster. Scott traveled very well until we were just outside Cleveland when he started getting fussy.In Cleveland we elected to take the expressway through town because we had never seen “the mistake on the lake” before, so we followed I-71 to I-90 east and drove along the lake to Ashtabula. We stayed there at the Travelodge Motel where our only disappointment was the dining next door at Mr. C’s Pancake House.We went to a park on the shore of Lake Erie in Ashtabula and watched the sun set over the water. There was a picturesque lighthouse out in the lake on a jetty. Scott settled right down into a crib at the motel and went to sleep without a lot of fuss. We had taken the precaution of bringing a folding rocking chair with us just in case. This was the first time Scott had been to Columbus, Cleveland, and one of the Great Lakes.
Tuesday, Sept. 9 – We left Ashtabula on I-90 proceeding east through Pennsylvania and New York. Scott was delighted when we stopped at a service island in New York and a truck driving under the pedestrian walkway blew his horn for him. About a mile down the road from the island, an amber light lit up on the dashboard and we feared the worst. The owner’s manual revealed that the light was merely a reminder for people living in California to have their emission systems checked and recommended having the light disconnected for cars registered in other states.In Buffalo we left the expressway planning to follow alongside the Niagara River but somehow managed to get on a road paralleling the Erie Canal instead. After turning around we were able to find River Road and the Robert Moses Parkway. In Niagara Falls, New York, we stopped for lunch at the Rainbow Mall and Wintergarden. Our lunch went a little longer than planned when Jim’s nose started bleeding again. In the parking garage there we began noticing all the license plates from other states, setting the stage for an activity on future trips.After lunch we crossed the Rainbow Bridge to Niagara Falls, Ontario. We learned that a screaming baby will expedite passage through Customs. We had reservations at the Oake’s Inn which is just above the Horseshoe Falls, next to one of the inclined railways. Lynne was especially impressed with the view of the falls as we drove towards our hotel. After checking in, we took the incline down to Table Rock and the brink of the Falls. Afterwards, we walked to the Skylon Tower where we ate dinner before going up the tower for a view of the Falls from above. This was Scott’s first visit to Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario and his first time outside the United States.
Wednesday, Sept. 10 – After breakfast at the hotel we took the incline back down to Table Rock. We put on raincoats for a tour of the tunnels below and behind the falls. Scott kept struggling to get out of his raincoat and was paid back for it when we were deluged in the opening behind the curtain of water. Once out of the tunnels the sun dried us off nicely and we walked along the gorge to the Maid of the Mist. When they handed out raincoats there Scott was only too happy to wear his. Scott was much more interested in staying out of the spray than looking at the falls.
After drying off again and eating lunch we drove to Niagara-on-the-Lake, a very picturesque town with flowers everywhere. Lynne had never seen Lake Ontario before so we stopped along the shore and got hit with the spray from a few waves crashing on the breakwater. We headed back to Niagara Falls and stopped at the rapids. An elevator took us down to the base of the gorge where we followed a boardwalk beside the raging rapids. We posed Scott for a picture in one of the barrels a daredevil had used to go over the Falls, then strolled down the boardwalk along the rapids.
Having seen the rapids at eye level, we then rode the Spanish Aerocar over the whirlpool. Scott, oblivious to the gravity of the situation, kept trying to climb out although we were over one-hundred feet above some of the most turbulent water in the world. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant in downtown Niagara.
Thursday, Sept. 11 – We went to Marineland. Scott was very impressed by a pen of bison – from his stroller, he pointed and said, “See – cows!”. He also liked the performing sea lions and dolphins but was soon bored and was not very impressed by the killer whales at the end of the show.
We went to a deer park in Marineland where the deer mobbed us looking for handouts. One of them started chewing on a strap on Scott’s stroller so he whacked it on the nose — a feat he is proud of to this day. We fed marshmallows to bears and a cub “waved” to Scott, much to his delight.
Lynne rode on a looping metal roller coaster at the park — the first we had seen. We spent the later part of the afternoon sightseeing along the gorge by the Horseshoe Falls and souvenir-shopping at Table Rock. We had dinner on Lundy’s Lane where Scott’s big thrill was drinking his milk from a mug shaped like a cow.
Friday, Sept. 12 – We drove back across the Rainbow Bridge to the United States. Scott was much happier going through Customs – whether because he was happy to return to the United States, or just because he hadn’t been in the car all day, we’ll never know. We stopped on Goat Island to see the Falls from the American side. The mist from the Horseshoe Falls was so thick and cold we couldn’t stand in it for long so we walked over to Luna Island to see the American Falls. We drove back along the river to Buffalo to catch I-90.
We had a miserable drive through Erie, Pennsylvania, to see Presque Isle State Park. While there, Scott got to splash a little in Lake Erie and a raccoon crossing the road hissed at us. We made our way back to I-90 and drove to Ashtabula where we stopped at the Travelodge we had stayed in on our way up. We went to Geneva State Park for a walk along the beach. Scott chased gulls in the parking lot there (“See – birds!”). We had dinner in Geneva-on-the-Lake, a quaint little town that provided a glimpse into the way summer resorts used to be.
Saturday, Sept. 13 – We took I-90 west from Ashtabula, bypassing Cleveland on I-271. We took I-71 through Columbus because the usually-quicker bypass was a parking lot that day. We arrived back home early in the afternoon, much to Scott’s relief. We only had to put gas in Lynne’s Sentra twice on the trip, both times in Ashtabula.
Milestones on this trip: Scott’s first visit to Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario. Scott’s first international visit.
States and provinces we visited: Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario.
Capital cities we saw: Columbus.
