canada, crepes & central park

since the three of us enjoyed our first cruise together so much we decided to set sail on another adventure, which looked very similar to the first. there was a lot of eating. there was a lot of relaxing. there were a lot of evening crepes. there was a lot of trivia. and there was a lot of eating. there was also a lot of football via satellite which delighted donald to no end.

the main difference was that instead of going south, we headed north and donald got to use his passport in canada. the canadian stops mostly consisted of strolling around town and trying some local delicacies like beaver tail and dulse [the first was delicious, the second not so much]. then we sailed down to maine where we visited acadia national park, ate lobster and blueberry pie, and one of us took a long seaside bike ride. 

when we were planning this trip i very specifically searched for ships leaving out of manhattan so i could sneak in a bonus trip to nyc. my favorite thing is just being in the city...riding the subway, walking around and enjoying the hustle and bustle. there's also fun food, so we took my mom on a culinary tour of some of our favorites. while we were out and about we stumbled upon gulliver's gate miniature museum which turned out to be really cool, and the nbc tour took us into the tonight show studio so basically all my dreams came true. unfortunately we don't all share the same level of love for big cities in general, but my travel companions were troopers and even entertained my request for one final subway ride to the airport [which you should ask donald about sometime...but beware that his version of the events is very dramatic].

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oh canada : the travelogue

last year our mother/daughter road trip took us to the east side of our neighbor to the north, so this summer we decided to explore the west. we rented a little blue fiat, piled in our luggage and headed up the sea to sky highway...

whistler : british columbia

this quaint little ski town was not only the host mountain resort of the 2010 winter olympics, it was also my favorite stop on the trip. there was quite a bit of hiking involved as we explored the capilano suspension bridge, as well as the beautiful lakes and waterfalls around the mountain. and since we needed to relax after all that fresh air and activity we indulged in an afternoon at the outdoor scandinavian baths.  

vancouver : british columbia

the first two stops in vancouver were especially fun. first was the olympic cauldron from the 2010 winter games, because i LOVE the olympics! and second was a visit to the meinhardt store, discovered a few years ago by another member of the meinhardt clan. after lunch and a stroll though the granville island public market we headed over to stanley park for the rest of the afternoon. my mom took a horse drawn carriage tour of the park while i rented a bike for a ride around the seawall.

victoria : british columbia

after squeezing onto the early ferry as the second to last car we sailed over to vancouver island, where we stopped at butchart gardens on our way down to victoria. we checked out the float houses at fisherman's wharf, took a water taxi across the harbour and visited miniature world...because i love miniature things!

seattle : washington

a little more ferry luck took us back to the good ol' usa and olympic national park where we took a drive up to see the mountains. in seattle we rode to the top of the space needle before visiting chihuly garden and glass. mr. gott introduced me to this glass blown art in college and i've loved it ever since. then we headed over to the pike place market to watch the fish throwers before having dinner at the crab pot and capping off the trip with a ride on the great wheel.

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it's all about the water, eh

if this most recent mother/daughter road trip had a theme, it would be...water. i know. our destination was niagara falls. just call me captain obvious. but i'm not just referring to the thirty five million gallons of water that flow over the falls every minute of the day. we encountered water at many of our stops...spraying in our faces, falling on our heads, and as part of a delicious treat.

stop one: as previously mentioned, our first stop was in louisville to visit pauline. [okay, technically our first stop was at my aunt and uncle's house to pick up a rubix cube] these stops were water free.

stop two: the creation museum just outside of cincinnati. i can't remember where i originally heard about this place, but i'd wanted to visit for years. it was a good stop on the journey, with interesting and well done exhibits and films. especially the one where you're watching a movie with two guys explaining science and the bible and you suddenly get sprayed in the face with water. [it was an opportune time in the story line, but definitely took us by surprise]

stop three: after an overnight in erie, pa and a lunch of buffalo wings in buffalo, new york, we crossed the border into canada where, sadly, i did not receive a stamp in my passport. i hate that. we grabbed an adventure pass, like all good tourists do, and started visiting attractions. we were presented with complimentary ponchos in three different locations. the most amusing was the time we thought we were going to a nice, calm movie about the formation of the falls, but instead we stood on a floor shaking like we were having an earthquake while being rained and snowed upon. good times.

at this same stop we also spent some time exploring the town of niagara-on-the-lake, where our bed and breakfast was located. we strolled the streets, spent an afternoon in the park and i rode a borrowed bike around town.

before heading out we spent a morning on the american side of the falls, for a different perspective. the actual falls area is a bit less commercialized and more nature-ish than its canadian counterpart, but still boasts similar up close and personal attractions. plus i got to see the hotel from jim and pam's wedding.

stop four: following a quick detour to the house from 'a christmas story' in cleveland, we were onto our final scheduled stop...rita's. what delightful treat does dear rita sell? water ice. it's delicious. and a fine way to end our water themed road trip.

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