In August we took a trip to the east coast to see the sights and visit relatives. It’s been several years since we were out that way.
Lake Erie
We started at a lake house on the edge of Lake Erie in Canada. This was home base for several Canadian-based activities. The lake mandated daily exploration. It was very shallow here, and the edge was a giant mud pit, but Cole didn’t care. He was up to his knees in mud every day, and the shallow water allowed him to wade pretty far out in the lake to check things out. We also made great use of a canoe we found in the basement of the house, although through no fault of my own we did manage to capsize it once. Luckily, the water was shallow and we just stood up and turned it over.
One of our Canadian excursions was to Niagara Falls. After visiting both the US and Canadian sides of the falls I have to say that the Canadian side is much more spectacular, so if you’ve never been, remember your passport. Cole had never seen the falls and found a lot of it exciting. He was not a fan of the “Maid of the Mist” boat ride, however. For some reason getting completely drenched didn’t appeal to him.
Canada is also home of some of the largest lock systems in the world, so naturally we had to check them out. We got to see a tanker ship go through the locks. That sounds cool (and it is), but it takes a very long time for a boat that size to make its way through so we had a lot of idle time.
Before leaving Canada we visited Fort Erie. This fort was active during the War of 1812 and it was interesting to hear the the conflict told from a Canadian perspective. I never thought about it before, but given that Canada is a British Commonwealth and also shares a border with the US they had a lot of “skin in the game”. They also know a lot more about our history that we do.
Maine
Maine is not very close to Niagara. But it’s closer than it is to Seattle. Maine is home to Brian’s Godparents Bill and Loretta and we thought it would be fun to visit. Maine also has lobster, which Danna vowed to eat every day. We flew into Main and met Brian’s mom there. It had been thirty years since she last saw Bill and Loretta.
Cole discovered the fun of climbing around on large rocks in the many state parks. It’s a good thing he has excellent balance because he was most interested in climbing in the more dangerous places.
Danna discovered the lobster pound. A lobster pound is a nondescript building by the side of the road. You pay, and they take a live lobster and an ear of corn, throw it in a sack, and throw the sack in a vat of boiling water. Fifteen minutes later you have a meal. It’s very messy – and very delicious.
Bill and Loretta discovered Cole and found an appreciation for the energy contained inside the small body of a six year old.
Another week of sight seeing and we were finally ready to come home.