Wednesday turned out to be a series of great moments, strung together by a few hours of extremely pleasant driving through upstate New York.
The day started at the Starbucks near our hotel in Niagara Falls. The picture above tells the story well, and the caption should read: “One more reason July in Canada is better than July in Florida.” Meaning, of course, that we could sit indoors/outdoors drinking hot coffee, enjoying the fresh morning air, and listening to the roar of the falls. No humidity, no unbearable heat, no bugs.
Niagara Falls was an amazing experience, and we’re 100% glad we traveled there. Unfortunately, Niagara Falls turned out to be probably the worst food city we’ve ever visited! The food was uniformly bad – both poorly prepared, and overpriced. Bad form, Canada; we hope you do better when we travel to other destinations in the future.
NEW YORK: We drove the slow way through New York, hugging Lake Ontario as close as we could, and finding time for a little lighthouse hunting. That’s picture number two in today’s post. This lighthouse – the “30-Mile point Light” – was built on “Golden Hill” in 1875, and is situated thirty miles east of the mouth of the Niagara river. We got the tour, and enjoyed spectacular views from the light.
Lunch was an opportunity to redeem the food situation, so we latched onto a classic diner in the depressed but very cool Erie Canal town of Medina. Rudy’s did us proud!
The town was built at a bend in the canal in the 1820’s, peaked in the late 19th century, and has struggled ever since. Today the main street is run down and 75% of the stores are vacant. But Medina still retains a sense of dignity, along with most of the mid 19th Century architecture that marked its heyday. It’s sad to see a town economically depressed, but it doesn’t make sense to renovate the stores unless there are people with money to spend.
But what I would enjoy is a bike-ride along the length of the Erie Canal, or a barge tour, or a long hike with stops at all the old towns along the route.
ROCHESTER: We made it to Rochester in time to take a tour of the home where Susan B. Anthony lived, and from where she directed her epic struggle against bigotry and the suppression of women’s rights.
The story of Susan B Anthony could be a post all by itself, as her life was both remarkable and inspirational. My favorite anecdote is from her trial, after she had been arrested for the crime of voting. She said she wasn’t presenting herself to vote as a woman, but as a citizen of the United States. Talk about coming to the heart of the issue of Women’s Rights!
Later, she said that – given the passion of the people working on behalf of “The Cause” – “Failure is impossible.”
Anthony did not live long enough to see women granted the right to vote, she died in 1906. But she didn’t doubt for a minute that “the cause” would prevail. Too often we look for short-term fulfillment, and become disappointed when we don’t see immediate results. I find the ability – and willingness – of people like Susan B. Anthony to look beyond the limits of their own lifetime to be encouraging and inspirational.
The moral of today’s post? Don’t take anything for granted. Just don’t!
– DEREK
