Day Three in Buffalo, NY

We started the day by heading back to Lockport, NY. We had heard noises about some sort of cave boating tour yesterday but it was too late in the day to pursue such then. Last night, we checked the Internet and found the ticket prices, embarkation point and schedule.

The tour itself was lots of fun. Cute bear cub Nick --photos in a future posting-- took us on a brief walking tour of the locks in Lockport, then into some of the water tunnels that powered factories between 1840 and 1870. One of the stretches was water-filled so we boarded a small electrically powered boat to travel about 200 feet through cold water 4 feet deep; at the far end, the boat motors reversed and we returned. In all, it was an interesting view into the interior of nineteenth century hydraulic systems from the inside.

We tried to tour the carousel factory museum but they closed earlier than our brochures indicated: we'll try again Sunday or Monday.

On the way back to the hotel, we attempted to purchase a cable to allow me to transfer photos from my camera (nearly full) to my laptop. Alas, the cable itself turns out to be proprietary, but we were able to get an adapter for the xD RAM card so all was well. I spent a little time this afternoon sorting and labelling 300+ photos, although I have trashed at least 50 of them as being inferior or flawed.

The boys took pity on my mild depression of being so close to Canada and the family wedding event but barred from attending: they indulged me in dining at Swiss Chalet. It was nice but being there reminded me even more of how enormously I have screwed up our entire weekend.

We found ourselves this evening with absolutely nothing to do. The local paper had nothing. kent4str could find nothing happening in Buffalo in online listings. cuyahogarvr contacted the front desk to discover the concierge doesn't work Saturdays: apparently, there is nothing to do in Buffalo so that's his night off! Oy!

We opted to go to the movies again, this time to a cinema with a flat rate of $3.50 per ticket per show, by far the cheapest I've ever seen in years for current movies. We saw Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer; it was OK. At least, it was certainly worth the $3.50 we spent.

On the drive up Harlem Street back to Amherst, I saw a sign at a service station which made me scream. In fact, I turned the car around so we could drive back for another look. I took a photo with my cell phone --I wish I had my proper camera with me just then. ( Click for the photo... )

Day Three in Buffalo, NY

We started the day by heading back to Lockport, NY. We had heard noises about some sort of cave boating tour yesterday but it was too late in the day to pursue such then. Last night, we checked the Internet and found the ticket prices, embarkation point and schedule.

The tour itself was lots of fun. Cute bear cub Nick --photos in a future posting-- took us on a brief walking tour of the locks in Lockport, then into some of the water tunnels that powered factories between 1840 and 1870. One of the stretches was water-filled so we boarded a small electrically powered boat to travel about 200 feet through cold water 4 feet deep; at the far end, the boat motors reversed and we returned. In all, it was an interesting view into the interior of nineteenth century hydraulic systems from the inside.

We tried to tour the carousel factory museum but they closed earlier than our brochures indicated: we'll try again Sunday or Monday.

On the way back to the hotel, we attempted to purchase a cable to allow me to transfer photos from my camera (nearly full) to my laptop. Alas, the cable itself turns out to be proprietary, but we were able to get an adapter for the xD RAM card so all was well. I spent a little time this afternoon sorting and labelling 300+ photos, although I have trashed at least 50 of them as being inferior or flawed.

The boys took pity on my mild depression of being so close to Canada and the family wedding event but barred from attending: they indulged me in dining at Swiss Chalet. It was nice but being there reminded me even more of how enormously I have screwed up our entire weekend.

We found ourselves this evening with absolutely nothing to do. The local paper had nothing. kent4str could find nothing happening in Buffalo in online listings. cuyahogarvr contacted the front desk to discover the concierge doesn't work Saturdays: apparently, there is nothing to do in Buffalo so that's his night off! Oy!

We opted to go to the movies again, this time to a cinema with a flat rate of $3.50 per ticket per show, by far the cheapest I've ever seen in years for current movies. We saw Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer; it was OK. At least, it was certainly worth the $3.50 we spent.

On the drive up Harlem Street back to Amherst, I saw a sign at a service station which made me scream. In fact, I turned the car around so we could drive back for another look. I took a photo with my cell phone --I wish I had my proper camera with me just then. ( Click for the photo... )