wet

Today we shuffled off to Buffalo for a 10K. We hope to pass the Anchor Bar and let Bonnie eat chicken wings, but alas, the walk didn't go that way. And neither did Bonnie.

Bonnie wanted to do a 5K. Angel and I really wanted to do more—not necessarily a 10K. So she decided to walk with her seat mate and her friends.

Angel and I walked the route for the 10 K. The walk began at the confluence of four bodies of water—the Buffalo River, Lake Erie, Black Rock Canal and the Niagara River. Across the river was a small light house. I immediately wanted to climb it. I kept scanning the park to see how to get across the river.

To leave the park you needed to walk thru the Buffalo and Erie Counties Naval & Military Park. It was a huge area with warships parked everywhere. And a lot of memorials My not quite 13-year-old nephew would have loved it.

The route entailed a lot of walking thru downtown and the theatre district. Lots of ghost signs. Then I saw on the sheet that we were close to Dinosaur BBQ and I had to go. That's one of my brother Dave's favorite places. But they weren't open yet. It was a little early for lunch.

We worked our way back to city hall. Oh my, the beauty of art deco displayed in that building.  It said on the sheet that you could tour the building. I wasn't in the mood for security so I didn't. Apparently, you could go all the way to the top, and there was no security checkpoints.

Finally, we headed back to the waterfront.

We were two hours early for the bus. Being the walkers we are, we decided to walk to the light house. Angel googled the directions. Turns out there are no bridges and it was a 5 mile walk. Actually it would be 10, because we'd have to walk back. Ummm. No thanks.

 So instead we walked back out toward town and went looking for Shark Girl in the canal area. Thankfully, she posed for a picture. I do not look good in this pix at all.

We returned to the meeting point, and people had started to come back. But we still had nearly an hour before the bus left. Bonnie arrived about 10 minutes before departure time. She looked like she had fun with her group. Didn't miss us at all.

Then it was back to Niagara for the Maid of the Mist tour. I once asked mom if we could go—I was maybe 14 at the time—and she said no. It was too expensive. But it was fun. And the silly rain gear keeps you mostly dry. My hat kept the water off my glasses—for the most part. Hiking up the stairs next to the falls afterwards was even more fun.

We came back to the hotel for a little break, then headed out to the Jain//Vegan Indian place for dinner. Then back to the hotel. At 7:30 Angel and I went on the evening hike with a few club members, ultimately ending on Goat Island. For another up close and personal look at the falls.

Tomorrow, it's off to Canada to walk. I hope the stamp in my book says Canada on it!