PA, Niagra, NY and back again picturesI got some good shots of Niagra when the sun came out for about an hour right before it got dark after having nothing but a nice wet and cloudy day (and freaking cold!). It gets completely pitch black by 5pm up north. My days felt so out of balance having it get so dark early.
The trip was, uh, interesting. My purse was stolen the first night there in a wonderful local diner in Reading, PA. I hope you are enjoying my money asshole. I lost my passport, my bro's passport, and all my credit cards, id's, and a large amount of money. Needless to say, it's a nice pain in the rear end boarding a plane without proper ID.
The police in the town my dad lives in are morons. His report was so full of mistakes (such as listing my purse as canvass rather than canvas) that giving it to airport security was sketchy.
Pittsburgh is a beautiful city. Truly gorgeous, especially at night. We had an interesting time in Pittsburgh. We went on the Duquesne incline and tried to enter some high end restaurants at the top of the incline. After seeing the prices and also being kicked out of one for not wearing our finest clothing (my dad had holes in his jeans :P ) we tried out some places down at the bottom. We had just about as much luck as we did at the top. But, a kind cab driver saw us walk out exasperated and offered to take us to a place he knew was open late. Ironically, it was the Primanti brothers restaurant that I had seen on TLC or the Food Network. There is a lot more to the story of Pittsburgh and our experience there, but I'd rather not bog it down with all the negative things. We dealt with a lot of dicks that night, but the Duquesne incline operators and the taxi driver really made everything worth while.
Lake Eerie was in a word, freezing. But a hell of a lot of fun. After living without snow my entire life, I officially wish I could live in a place that snowed. It never stopped amazing me when I got to see a white covered landscape. My brother and I (I hope I'm speaking correctly for him) had the best time in the snow. Lake Eerie and visiting my grandparents was a pretty good experience. I finally learned a lot about my father's side of the family I really never knew. I finally know things about my family on that side that are truly some interesting things. I'm a descendent of Oliver Wolcott (a signer of the declaration of independence) and that I'm also of English and French Canadian descent.
I've been to Niagra twice before, but it was good to see my bro see it for the first time. Especially in winter when you freeze your ass off, but everything is covered in ice. It is truly a beautiful place.
The drive to NY was too long. 8 hours...but I did see a lot of NY state driving through. I got to see NY city for a day and I officially have decided on my next trip to spend at least a week in NY city. There is too much to see and do and one day was simply not enough. We spent our day in Chinatown and somehow got pulled into a massage shop where I got my first ever back and foot massage. Boy, was that interesting. Chinatown is also amazing and I really wish I had more time in NY. Now I know why people fall in love with the city. There is simply too much to do and see.
Then it was back to Reading, a small town near Philly. We got to see Valley Forge on our first day in PA and the place was pretty amazing in itself. I feel like the trip was a bit rushed and I wanted a lot more time to see everything. But, you can only do so much in 9 days.
For all of what we did, the summary seems way to short and there are some really interesting stories yet to be told of the trip.
All I can say is that I love snow and I wish I could see it every year.
