We did leave Niagara Falls (alitttlebit)

While we were in Western New Your State we got to visit our good friends Running Girl, The Major and their kids Island Boy, The Fashionista  and Subway Dude.  Together they blog as Kay Nou.  It was great to get away from the totally touristy world of Niagara Falls to just sit around a West Seneca backyard pool and have some beer, pizza and wings.  Then we went out for desert to Route 16 Ice Cream.  Yum.  Real Yum.

We also got some advice.  We needed to know what to do when we used up all the natural attractions.

So the next day we drove north on QEW (We cracked up when Google Navigator started talking in kilometers)  to St. Catharines where we all got to ride on a carousel for only a nickel.

I like the 10th rule.  The ride cost five cents, who is gonna as for their money back.

Then we walked over to Lake Ontario and watched the sun set.  This was a treat on many levels.  As a Brooklynite I don't get to see sunsets over the water.  I also absolutely love the way this photo came out.

Yea, that is Toronto on the horizon 32 miles away in a strait line.

I never actually was so close to such a big lake, A Great Lake.  The waves looked like Coney Island on a calm day.  So I tasted it.  It was like cool tap water, nothing like the sticky saltiness of the Atlantic Ocean.

Then I read the sign

Let me zoom in.  It says "CONTACT WITH THESE WATERS MAY CAUSE ILLNESS."


How bad can it be?  What can be in Lake Ontario that can be so bad.  My wife looked at me and said, "Lake Erie is in Lake Ontario."

It has been 4 days and I just asked The Google what is wrong with that water. The problem is E. Coli.

"The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care and the Ministry of the Environment have established guidelines with respect to bacteria counts for recreational waters. To avoid the risk of health problems, these agencies have restricted swimming to those beaches with E. coli levels of less than 100 E. coli/100 mL."

According to the New York State Dept of Health  if I have been infected, I will have some really nasty symptoms by now or "The symptoms usually appear about three days after exposure, with a range of one to nine days."  So if you see me passed out and coverd in my own fecal matter in the next week, don't touch me.  Just call 911.




Then we meandered over to Niagara on the Lake  where there was some sort of flash mob where everyone dressed in white and brought their own dinner.  A flash mob.  I asked.  I really was ready to believe that it was some sort of ritual.  What do I know, they are celebrating the war of 1812 like it was a good thing.  Maybe it is.  Did we win?  Did Canada win?  I thought we fought the British.  Canadians were British, I thought they were French.  Of this thing I am ignorant.






We also stopped to see some ships pass through locks.  I was warned that it was as exciting as watching grass grow.  It might have been that exciting if it were not so hot.  Needless to say we did not wait for the ship.  It did look like there were some nice biking/running paths along the canal.  Maybe next time.












I can no longer say that I have never been to Wales.  I filled my tank there

On the way home we broke up the ride by stopping at the Corning Museum of Glass.  It was a big mistake.  Don't get me wrong the museum is great.  But we only got to see a little bit of it.  It is not a place to visit on you way home.  It is a destination on to itself, at 250 miles from home we still had a long way to go to get home.

We will go back there too.