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Niagara Whirlpool 2004
If you walk downstream far enough at Niagara you will come to a circular like lake where all the water from the falls flows into. Right in the center of this lake is a whirlpool. It looks a little like a black hole with water as it sucks everything into it. Kind of scary.
Above this lake with the whirlpool is a trolley that travels across the lake. People wait in line to be hoisted over this lake/river/whirlpool or whatever you want to call it. I had no intention of riding it but James Mom did and she said it was a fun trip.
Oh well,to each their own.
Niagara Fun Factory Arcade 2004
The kid is barely one year old and already his favorite place is this arcade that we pass by on our way to almost everything in Niagara. Its like they say, location, location, location. James is simply fascinated by the sounds, lights, and motion of everything going on around him. We are kind of fortunate that we can visit this time of year since most of the school kids are in school so James has the arcade pretty much to himself.
His favorite is a Sesame Street ride with Grover and Big Bird (or is it Bert and Ernie?). He just loves it and has to ride it each time we pass by. Usually when he is in his stroller he is sleeping but not when going through this arcade, or even near this arcade.
So its official now, James has visited his first arcade and he likes it!
Barrells Over Niagara 2004
As you walk along the falls they really just have a fence so you don’t fall in and why not, you have this beautiful wonder of nature so why would you want to look at anything else? As we were walking along we came to this little “cove” for lack of a better word and it had all these trash can looking things that had writing on them.
At first I thought it was one of those things that get autograped, sort of a Ripley was here thing, but on closer examination I realized that these were the actual barrels of people who went over the falls in them. A sort of museum for dare devils. Some made it, some did not. Kind of a creepy testimonial to the mental giants who threw themselves over the falls in one of these contraptions.
Fort Niagara Museum (American Side) 2004
There were many goofy tourist traps in Niagara (all of Clifton Hill for example) but we found this museum on the American side and it had some interesting artifacts for sure. I think we were the only visitors, in fact the entire American side was like a ghost town, being so late in the season for them.
We drove home the long way, which is to say we crossed into New York, drove through Buffalo, Into PA, then through Ohio, adding about 3 hours to the trip. However it gave us a chance to see a little bit of America as well as Canada on this vacation.
Clifton Hills Niagara 2004
Clifton Hills is an area of Niagara Falls where you can find all sorts of arcades, tourist traps, Ripleys Believe it or not, wax museum, and many haunted houses. Perhaps the strangest architecture you have ever seen, even the burger king has a giant frankenstein eating a whopper. Lots of fun times here for sure.
I remember as a kid visiting the wax museum and being fascinated by it, I tried to find it all these 40 years later but I think it closed up ages ago. It seems all the tourist traps are in Clifton Hills now. Still, what a great place to be, filled with a carnival atmosphere, and plenty of fun and games.
James First Birthday 2004
Hard not to laugh at some of the expressions James has in these pics, couldn’t have cared less about his birthday it would seem, at least till the cake was cut.
Thanks to all the relatives who gave James so many gifts not only on this day, but throughout the first year of his life. There is nothing better in the world than a happy 1 year old and on this day James was very very happy.
James actually had two parties, one with Aunt Peg at Caesars (both are born on Sept 18) and the other at home with Mom and Dad and a cake with one candle on it right in the center.
Happy Birthday James
Detroit Lions Benefit Softball 2004
Thought James might enjoy an afternoon in the fresh air so we went to a charity softball game between the Detroit Lions and the Police. We buy tickets to this event every year and usually donate the tickets to charity but this year we decided to go. the Lions have been struggling as of late, well actually they have been struggling for as long as I can remember, but who knows maybe they can play softball.
I think it will be a long time before the Lions recover from the loss of Barry Sanders, the team has been so bad I don’t even know any of the players.
Bush Presidential Rally 2004
James got to see the president this day, his first time being searched by security as well.
Not only was this james first time seeing a president but mine as well, we had to go down to the Republican headquarters in town and promise not to cause any trouble or do anything to embarrass the president. What a strange world we live in.
The funniest part of the whole event was when they introduced Bo Schembechler. The crowd roared then got all quiet and the only sound you could hear was Mary asking “Who the hell is Bo Schembechler”?
St Albert Festival 2004
The annual festival was never this big when I was a kid. When I went to school we had a moon walk and a small haunted house in one of the classrooms. The Polka-Tels were the band every year and we had a choice of kielbasa or hotdogs at the concession stand. This reminds me of Boblo, its huge and alot of fun.
James got to meet many friends for the first time including Diana Ball who is friends with Criss and Kenny and who I went to school with at St Alberts.
Greenfield Village Motor Muster 2004
There was a car show going on at the Village so we thought James might enjoy looking at all the classic cars. Mary is a big time car fan so living in the Detroit area is great for her, there is a car show nearly every weekend somewhere in the state and many of the shows that we go to aren’t even planned, we just happen to be in the right place at the right time.
James seemed to enjoy getting outside for a bit as well, it was a brutal winter and not a good spring either. Hopefully we will have a good summer. Today made up for a lot of questionable weather days in a season known as Spring, hopefully we have a great summer.
