Day 1 - Boston to Niagara

Clark: Why aren't we flying? Because getting there is half the fun. You know that.

The first day was set up to be the most arduous driving day but it really turned out to be a piece of cake. We hit the road at 5:30am and the first stop was in Albany for some breakfast at IHOP. It was the kids inagural visit to the Internation House of Pancackes and they had a great time. It was a bit surreal as the place was deserted (at 7:45 am). We also had the pleasure of being served by a waitress that looked like she easily could have voted for Herbert Hoover (and clearly was not happy to still be gainfully employed).

Next stop was in Syracuse at the Carousel Center - a shopping mall featuring a.......wait for it.......a carousel. The main reason for the stop was to use several Border book gift cards that we had been hoarding just for this type of entertainment emergency. Of course I get stuck with the smallest horse.

Clark: Roll 'em up!

Our final stop was at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo - where the Buffalo wing was invented. The neighborhoods leading into Anchor Bar featured bars on windows and gangs of youth looking less than productive. Unfortunately at the time I was unwillingly attempting to recreate the Seinfeld episode when Kramer takes a test drive and attempts to see how far he can go with the gas gauge on empty. This led to some marital tension that was resolved by finding a gas station where my chances of getting being personally involved in a drive-by shooting were less than 50 percent. Once we arrived at the Anchor Bar - all was well and we enjoyed the food and atmosphere.

We rolled into the Niagara Fallsview Hilton at 4pm. The Surro family arrived shortly after that and the cousins hit the pool/waterslide at the hotel before we went down to the Falls for fireworks. The fireworks were brief but beautiful over the falls that were lit up at night.

Clark: Real tomato ketchup, Eddie?

Cousin Eddie: Oh, nothing but the best.

We also hit the Clifton Hill section of Niagara Falls that features as many tourist traps and overpriced bad food that could be jammed on a hill. The nice part is that it is all accessed by a sidewalk that is about 4 feet wide . Which is especially fun when certain ethnic groups like to stop and take pictures every 10 feet.

It was a long day and the kids were asleep about 2 seconds after their heads hit the pillows at 11pm.