As the weather forecast promises a hot day ahead of us, we get up at dawn to catch the few coolers hours of the morning. The target, Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio. We start at The Boston Store Visitor Center to get a nice overview of what the park has to offer. A very helpful park ranger offers us a pile of maps and recommendations on what we should see in the time we had. As a result the route consisted of The Brandywine Falls, The Ledges, a local farmers market and finally The Beaver Marsh.
A hiking trail in Cuyahoga Valley National Park Ohio
We started the day with a hunt for breakfast, wich turned out to be a difficult task. Nothing was open so early in the morning and others were just on holidays. Probably due to the fact that the Ford factory was at a stand still the restaurants had their holidays synced to that. As a result we had to return to IHOP for a second breakfast. Unexpectedly this time what I got was tasty. I was most pleased with the filled french toast with strawberries. It was delicious.
Next stop was downtown Detroit. After driving to the city center we found ourselves a tight fit parking spot from one of the many parking facilities. Locating the visitor center for starters was confusing. The building was easy to find but in nowhere did it say what floor to go to… We got some directions from a shopkeeper and got our maps and advice.
The Campus Martius Park in Downtown Detroit
General Motors Renaissance Center
Detroit Princess Riverboat on the Detroit International RiverWalk
Breakfast as a goal we locate the nearest IHOP. The name itself promises a lot, International House of Pancakes, how could that be bad? Well it was decent. I got crepes and a breakfast combo of eggs and hash browns. We also ordered the New York cheesecake pancakes to share. Out of all of these I liked the hash browns the best wich is a bit alarming. Mostly everything was just a bit bland.
Waking up in London, the one in Canada, we set our sights for some poutine. I mean have you really been to Canada before you’ve tried it? I think not. With the help of TripAdvisor we headed to The Early Bird. With an amazing decor like theirs just seeing the place is enough on its own. Luckily we didn’t have to settle for just seeing, we also got some breakfast.
The Early Bird interior
The Early Bird cealing
Poutine with duck gravy
I went for the poutine with the duck gravy. The dish didn’t look too appetizing but tasted amazing. Just the right amount of salt and perfect ratio of fries, cheese curds and gravy. Would definitely recommend for others and come back for more myself. Read more
The morning begins with a trip to Denny’s. The place I’ve heard so much about. The combo platter I got included eggs, bacon, hash browns and pancakes… a recipe for disaster. Surprisingly after all that I was very happy and full instead of sad and bloated. The pancakes in particular were better than expected.
The red, white and blue pancakes at Denny’s
Satisfied with our breakfasts we set off to the Canadian border. We decided to take the Peace Bridge from Buffalo across to Canada. The border control went extremely smoothly. We only had to show our passports and answer a few basic questions about our trip. It took les than five minutes to cross the border.
The US-Canada border in Buffalo
Back with familiar measurements, we set our destination to Port Dover at random. We decided to take some smaller roads to see more of Canada on our way. And we did. Dunnville, a giant power plant and many many windmills and a biker gang stopping an entire intersection.
In Port Dover we had lunch. After some circling we found a nice small place with a, outside balcony. I had my best lemonade so far, perfect amount of sugar and a real taste of lemon. Food was tasty but a bit overcooked. I heard the salad was perfect though.
Perfect lemonade at 211 Main in Port Dover
From Port Dover to London it was time to look for an accommodation. Wich proved to be more difficult than expected. All hotels seemed to be full for the night. After three or four tries we found a Days Inn with available rooms, smoking ones unfortunately. The day was getting late so we took the room but soon found a party going on outside of our window. Luckily we were able to relocate to an other room across the hall and finally got some sleep! Great service from the hotel staff.
I was really excited about this day. The day we were going to see The Niagara Falls.
We left early from Buffalo to get to The Maid of the Mist before the big crowds. We were on the boat before 10am and there were no cues anywhere yet. The boat was half empty and left nice amount of space to take photographs and move about from one deck to another. The cruise was amazing! The views were great and you could really feel the power of the falls up close.
The day goes by pretty uneventfully.Most of it spent in the car driving from Albany to Buffalo. Originally the plan was to stay the night in Syracuse, but since there was still plenty of time left in the day we decided to drive all the way to Buffalo to avoid the weekend traffic to the Niagara Falls. This way we could explore Niagara on a Friday instead of a Saturday.
In Buffalo be walked to a nearby Greek restaurant called The Towne restaurant. I got myself a chicken skillet with sweet peppers and rice on the side. Was very pleased. The food was tasty although bit too salty for my taste.
The day starts nicely with a blue sky and a great breakfast. Afterwards it was time to head into the traffic, to really see what our car was made of. First stop Harvard Yard.
This adventure starts at 5.15 am on a cloudy Monday morning. A drive to the airport to join the mass of people also starting their holiday on the very same day. Bags dropped off and towards the gate. Boarding complete and its time to take off, here we go!
Whenever I get asked what my favorite season is, I can never really choose just one. In Finland there are four very distinct seasons. Each with their own (not so favorable) reputation. Hail during midsummer? Not unheard of. A meter of snow in one night? School starts normally the next morning. Just switched to summer tires? -10 degrees celsius and slippery as hell. A long, wet, dark and depressing autumn? Exactly!
But regardless of all of the above, I look forward to each season every single year. Because you only realize the beauty in something when it is taken away from you. Luckily in this case, it comes back the very next year. Every season has much more to offer than their bad reputation.
välimatka 