It was quite a trip. We covered a lot of ground and had a lot of fun. My phone had a few issues, so my son has all the pictures, hope to post some soon. Here is the recap:
• I came home Wednesday night at 9 p.m. My son was all packed, geeked, and ready to go. His logic was if we leave at night the roads will be clearer around Toledo and Cleveland and we’ll get to Buffalo that much sooner. My logic was if we get there early, but are too tired to enjoy doing anything, is it worth it? He said he would drive. His logic prevails. We leave Michigan at 10 p.m.
• Thursday morning we arrive at rest stop just outside Buffalo at 4:30 a.m. and sleep in the car for a couple of hours.
• Not knowing where to go or what to do, we found free parking on a street near a large military memorial by the river. Come to find out we are only a few blocks from the arena and we were good to park there for the day. I guess the kid’s logic paid off!
• Walked around Buffalo. They have an old 32 story city hall, with an observation deck. Great view of the city. From there we made our pilgrimage to the Anchor Bar and enjoyed some wings.
• Prior to the hockey game we went to “716†a restaurant next to the arena and recommended by a friend in the area. They boasted having the second largest TV screen in North America. After a quick search for the largest TV screen in North America we discovered it was in St. Louis. We actually saw that TV on a similar ballgame trek a few years ago. It was kind of fun to tell them we liked their TV, but we had seen bigger!! Had my first ever “Beef on Weckâ€. It was very good. My diet took a major hit during the trip!
• It was a good game. Red Wings won in overtime, but they would have been better off losing in hopes of a better draft pick.
• Friday morning we spent a few hours at Niagara Falls, before heading up to Toronto. Had nachos at Wayne Gretzky’s restaurant. They were good, but I was disappointed in the menu. It was very limited, but great atmosphere. I’m not much of a drinker these days, but I was able to sit down and have a beer with my son for the first time. Drinking age in Canada was 19 and my son is 20. I think he was a bit disappointed he didn’t get carded!
• After a miserable ball game (Tigers lost 6-0) we stopped in at the restaurant in the Sky Dome. The windows overlooking the field are actually part of the outfield wall. Had steak bites with grilled peppers and onions, served with a horseradish sauce. It was excellent, much better than anticipated (which doesn’t happen often).
• Saturday morning we went to the Hockey Hall of Fame. The plan was to do lunch in Chinatown. However, we stayed to long at the HOF so we just headed out toward Detroit. Something to add to the list for next time.
• Made it to the Pistons game just prior to tip off. My brother and niece met us there. We ended up having dinner at Kid Rock’s restaurant, “Made in Detroitâ€. Since my diet had already been messed up I figured I might as well blow it completely. Had a southern fried chicken breast sandwich. It tasted great, but I don’t know if that was because of the sandwich itself or because I had not had a deep fried sandwich in about 2 years!
• Pistons won and they brought back members of the old Bad Boys team in ’89 and ’90. Hard to believe it has been 30 years.
• We ended up driving out of Detroit in a fairly heavy snow shower, but made it home safely a little after midnight.
Sorry the post is longer than anticipated. All in all it was a very good trip. Hope we can keep the tradition going next year.
