shuffling back from Buffalo

Tuesday morning Ruby and I flew from Chicago to Buffalo.  Even the flight was exciting.  Seems like most every time I take to the skies I am headed southwest, some bungalows, some forest preserves, leafy suburbs, Joliet, like a movie I have seen a hundred times before.  But this time of course we flew right over the lake, then another shore and we were over southern Michigan, the part of the state that Beagles is not too crazy about.  Then if my calculations were correct we would be flying over Lake Erie, and surprisingly they were, and there was the lake and then we were circling around Buffalo.  Couldn't see much though because our window was pitted and smeared.  These magnificent airplanes and then they don't bother to have nice windows you can look out of.  Go figure.

Our hotel was not far from the Guarantee Building and that was our first sight.  Magnificent.  Well restored, and a nice little museum in it with old photos and diagrams and text.  Very nice.  When we spoke with the Buffalo men and women on the street must of them weren't even aware of its existence.  It's my experience that the locals generally know nothing of the city where they live, or not the stuff I am interested in anyway.

Wednesday we were off to Canada.  Buffalo does not have a nice grid pattern like Chicago, and their bus lines don't go in straight lines like the Western Avenue or 55th Street bus, they zig and they zag in Brownian movements, but after tense moments trying to find the bus stop and following the unhelpful map on the back of the schedule we arrived at the Rainbow bridge.  A long line at the border for the guy who looked at  our passports and asked if we were smuggling anything in,  Those falls they are something.  Really.  We rode in a boat that went up close to the falls.  Couldn't see anything just mist and wind and the boat jammed with tourists wearing red rain ponchos blowing in the wind everybody getting wet and slipping and sliding on the wet floor and laughing.  It was great. We went up and down the river where it plunged, in a community of tourists and everybody in high spirits. We had planned to penetrate deeper into the town and meet real Canadians eating poutine and saying "Eh," but we were worn out and shuffled back to Buffalo.

The next day we went to a couple art museums, and Friday we flew back.  Had a good window this time we had a nice window but this time we flew south of the lake.

I had my super phone with me and I checked every now and then on the Beaglestonian, and you know what I saw?  Almost nothing.   You guys.

Tuesday a couple Hoosier pals of mine are coming to town and we will be going to a couple Cubs/Sox games, so I most likely won't be posting Wednesday or Thursday.