Dad's Life 3D: We took the long way home

I wanted the kids to sleep in because we had a long day ahead of us. But, we also had some unfinished business to take care of in Niagra Falls! There’s a boat called the Maid of Mist that will take you all the way into the pounding mist at the bottom of the falls. I’ve seen videos of this boat and it looks pretty awesome!

We packed up the Mustang convertible one last time, grabbed a grande latte, a grande passion fruit ice tea (sweetened) and a tall vanilla bean frapachino from Starbucks and said our goodbyes to Canada. We all agreed that we want to come back to Canada again some day. Hey, next summer we can do the Trans-Continental highway across the whole country! OK, maybe that’s a bit ambitious. One trip at a time…

Back across the Rainbow Bridge we went. After the boarder crossing, we made a hard right and headed to the Maid of Mist! Side note: Last time we crossed this bridge, Jaden explained that whoever dies first will be able to pick up Annex (our dog who passed when Mazzy was an infant) from the Rainbow Bridge and take her to Heaven. She was a fine animal, so I hope that is true. I just hope that’s a long time from now…

When you board the Maid of Mist, they give you a blue rain pancho. Something tells me we are gonna’ get wet! The view looking up of the American side of the falls is beautiful! But nothing can compare you for the Canadian side of the falls. As the boat got closer, a strong wind blew at us like a massive rain storm. It’s too misty to see all of the falls, but what you can see is impressive! It sounds like thunder as the falls hit the rocks with massive force.

We must have been in the mist for three or four minutes before the boat began to turn around. And just like that, the storm went silent. All we could hear now was the engine of the boat as the captain navigated back to the dock. Our Niagra Falls experience was now complete. I looked back at the falls for one last time and realized how special this place is. How long I’ve wanted to experience this. And how grateful I am to have shared it with the two most important beings in my life. Amen.

We had a 7pm flight out of Buffalo NY, so we headed to downtown Buffalo for lunch. And where might you think we shall go…? You guessed it! To the restaurant where the first Buffalo Wings were created! Sorry kids, it’s what I do. Don’t worry, you’ll do it some day too!

The Anchor Bar has been around since 1935, but the Buffalo wing thing didn’t start until 1964. Apparently the owner first made them for her son and his friends. They were an instant hit, and the rest is history! The walls of the restaurant are adorned with license plates from all over the country. Old, and funky motorcycles hang from the celling, and other knickknacks filled the in-betweens. It’s a cool place, no doubt.

Truth is, I don’t actually care for buffalo wings. I don’t like getting the sauce on my fingers, and I don’t like eating chicken off the bone. But, when in Rome… I got 10 pieces with the hot buffalo sauce. They were good. Were they the best? Not sure. Was I stuffed from eating 9 of 10? Totally! Was it worth it? Definitely! Would I come here again? Only if I end up with a hot, single soccer mom some day who loves buffalo wings. ;)

At the airport, we said goodbye to our trusty muscle car. We will miss her, oh yes, we will miss her!

The objective of this trip, was to expand the minds of my children through travel, and to spend some quality time together that’s outside of our norm. For the kids to actually see some of the places they’ve learned about in school, or that they will learn about in the years that come.

As I sit on the airplane flying back to L.A., with my blonde baby sleeping on my shoulder and the little guy reading his Bad Kitty book, I know that I accomplished that goal. Life is good! When my sister and I traveled with our parents, we did it their way. When I backpacked alone through a bunch of countries, I did it my way. When I was married and traveled before kids, we did it her way. And now that I’m a single dad, raising two amazing kids, we do it our way. And I can tell you, there’s no better way to do it!

Much love from the road,

Eric, Mazzy and Jaden (D3)

Day 13 – August 17, 2017
Start: Niagra Falls, Ontario Canada
Destination: Del Rey CA
Mileage (Muscle Car): 27.4 Miles
Mileage (Airplane): 3098 Miles