The Aquarium of Nigara, Niagara Falls, NY

The Aquarium of Niagara

Niagara Falls, New York

Continuing on our road trip, We made a stop at the nearby aquarium before crossing the border into Canada. The aquarium was on the small side but still very nice and I'm glad we chose not to miss it.

My favorite exhibit was the penguins. They were adorable! It's fun watching them play. the aquarium was crowded on the weekend, it was hard to move along with the crowd. I wanted to stay and watch them for a while.

I forget what this fish was called but he was different. If anyone does know, I would appreciate it if you could leave a reply :)

Next Stop on our road trip to Niagara Falls

There has been a very long pause in my "Road Trip" post and I apologize to anyone who may be following it. I just have the usual "busy with life excuses". I'm back so lets continue with the next stop right before the US/Canada border:

 

We booked the next hotel ahead on the internet. The suite was very comfortable in an over-done Victorian/European Style. Please Note: This is the only room in this hotel, "The Econolodge,"that looks like this. I wouldn't recommend the other standard rooms. It is Roadside style hotel, very basic with no lobby, restaurant or other perks. It looks a little shady from the outside but our room was very clean and the bed was comfortable so we can't complain.

Now I will tell you about our "little adventure" we had while staying here. We arrived in the afternoon and wanted to stay on the US side to experience the Falls on this side of the border and we heard there would be fireworks over the falls that night. We asked for directions to the park area. The hotel manager insisted that we would not want to drive there because of the crowds and parking situation. He suggested that we grab the bus in front of the hotel and it will take us right to the park and back by midnight.

So ok, crossed "the highway" in front of the hotel and waited with a couple other guests. Great so far. The driver dropped us off at the downtown area bus top and said just keep walking and you can't miss it. It was quite a walk but very pretty. when we arrived in the park we saw the parking lot which was practically empty. I have R.A. so I was kind of upset that we didn't take the car. As we walked on, there were some information buildings and the crowds, but we found a place to stand to see the fireworks over the smaller falls, not the "Horseshoe Falls" which we will see in Canada. It was beautiful and lovely weather. When the crowds were dispersing, I looked at the time and realized we better start walking back to the bus stop because the last bus came by at 11pm. By this time I was tired and in some pain but we made it back in time for the so called bus to come. Luckily there was a bench to wait on.

So we waited and waited and waited. Now it was after 11 and we were beginning to worry. I wished we had stopped a cab while we were there but now, no cabs no buses and our cell phone didn't work so close to being "out of the country". Finally, a city bus stopped at the light and we asked him about the tourist buses and he told us the buses stopped hours ago but he could give us a ride as close as he could get to our hotel. We didn't have much choice so depending on the  kindness of strangers, we hopped on to a bus full of weary, some drunken, passengers going home for the night. Well, we left the bus and started walking down a dark road in a commercial area with not a restaurant or bar was open. we kept walking until we would find the next bench where I could sit for 5 minutes then walk some more. We ended up walking 6 miles on a direct route to the hotel! all I could think of was the Jacuzzi that I could have been enjoying.

We finally made it, practicly crawling into the jacuzzi, ate some snacks that I had in my purse for the trip and collapsed. This crazy day is done. Onward to Canada :)

 

 

My Recent Road Trip To Niagara Falls, Canada

 (trip report)-in case anyone is interesting in making this road trip themselves)

 

NOTE: this first photo belongs with the quilt at the bottom of this post but I couldn't get it to move Oops

We planned this trip months in advance to celebrate our 33rd Anniversary. It was actually my husband's (Bruce) idea. He loves waterfalls and has always wanted to visit Niagara Falls. After a lot of planning, and decisions made, we decided to leave a few days ahead of our Anniversary and stop at two different cities in upstate NY. on the way. It made the trip more interesting and not such a long drive. It takes about 10-12 hrs to get from our home in MA to the Canadian Border. We also booked some dinner reservations and a show at the casino connected to our hotel.

The first day, we only drove about 4 hrs. to stay in Albany NY. Unfortunately it was pouring when we arrived, but our suite was very nice and I had a jacuzzi to look forward to using later.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express near downtown Albany.

We took a drive around, exploring what we could do during a rainy day. First stop, buy an umbrella. We ended up going to museums which took the afternoon to finish and a little shopping. The first was a small Navy museum with some artwork from local artists. It also had a section to learn about the history of the city. It was interesting and free. The one we really enjoyed was a huge, one, also free, just make a donation of any amount. There were beautiful displays and I learned a lot about this area of NY. There is also a large very touching display of the September 11th terrorist attacks. I wasn't expecting to see this. There was a film playing of one of the fireman who had rescued people in one of the towers. His story was so moving it brought tears to my eyes. I can't begin to imagine the horror he witnessed, the suffering he and his men went through. At one point he recollected stepping over a pile of bodies but it was so surreal that his brain saw something other than people and he moved on to help others. Thank God for people like him that put their lives in danger for the sake of others. Just wanted to share that with you. I know, doesn't sound like vacation stuff, but there it was, right in front of us. It was something I will never forget,  just like the day it happened.

On a happier note there was an antique, running, carousal up on the top floor that was so pretty and we enjoyed watching all the kids having a great time. You could look out over the city on that floor. Here are some photos I took:

Other sections of the museum

Here is a quilt that I felt compelled to make after 9/11

Yes, that's us goofing around at the museum. what else is there to do on a rainy day but make the best of it. We found an English Pub downtown and for supper, had, of course, fish and chips and beer. It was a loud and rowdy place which made it fun.

I will be back with another post, continuing our road trip. If you are interested, check back again, trust me, it will be more interesting after we get to Canada.

My New Knitting Bag!

I just love my new bag. I've debated buying this bag, "The Pink Satchel", since the first time I saw it. That was about 10 years ago on the knitting show, "Knitty Gritty" The guest that day, was young knitter and purse designer, Jordana Paige. I know this sounds like a commercial, but to a long time knitter who has had only "gramma knitting bags", this is exciting! So I finally gave myself permission to spend the money on myself after I did very well over Christmas with my EBay and Etsy sales. Just wanted to show it to any knitters who, like me, would rather have a cute purse that you can take out in public. My little dog decided to pose by it wearing his new sweater. The purse is Huge! I carry my tablet, my e-reader, and tons of knitting paraphernalia.

Finally out of the Kitchen!

I'm exhausted, haven't stopped cooking since yesterday. This year, I decided to make my own dinner rolls, which turned out pretty good. My husband taste tested 4, so I'm guessing they will do. It was actually kind of fun once I got into it, just very time consuming. I used a recipe that I had been saving for a while. I liked that with this recipe you can make them ahead and freeze them. My Kitchen-aid mixer was a big help as the recipe makes 4 dozen rolls. Each small ball of dough has to be rolled into a 10" log, and then tied in a knot with the 2 ends pinched together and hidden underneath. At first it was tricky, but then it became meditative. Anyway, you bake them at a low temp for a few min. then after they cool, put them in the freezer for another day. I think it was worth the effort, because I have plenty for our family's Thanksgiving dinner and anytime we want rolls with dinner, they can be popped into the oven frozen, and finished baking, so they will taste just as fresh as when I first made them.

That was yesterday, today I started baking the goodies with my daughter. We made pumpkin bread, apple pie, pumpkin pie, corn muffins and cornsticks that I made in my antique cast iron pan. I'm looking forward to spending tomorrow, cooking and spending time with my family, maybe even having time to eat.lol If you are interested in the dinner roll recipe that I used, leave me a comment and I will add it to my blog. I hope that everyone is enjoying a holiday weekend with their families as well.

On another note, I am having a Black Friday sale at my Etsy shop:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/KnitsBellissimo#  Nov. 23-26th  use coupon code usship4free for free domestic shipping on the promotion days. Hope you'll stop by :)

A wreath that I made years ago

Buried in Yarn!

Help! I need a new way to organize my abundant supply of yarn. Yarn is so expensive, (for the good stuff), that when I find a bag of new yarn at a yard sale or Ebay, I have to buy it when it's available.
So, needless to say I have enough to last the rest of my life. I have tried numerous ways to organize it. Here are a few:

Put similar yarn together in plastic bags
Group the same colors in vintage suitcases
Decorative Baskets                                                                                                                                   I tried those vacumne seal bags that are "as seen on tv"

Nothing has been ideal. If you have any new creative ideas for me, I would love to hear them.

Also, announcement for my Etsy Shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/KnitsBellissimo
My "Christmas in July" sale is ending tomorrow at midnight.
Hurry Hurry put in coupon code: christmas10 for 10% off everything!

These hats are examples of some of the items in my shop. Hope you like them :)

I have a new hat for sale in my Etsy shop

http://www.etsy.com/listing/82095028/slouchy-hat-knit-in-beautiful-italian

 This is the one that I was working on, on the way home from New Hampshire. I finally have my head model and one of the wigs. I think it makes a big difference compared with the Styrofoam ones that I have been using. I just started working on another one with the same yarn. I wasn't that happy with the looks of the yarn in the skein, but when it is knitted up, I love it. It's so soft. The yarn is Moda Dea
"Cartwheel" in the color Coral, just in case anyone would like to make their own hat in this yarn. It's a bulky yarn that is "thick and thin", kind of rustic and warm.