New York via Canada

When we arrived in Port Huron to cross the Blue Water Bridge, we commented on what a good idea it was to travel on a Sunday.  There was very little traffic.  Of course it helped that we left home at 7:12 a.m.  We spent about two hours driving through a small part of Ontario province, through rural and wooded areas.  We crossed back into the U.S. at Niagara Falls and had to wait quite awhile in the line to get into the U.S.  We didn't wait at all to get into Canada.

We tried to mind our manners and not drive like crazy Americans.  I took the first shift but I let Dennis take the wheel in Port Huron.  We were very happy to find a tourist information center in Brantford (on Wayne Gretzky Parkway) and pick up a map of Ontario.  The people there were so friendly and helpful - it must be hard to work there on Sunday when travel is so slow.

When we arrived in New York, we headed to the freeways and then got onto I-90, a toll road.  It was a great road and the rest areas were interesting but expensive.  Although gasoline was way less expensive than in Brighton.  At the rest area they also have welcome centers and we acquired a map of New York state.  I know that we don't need paper maps, we can use our phones, but I really like paper maps.  We want to try to finish our drive across New York without having to rely on the toll road, so I need to see all of the options.

Our intent was to stay in Seneca Falls.  I chose that town by looking at the map and picking a spot about halfway across New York.  It is in the Finger Lakes region, a major tourist attraction because of the many wineries, but it is a small town that has seen better days.  There were four hotels and we saw two restaurants.  We decided to drive through Seneca Falls to the winery I had selected for a visit (Montezuma Winery) before we settled on a hotel.  When we pulled into the winery, we checked for other hotels in the area and noticed that Auburn was a much larger town and was only 12 miles farther east.  So we visited the winery and drove on to Auburn.

The winery is named for the nearby Montezuma Wildlife Refuge.  It was kind of small and staffed by friendly people.  We sampled five wines and received a free wine glass with their great logo.  We bought two bottles, Wetlands White (similar to a pinot grigio) and Cabernet Franc, and we bought an inexpensive corkscrew because we forgot to pack one.  Just as we were getting cashed out, a large party of noisy folks invaded the winery for a group tasting - our timing was perfect!

When we arrived in Auburn, we drove around getting the lay of the land and looking for hotels.  We found an older Holiday Inn, saw that the listed price online was $92 for a queen room and went in to see if they had a room.  It was not busy.  The nice young man at the desk was friendly and helpful and quoted us the Sunday special rate of $76 for a king room.  Yay!  He also told us about nearby restaurants that he liked.  We will try one.  If it is great, it will earn a place in the blog!

On the road we saw several beautiful bridges, but I am looking forward to seeing the bridge over Quechee Gorge tomorrow in Vermont.  Our drive was very nice and uneventful but we noticed a lot of road construction and wonder how that will go on other roads during the work week.  So, a nice drive, a fun winery visit and a great price for our room - day one is a success.

Leaving the U.S. - have I.D. ready.

 Re-entering U.S. slooowly!

Beautiful bridge near Niagara Falls.  It was a day of bridges.