Windy Roads are Evil - Wisconsin Road Trip Day 6

After a very long night of driving last night, and getting to the hotel around midnight, we both slept in until 8am before we even moved, but eventually were up and packed by 9am.

Despite an awesome overnight hotel clerk, the morning clerk was an absolute Mask Nazi, and so we chose not to stick around for breakfast or enjoying the view of Lake Erie (again, the whole damn reason I booked the hotel to begin with...)

We stopped at a Friendship convenience store, and a lovely clerk named Dawn shared information about a park and lighthouse nearby. We visited the Marblehead Lighthouse, and discovered that we could see Cedar Point Amusement Park! 

Yep, still cold out here!

Looking North along Lake Erie

Looking South, toward Cedar Point Amusement Park

Much different rocks from yesterday!

Marblehead Lighthouse

Found a small one to take home, too

Once we got back on the road, we made the 4-hour drive to Niagara Falls, New York. I can hear you asking...

 

Well, back when I was playing "Where can we drive to?" on Google Maps, I discovered that Niagara Falls was close (in relation to Chicago, anyway...). Also, Hubby and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. A wedding that was never followed by a honeymoon. And Niagara Falls is known as The Honeymoon Capital of the World... So it all just came together. The First Day of the Rest of Our Lives deserves a honeymoon! 

Welcome to Pennsylvania (once of many)

Welcome to New York

We got to Niagara Falls round 3pm, and it was not nearly as busy as I was expecting. We first went in to the Visitor Center, where (thanks to Governor Nipple Bars Cuomo) everything was roped off or shut down. I mean, seriously, even the electrical outlets were taped so people couldn't use them... 

We made it!

Sorry, folks, Canada's closed... Moose out front should'a told ya

I stood behind a mother with three school-age kids in tow and overheard her ask if the Maid in the Mist was operating that day (according to the website, MitM runs during the winter), but the absolute asshole employee responded like a smartass, saying something condescending  along the lines of, "Shah, noooo, it's winter sweetie". He wasn't even talking to me and I wanted to punch him in the mouth. It's a valid question, Jackass. Super bummed, though; I was looking forward to the boat ride (I remember doing it with my parents back in 1993). 

Look at 'em, so cute... all they wanted to do was ride the boat

Anyway, we headed toward the Observation Deck next, but Hubby only made it a quarter of the way up before tapping out (he's not a fan of heights and the winds were crazy!). I continued the rest of the way on my own, braving wind that must have been at least 60mph (though if you told me the gusts were over 70, I'd've believed you, as a Florida gal). I took lots of photos up there (like hundreds) and if you want to see more, check out the bottom of the post for some of my favorites. 

This photo truly belies just HOW GUSTY it was up there!

I took more photos on our way out and eventually headed to our hotel. My original plan was to take US-219 to Bradford, Pennsylvania tonight, as well as a scenic drive for all of tomorrow. At first, the drive was fine; a little hectic because it was rush-hour, and this NY portion is apparently an Expressway. After a little bit, though, it turned into a beautiful windy mountain road. 

Welcome back to New York (what a lovely part of town this was!)

Peace Bridge between US and Canada (over a fully frozen Niagara river)

Heading south on US219 through rolling mountain hills

Look, you can see ski runs!

Which he absolutely HATED. I'm talking gripping the door handle, anxiety through the roof HATED. Which sucked, because I was loving it! The road, the views, it was like I was in my own private Hallmark movie!

At one point, we came down a hill into a valley (Holiday Valley, to be more precise), and I could see snow-covered ski slopes and smoke from chimneys, and we came to this absolutely quaint and beautiful town called Elicottville. Like, I swear to God, it was the opening of that Hallmark movie! The sun was shining, tween-age girls were giggling on the sidewalk while moms were walking dogs... I mean, come ON! THIS is what I signed up for when I said I wanted to explore back roads... But alas, it was not meant to be. Hubs was not onboard the Backroad Train, at least not in the mountains. 

It wasn't this pretty when we came through, but pretty freakin' close!

Just before we left New York, we passed a few shops and truck stops, but with the way he was feeling, I skipped stopping (I still hadn't gotten a NY magnet) and headed directly to the hotel. 

Once we checked in and brought in our bags, he rushed over to me and absolutely engulfed me in a bear hug and apologized for how miserable he acted the entire way down. He felt like he let me down and was ruining the trip. I told him not to worry; I loved him a lot more than I wanted to drive down some old back road!

I picked up dinner from the Arby's next door, and then took advantage of the jacuzzi. Yes, we scored another jacuzzi tub room! And the jets worked on this one! I was buried in bubbles in no time. Afterward, we pulled out the laptop and figured out a new plan for the drive home; we'd just tell Garmin to take us to the next hotel (our next stop is Roanoke, VA) the most direct way possible, either via Interstate 99 or Interstate 81. I had no concrete plans for tomorrow or Saturday, so it wasn't a loss, except for the "stop at random places like Cooter's Country Gift Shop" or "explore gorgeous towns like Elicottville." 

Once we had a new plan in place, we relaxed in bed and eventually fell asleep. 

I have no idea what we're gonna end up doing tomorrow!

Just some of the over 1000 photos I took today!