Fort Erie

October 15, 2009

Our goal for the day was Fort Erie where Lake Erie pours into Niagara River which ends in Lake Ontario down a steep slope. I was thinking of the old fort and Jalil was thinking of the race track! Communication is a challenge sometimes! Well, the fort had closed for the season, so we went to the race track which did not have live racing! Jalil took a few pictures and then he was done. The weather was cold - into your bones! Jalil wanted to find the downtown and we drove around a bit. Saw the Peace Bridge between Buffalo,NY and Ft. Erie, Ontario, - built in 1927 after talking about it for 70 years.

We finally found a worn looking street that could be a downtown of sorts. We walked up and down it in the cold wind and came upon a coffee house which was full of people. They had nice pastries - one with spinach and feta that was delicious. We liked it so much that we bought two to have in our room with our evening tea in Jalil's teapot. While sitting there, I was listening to the conversation behind me. This man was telling his two friends a story about a man he knew who was in the hospital and there he had a cardiac arrest. He then watched how the MD and the RN gave him a few shocks and the MD decided to call the code off. The nurse, whose name was Sally, suggested that they try one more shock, so they did and it worked. The next day Sally came to the man's room and he thanked her for saving his life. She did not say much so the man said to her that he was grateful that she had insisted on one extra chock. "How do you know that?" "I was watching you the whole time!" His audience did not make any comments. I have had a few patients tell the same story! But I did not tell him so. He did not know that I was listening. Janet recommended that we observe and listen to people and that is very interesting.

I had been wanting a bowl that I can microwave food in our room that is not plastic. When we walked back to the car, I saw a St. Vincent de Paul store so I had to check it out to look for a bowl. And I did find one made of glass for $1! I was pleased.

We returned to Niagara Falls via the QEW (Queen Elisabeth Way). There we visited the Historical Museum. We learned about the 1812 battle right there at Lundy Lane. That war is mentioned a lot in this area. We also learned about the Underground Railroad which brought fugitive slaves to freedom in Canada across the river. That must have been a scary trip with a very scary ending - crossing the Niagara River!

At the hotel we warmed up in the jacuzzi before cooking pasta and canned tomatoes in our new bowl, which we ate with lots of parmesan. Tasty! We also shared a spinach and feta pastry.