Being in Western New York this time of year is sort of like…well, like being in Duluth in August. When the weather is nice, the beauty of the area is exhilarating.
Our first stop was to visit old friends, Tom and Susan Stenovec, at their beautiful home on the grounds of the Chautauqua Institution about an hour south of Buffalo.
The Institution is summer camp for grownups – a three-month-long festival of art, music, exercise, education and commentary. Sort of a combo of the Bohemian Grove, Tanglewood, Omega Institute and TED.
We know all of this because Tom and Susan described it to us – we couldn’t partake, because the Institution’s program for summer, 2018 concluded the day before we arrived.
We still admired the scenery and architecture…and enjoyed spending time with old friends.
While we were there, we all went to Jamestown, NY to visit the Museum of Comedy. 
Why Jamestown? We learned that Jamestown is the hometown of Lucille Ball.
It’s a wonderland of laughs, with exhibits honoring stand-up, television, comic strips, movies and more. 
We could’ve stayed all day and laughed all night.
We made the short drive Wednesday from Chautauqua to Buffalo. We had a magnificent feast that night at Anchor Bar, where Buffalo wings were invented in 1964. Anchor is to wings what Dreamland is to ribs!
The next morning, we made the short drive north to visit Niagara Falls.
Niagara is the largest waterfall in North America, measured by volume of water-flow. The primary falls are the American Falls, located entirely in New York, and the Horseshoe Falls, located on the U.S.-Canada border.
Remember our report from Sault Ste. Marie about the 20-foot elevation change on the river between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, creating rapids that require navigation locks? Well, when there’s an elevation change of 165 feet between two Great Lakes (Erie and Ontario), the resulting “rapids” are Niagara Falls. Instead of locks, the engineering marvel at Niagara is hydroelectric power. Before going over the falls, more than half the flow of the Niagara River is diverted to turbines that power generators converting mechanical energy to electric energy for use in both New York State and Canada.
We crossed into Canada to get the best look of the entire scene.
I also indulged in a zipline – this was the view as I climbed into my harness.
Sadly, on our walk to and from Canada, we witnessed the latest ugly scene in Trump’s America.
The U.S. and Canada are connected by the Rainbow Bridge. Both the Canadian and U.S. border entrances have buildings that everyone walks or drives through and shows their passports. The Canadian border still has glass doors, a modest fence and a turnstile. The day we were there, coils of razor wire were being installed on the U.S. side. The project was completed by the time we returned in the afternoon. Plus, we had to each pay $1 to operate the American turnstile! The difference between the welcoming Canadian border and the foreboding U.S. border did not make us feel great again.
Over the weekend, we completed our tour of all five Great Lakes, by visiting Sodus, NY on the banks of Lake Ontario. 
We enjoyed the beach…
and the nearby Sodus Bay Heights Golf Club.
Saturday night, the prettiest Bama fan in all the land surprised me by debuting her new lucky sweater just before kickoff of the Tide’s drive for National Championship #18!
Next stops – the Finger Lakes, then Cooperstown, NY.