Quiet Days

Jill's Journal: Even this far from “The City,” this is still New York. It’s taken us a day or so to adjust back to the more brusque frame of mind after the warmth we found in most of New England. And I know that might sound funny as New England isn’t necessarily known for warm personalities, but we really did experience almost nothing but extreme friendliness and kindness there, particularly in Massachusetts and Maine. At first I thought it was just because three lively little girls are icebreakers, but New Yorkers don’t fall to their charms like New Englanders do, so that must not be it. However, there’s so many great things about New York that I think the rest of the country can give the residents a little leeway for their surliness. :) I know I do.

And on another note, I will never doubt my dear friend Diana. She warned us the Buffalo area doesn’t have a great deal of attractions other than Niagara Falls and, well, she was right. Maybe part of it is that we’ve been on the road for a few months now and are coming off places overflowing with sights.

The girls have absorbed so much incredible history over the past few months that I think they’ve reached their limit for a while for their young ages. So although this is the place where President William McKinley was assassinated and where President Teddy Roosevelt took oath of office, we’ll skip those spots. I suspect the girls would also be bored stiff by the Frank Lloyd Wright architecture and the art museums here. There’s a zoo and an aquarium, and while we’re not hardened travelers by any means, we can’t visit every zoo or aquarium in every city and we’ll save those type of adventures for the more spectacular ones we’ll be around soon.

So, as I’ve looked for “field trips” for the girls, I’ve found, well…not much. There a Jell-O Gallery (seriously!), but it’s quite a drive, so I think we’ll pass, no matter how much kooky fun it might be. This is also where Buffalo wings originated, but only one of the girls (Victoria) likes spicy food (that’s my girl!) and she doesn’t like chicken.

We’ve spent the last two days concentrating on school, riding bikes, and catching up on a few things. I like quiet days like that. Tomorrow we’ll make a much-anticipated trip to “the Falls.”