Today we marked our 30th wedding anniversary! The Lord has been good to us! Praise him for his blessings.
Bet you haven't heard of this scenic little NY town before! Neither had we. But they had a Ponderosa Steakhouse ... or so we thought.
Is that cryptic enough for you? If it is, maybe you will be interested enough to read on.
We toyed with the idea of staying on in Niagara Falls another day, but the Days Inn hotel room we had was so dark and dreary -- new decorating -- that is seemed oppressive to me. Plus the weather was inviting, so we decided to venture on.
We got a late start this morning -- I had a particularly sleepless night. Walls in hotel were especially thin. You really want to be careful at Niagara Falls about the hotel you reserve. If you are trying to save money, there are some really ugly ones. Ours was not -- we were really glad it was as nice as it was.
The original plan was to drive to Cooperstown, NY to visit the James Fenimoore Cooper homestead and museum. (Yes, Cooperstown is also the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.) However, with getting a late start we realized we would not get there in time to see the museum and find a reasonably priced hotel.
Couple that with running low on gas, being hungry, and a desire not to drive so far today ...we detoured into Rochester to see the Strong National Museum of Play.
What an incredible place! Definitely something everyone who is a kid at heart should make time to see. It is actually the second largest children's museum in the US. (Largest is in Indianapolis).
I can't imagine any being any cooler than this one was.
The big attraction for me was the Sesame Street exhibit which was created in partnership with the producers of Sesame Street...
Can you tell us how to get to Sesame Street? Now we can... Here is Orv and me on the life-size Sesame Street scene steps!
Here is Joyce with a couple puppet friends!
I went photo crazy.
CLICK HERE FOR MY PICASA PHOTO ALBUM!
The museum is huge -- with a library of children's book & a preschool built right into it. We spent three-plus hours there and couldn't get through it. It also has a butterfly house attached. Other features include a full-size diner, a vintage carousel, kid's train, theatre, gift shop. That doesn't even count the displays! Almost every type of toy you can imagine -- vintage or modern. If you like dolls and doll houses, you could spend a whole day looking at them. The lady who began this museum must have been one crazy collector.
We were the last people out of the parking lot -- which is how we ended up in Canandeiga for the night. We thought we would head out of town (since the museum is in the heart of downtown Rochester). Mom punched Ponderosa Steakhouse into the GPS and it said the closest one was here. So we ventured off the beaten path to find it since it seemed -- for us -- to be a fun dining choice. It was probably about 15 miles out of Rochester -- amazingly picturesque town on the edge of the Finger Lake counties of New York.
We drove all the way through the city and finally found the Ponderosa. Looked all closed up, not a car there. (Many businesses in this area are boarded up, too.) Decided to try Charlies Restaurant -- famous for the Charlieburger! Walked in and decided not to try Charlies. Drove down the road to Denny's. Great meal - great price. Then on to Super 8.
Time to game plan for tomorrow.
Miscellaneous Thoughts
Susan B. Anthony & Frederick Douglas are buried in Rochester!
Strange town names in New York state -- some clearly Indian, others French, and must be many other languages as well. Tronolone, Leroy (home of the Jello Museum), Skaneatelis, and many more...
Did you know that Jello was invented in the 1870's by a carpenter trying to concoct a nice tasting cough syrup and laxative. (Somehow that seems like a dangerous combination!) Original flavors - orange, lemon, strawberry, & raspberry. Lime didn' come till much later. Mormons in Salt Lake City eat the most lime Jello of any people group...
Love to all... Dad
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