If you've been reading this blog at all you may recall we drove across the bridge at Niagara Falls a while back to visit Buffalo, USA, and came away decidedly underwhelmed by it. The day we were there, a Sunday, it was almost as if the place was closed... there was little to do and we drove around in circles for a while before declaring it a waste of time and heading back into Canada.

Well, as it turns out, one of our Oakville friends, Beth, was originally from Buffalo (actually just south of Buffalo) and was a little perturbed by our poor experience. "Let me take you to Buffalo and show you around", said Beth. Fair enough. So when we received an invitation by Beth and her husband Grant to drop in for a couple of days to their cottage by Lake Erie on our way back to Oakville, we were keen to give Buffalo a shot at redemption.

And what a redemption it was! What a top spot! These guys have an amazing cottage (well, I'd call it a house myself!) right by the lake, and I mean right by the lake. You walk out their front door, cross the street and you're on the beach. It really is a great spot. We arrived there late afternoon after traversing New York state, and got to witness the most stunning sunset over the water. We got to meet Grant's sister Katrina, her husband Todd, his other sister-in-law Joanne, and more kids than we could poke a stick at. It was great to kick back a bit, sit by the water, catch a few rays, muck about on the jetski, and enjoy each other's company. We spent two wonderful days there, and would have liked to spend more.

We also got to explore the local area a bit too, went to dinner at Surfers, a cute little beachside restaurant by the lake, and followed it up with some go-karting at a nearby track. On our way back home, Grant and Beth took us into beautiful downtown Lackawanna for a look at Beth's home town... we got to visit an amazing bascilica, an amazing italian restaurant and an amazing frozen yogurt shop for desert. Yum!

Ok Buffalo, you win, I apologise. We had a ball.