24 hours in the City of Light

 

Buffalo was once known as the City of Light, because it was the first American city to have widespread electric lighting, courtesy of Niagara Falls hydroelectric power.

The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens are located within the South Park neighborhood, yet another urban landscaping masterpiece from architect Frederick Law Olmsted.

 

We really enjoyed the magnificent glass conservatory. Buffalo, of course, is notorious for its dreadful winter climate, and you could imagine how magical this warm, green, tropical place would feel on a snowy day. 

We walked the mile loop around the perimeter of the park, admiring the "outdoor museum of trees." Unfortunately, I'm not good at identifying the eastern hardwood varieties.

As luck often has it, on our final day of vacation, the weather made an abrupt switch to cloudless Indian summer. But other than 2 rainy days in Ithaca, we can't complain.

 

 

And last but not least, what's a visit to Buffalo without the original Buffalo wings from Duffs?

 

We got home at 7 last night, which felt late after 10 hours of travel and the 3 hour time change. There were many highlights: Watkins Glen, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, The Johnson Art Museum, boat tour on Lake Cayuga, Ithaca Gorge, and above all, nothing really prepared us for Niagara Falls and the unforgettable view from our room.

 

 

 

The parting shot. With all the driving and flying, it was a big (and tiring) trip for us, nothing like our easy jaunts down to California on familiar Alaska Airlines.  

 

We decided the Delta Airline employees must attend "apology school" because they have to do it all day long. By blind luck, everything worked out for us, but with a constant undercurrent of stress over delayed flights, service interruptions, changes, etc. My heart stopped each time I got another text from them saying "we apologize for the inconvenience."

 

For example, without contacting us first, the Delta computer system abruptly cancelled our flights back to Seattle. "It" didn't know we made that tight connection at JFK (how could that be?) and so figured since we weren't there, we didn't need to fly back to Seattle. Anyway, a rude shock at 5 am, which meant an hour on the phone to reach a live Delta person. Who efficiently fixed it. But you get the picture.

OK. Speaking of light, Seattle sure got dark since we left, with an atmospheric river on tap for the weekend. We'll just be home relaxing (John) and doing tons of laundry (me.)