New England Fall Foliage Tour -- Part 1

September 24 – October 1, 2024

What a trip!  This adventure had all of the elements of a great movie – laughter, love, mystery, drama, discovery, and even a dash of nostalgia! 

After dropping Frankie off with Maggie and Luke, we set our sights on Grand Rapids, Michigan. At 515 miles, it was a more ambitious drive than our typical travel day, but why not go for it? After all, we weren’t towing the camper for this trip, so we figured it would be an interesting and relaxing drive. What we hadn’t expected was the rain we ran into halfway through the route. My question is, why do they call it a driving rain? This rain was certainly not something we wanted to be driving in! Although it did add to the day in the “interesting” factor, it completely detracted from the “relaxing” portion of the plan! We took the tortoise approach and safely arrived to our hotel without incident. 

Our primary interest in going to Grand Rapids was to take in yet another presidential museum. We’ve developed somewhat of an addiction to them! Although Gerald Ford was only in office for two and a half years, his museum did not disappoint us. 

Gerald R. Ford’s birth name was Leslie Lynch King Jr. Sadly, Ford was born into what had been an abusive marriage which only worsened after Gerald’s birth. At the tender age of two weeks, Ford’s mother summoned up the strength to flee from Omaha, Nebraska to Grand Rapids, Michigan where her parents lived.  Shortly thereafter, she divorced this abusive man and began putting her life back together. It’s hard to imagine the courage this took.  It was 1913 and women didn’t even have the right to vote.  At that time, the divorce rate was 0.9%.  What a very different path Gerald would have been on had he not had such a strong mother.  

Although Ford’s birthfather was a successful businessman, he never provided any financial support for his son despite court orders to do so.   In fact, the two didn’t even meet until Ford was 15 years old, at which time Ford didn’t want to have anything to do with him.  It is believed this was the only time the two saw each other.  

At the age of 22, Ford legally changed his name from Leslie Lynch King, Jr. to Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. in honor of his stepfather.  This was the man Ford admired.  This was the man who supported Ford in every sense of the word.  

Ford was able to attend the University of Michigan on a football scholarship.  He was so successful as a player that he was recruited by both the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions!  However, Ford had a different plan for his future.  His dream was to practice law so, instead of pursuing football, he attended Yale.  He did manage to stay active with football, only as a coach instead of a player!  Coaching enabled him to earn money to help cover tuition costs.  What determination this man had!

Ford never sought the position of vice president or president.  Ford was serving as a congressman when Nixon nominated him for vice president. Spiro Agnew had resigned due to tax fraud and bribery charges.  I think we all remember what happened next.  Eight months and three days later, Nixon resigned as a result of the Watergate scandal and Ford was sworn in as the 38th president of the US.  I had been lucky enough to be a Girl Scout under the leadership of Ruth Arp at that time.  Ruth had taken our troop on a trip to Adelboden, Switzerland.  On August 8th, 1974, we were in Germany, headed to Frankfurt when news hit Europe that Nixon was resigning.  It was quite the buzz!  I’ll never forget huddling around a radio in the youth hostel we were staying at and listening to Nixon’s resignation speech at 3:00am.  

When Ford took office, he fully understood the challenge he had landed in.  Ready to tackle the issues, in his first address to Congress, he assured his former colleagues that he would work with them to solve problems.  He is quoted as saying in this address, “I do not want a honeymoon with you.  I want a good marriage.”  

With such turbulent times going on for our nation, Ford had quite the challenge… the Nixon scandal, the energy crisis, out of control inflation, rising unemployment, the Cambodian capture of the US merchant vessel SS Mayaguez, and the Vietnam War to name a few.  If fact, shortly after taking office, Ford told Congress and the American people “The State of the Union is not good.”  This was a determined president who faced our trouble head on.  He worked hard to solve the very difficult issues our nation faced.  I left this museum with greater understanding of the difficult position he assumed when he took office and admiration for the well thought-out actions he took seeking their resolution.  Ford most likely lost the 1976 election for having pardoned Nixon, a move he knew would not be popular with the American people.  Ford strongly believed that this pardon was necessary for the country to move on.  Hindsight is always 20/20 and it’s easy to see now that he was correct.  I wish politicians today would have the courage to do the right thing rather than doing whatever makes them more popular.  David Broder, a journalist for the Washington Post said, “The truth has begun to dawn on the American people that Gerald Ford was the kind of president Americans always wanted – and didn’t know they had.”

As we left the museum, we found ourselves immersed in an art show.  Scattered across more than a dozen locations of downtown Grand Rapids (including the presidential museum) were pieces of art submitted to the ArtPrize show.  It was fun wandering around and taking in some of the amazing work on display!  So much talent!

This piece is made entirely of bottle caps!

Grand Rapids’ nickname is “Beer City”, which got our attention!  Sure enough, as we walked the streets of downtown, breweries dotted the streets.  We found ourselves at Founders Brewery (one of my favorites), where I enjoyed a flight of their dark beers (all of which were wonderful) to complement the veggie bowl I had for dinner.  Dick also found a nice brown beer and burger to satisfy his appetite!

Our next destination was Niagara Falls, New York.  The shortest way there from Grand Rapids was through Port Huron, where we put our passports to use and entered Canada.  A lot of other people thought this was a good idea (including a ton of semi-truck drivers)!  Patience with the long lines and merging lanes proved to be a helpful characteristic.  

As long as we were passing through Canada, we made a stop in London, Ontario for a latte and to find some Kit-Kat bars.  A fellow RV friend (thanks Erin!) had shared details with me regarding the “Kit-Kat challenge”.  Apparently, Nestlé has found a loophole in Hershey’s license of the Kit-Kat bar and can make Kit-Kat bars as long as they are not made in the US.  The challenge is to try both the Hershey (made in the US) bar and the Nestlé (made around the world) bar side by side to see which you prefer.  Being the only Kit-Kat bar available was in an eight pack, we’ll have multiple opportunities to take this challenge.  Currently, the verdict is out as we have several more attempts ahead of us!

A delicious latte and a browned butter cookie from Locomotive Espresso in London, Ontario provided the perfect treat!

In Niagara Falls, we stayed at a super funky B&B that was only a ten-minute walk to the falls.  The B&B was a house built at the time of the Civil War.  It had fallen into a state of disrepair and restored by the current owner to reflect its original design (for the most part).  A walled-up second staircase was discovered and reopened leading from the servants' second level to the servants' quarters on the main floor.  Everything from the ceiling heights to the width of the floor boards in the servants' portion of the home reflected their status in life.  It was pointed out that we were in New York, a northern state that did not have slaves.  Most likely it was indentured servants (probably from Ireland) that worked there.  We were told indentured servants typically had a higher death rate, as they weren’t of as much value.  Such a sad time in our nation’s (and world’s) history. 

Access to the bathroom was through this funky door/cabinet!

Our hostess, Catherine, informed us that fireworks over the falls begin at 10pm every night during the spring, summer and fall so we couldn’t resist another trip into Canada for the evening.  Following dinner, we walked across Rainbow Bridge to view the falls lit up at night and take in the fireworks from the Canadian side.  I really liked the view of the falls from Canada.  There, you look across the river and have a clear view of all three falls (American, Bridal Veil and the Horseshoe)!  It was spectacular!  

The next day, we put on our comfortable walking shoes and headed out to explore the American side of the falls.  We came across a shuttle that took us to a ton of the main attractions, but we still managed to put on over six miles of walking.  We were happy with the decision to take the shuttle as we still got plenty of exercise plus saw so many more attractions we wouldn’t have had time to go to.  

Note the tower to the left of the photo.  You get tremendous views from there!

On Goat Island, you stand between the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls!

The Whirlpool, downstream from the falls

There must be 500 stairs to the bottom of Devil's Hole!

Standing beneath Bridal Veil Falls on the Cave of the Winds tour.

I loved the rainbows caused by the mist from the falls!

On the other side of Goat Island, you stand next to Horseshoe Falls.

I’d never heard of the Love Canal environmental disaster before this visit.  In the early 1900’s William T. Love had a vision of a dream community whose power would be supplied by digging a short canal connecting the upper and lower Niagara Rivers.  It might have been a good idea, but his timing was off.  Both the fluctuations of the economy and Nikola Tesla’s discovery of AC power was a one-two punch Love’s dream couldn’t survive.  By the 1920’s, Love’s partially-built canal was turned into a municipal and industrial chemical dumpsite.  The term “chemical dumpsite” gets one’s attention! Yikes!  Then, in 1953, the Hooker Chemical Company, who owned the property, covered the canal with earth and sold it to the city for $1.00.  The city, in turn, began building on the site.  It’s such a tragic story. By the late 1970’s, 82 different compounds, many of which were suspected carcinogens, had worked their way through the soil.  Trees and gardens were turning black and dying.  Puddles of noxious substances could be found in people’s yards, basements, and school grounds.  Children were returning home from playgrounds with burns on their hands and faces.  The air was filled with a faint choking smell.  Women had an alarmingly high rate of miscarriages and were giving birth to children with birth defects. Many in the community were being monitored due to high white blood cell counts.  Eventually, over 220 families were evacuated, pregnant women and infants first.  All these years later, despite the environmental clean-up that was done, the economic impact on the area is clear. Housing in the area is dirt cheap and you can guess what population of our society lives there and what the crime rate in the area is.  Our B&B wasn’t far from there and we were warned several times (none of which was from the owner of the B&B) to be careful of what direction we walked due to the high crime rate. This being said, we did keep our eyes and ears open, but never did we feel threatened or in any danger.    

Nikola Tesla - the man who invented AC power!

Our second evening in Niagara Falls, we drove a few miles to Lewiston for dinner at Apple Granny’s.  It clearly was a local favorite and it was easy to see why.  Across the street from it was Brickyard Brewing, where we each enjoyed sampling a few of the locally-made beers.

The next stop was Albany, New York for no other reason than it being on the path to Portland, Maine.  Along the way to Albany, we noticed a historical marker for Old Erie Canal Heritage Park.  Being curious, we took the exit and the opportunity to learn a little bit!  Turns out this was the site of Lock 52.  The Erie Canal runs from Albany to Buffalo, a distance of 363 miles.  The original canal was built between 1817-1825 and was 4’ deep and 15’ wide.  The museum we visited was built directly on top of the location of the canal.  The concrete area that runs from the entrance through the museum represents the water that once flowed along this same path!  

No need for a boat to go through this former canal.

It didn’t take long for larger boats to seek passage on this canal.  Eleven years later, work began to enlarge the canal to 7’deep and 18’ wide.  Lock 52 of this bigger and better canal was located only a few yards north of the original canal.  It was interesting to envision this area as once a very busy canal.

Just before boats reached Lock 52 sits the Erie house which was the location of a saloon and brothel!  The volunteer at the house even shared a couple of ghost encounters he experienced there!  Unexplainable footsteps, slamming doors and other “eerie” happenings occur at this former Erie Canal site! 

Once we arrived at Albany, we had yet another downtown to explore!  It was Saturday, so we decided to attend Mass at St. Mary’s which was founded in 1797. Following Mass, we enjoyed dinner at Olde English Pub which was originally a home built in 1736.  It was a lovely fall evening and dinner in the garden behind the pub provided the perfect ambiance to accompany the delicious food.  

The next morning, we found a small farmers market only a few blocks from our hotel.  There, we met Shakeema Funchess who had several children’s books she authored for sale.  When I asked about the illustrations, she told me she uses AI to create them!  It was cool that she had created these books all on her own, but I have conflicted emotions on the use of AI.  My bottom line is I have a greater appreciation for work that comes from creativity rather than computers.

That afternoon, we found ourselves on the river walk where we came across not only our first peeks of fall foliage, but also a placard describing the locks that were once placed here as part of the Erie Canal!  Along the way, I picked up material on biking the Erie Canal.  Doesn’t that sound like a hoot?! Who knows, we may be back with our bikes some day! 

With Albany being the capital of New York, no visit would be complete without at least taking a peek at the New York State Capitol!  Since it was Sunday, the building was closed, but we did take in the grounds.  As we were looking for the perfect location to take a photo, we met a couple from South Carolina.  After talking to them for a bit, the gentleman, looking woefully up to the top of the roofline complained to us that there wasn’t a confederate flag flying.  Seriously, people

Just across the street from the capitol is Empire State Plaza – filled with sculptures and memorials that surround a reflecting pool.  It was fun to walk the grounds and take in the art. We definitely did not make it to very many of the sights around Albany, but it was fun to at least get a peek at the Empire State’s capital before heading off to Portland.  The official beginning of our New England Fall Foliage Tour!  

Next up:  New England Fall Foliage Tour -- Part 2