A Return to the US (11/23/24)

Last night and this morning we had a great reunion with our homeowners after their return from Spain and Portugal. It was sad to leave Jack behind this morning, but so glad that we have had the opportunity again to spend time with two incredible people, care for a sweet dog, and get to explore more of a lovely area of the world. All three have a special place in our hearts. My biggest regret today is that we didn’t get a photo of all of us before we left.

Our travel plans have us visiting Rochester, New York, and then Worcester, Massachusetts, before heading to our next housesit on Thanksgiving day. The drive to Rochester from St. Catharines was about 2.5 hours. We crossed the border at Fort Erie, having been directed there by Google Maps as the quickest route. The electronic highway signs were all showing 45 minute delays at all three crossings we could have used. Bob and I were guessing that some of the traffic could have been from Taylor Swift fans crossing back into the US after seeing her show in Toronto last night (number 5 of the 6 that she’ll do there before ending her Eras Tour in Vancouver).

Starting the drive over the Peace Bridge to the US.
We didn’t end up waiting 45 minutes,
but it was the longest it has ever taken us to cross the border.

Driving into Rochester, the 3rd largest city in New York.

After our early check-in (a little after 1:00 pm) and at the Downtown Marriott Courtyard (if you want to make Bob happy, ask him about his Marriott Titanium status), we headed out to explore a bit of Rochester. In particular, we wanted to check out a park with a waterfall and then find the theater where we’ll be seeing “Mama Mia” tomorrow. As an added bonus we saw some cool old buildings, some fun public art, including some big heads (another thing that makes Bob happy), and a connection to St. Catharines.

One of the first cool, older buildings that we passed.
Old being a relative term, of course.

The University of Rochester Eastman School of Music

A bust of Dr. William Warfield,
an Eastman School of Music alumnus
and a singer, actor, and activist.

One of a few colorful metal benches that we saw.
This one is by Paul Knoblauch.

Cool old bank building with signage
for the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)

The waterfall viewing platform at High Falls Terrace Park

Looking the other direction from the waterfall along the Genessee River

My favorite photo of the day 🤣.
Bob is interacting with the musical sculpture.

We did see the theater where we’ll be tomorrow, but I’ll include that in tomorrow’s blog. Our fun find after seeing the theater was the nearby University of Rochester’s Memorial Art Gallery (in particular their outside sculptures).