Sometimes Its Fun to Just Be A Tourist

Usually we are travelers, not tourists.   According to my husband this means we often take buses, subways or just walk.  We take only what we can each fit into our carry-on pack.  We gravitate to smaller towns and explore smaller sites.

But sometimes it is fun to be a tourist and explore a popular destination in spite of (or maybe because of) the crowds.

Visiting the falls as a small child 

We played tourist on one trip when we spent a couple of days at Niagara Falls.  It wasn’t a random stop either.  I had visited the falls when I was a small child and I had very faint memories of a ride on the Maid of the Mist boat.  I really wanted to visit as an adult!  (Ok, this desire was partly inspired by the short, quirky tv series Wonderfalls… what can I say?)

Once a glamorous honeymoon destination, the town of Niagara Falls is a bit worn down.  The Falls themselves are just as amazing as ever.  And not being much of a shopper, it was the water that was calling my name. 

 

Our visit to the Falls was just a short stop on a longer motorcycle tour.   The motorcycle trip wasn’t planned out day by day and a cold snap had changed our route, so we didn’t have reservations.  Luckily the second hotel we tried had a room and the hotel was across the street from Niagara Falls Park.  Late that afternoon we were enjoying some amazing views.

The Rainbow Bridge

It wasn’t until the next morning that we actually had our ‘tourist’ day.    I had heard the view of the falls from the Canadian side was the best, so I made sure to pack our passports.  It would have been easy enough to drive through customs on each side, but it was even easier to walk.  We crossed the Rainbow Bridge into Canada, presented our passports at the Canadian Customs desk, and then spent an hour or two strolling through the Canadian Falls park.  The return trip was just as easy (I think a small fee was required as we left the Canadian side, but I knew the amount needed and had change in my purse).  

The Maid of the Mist

Spending time strolling and enjoying the views is free in both the U.S. and Canadian parks.  It’s some of the attractions that are ‘touristy”, and the cost can add up.  Those are the things we usually skip.  Not this time.  I was determined to ride on the Maid of the Mist. 

 

So we waited in line to ride the elevator to the top of the passenger gathering area.  We waited in line to get our blue maid of the mist raincoat (be warned -- it won't really keep you dry).  And we waited in line to get on the boat.  Was it worth it?  YES! 

It was so much fun. 

We were almost in the falls. 

And of course we had to be at the edge of the boat deck for the best views.

I looked like a drowned rat.
And I’d do it again.  

Sometimes it’s cool to just be a tourist!

A return to a bookstore in Paris

Visiting Shakespeare and Company

This last fall in Paris I had the opportunity to visit the iconic bookstore Shakespeare and Company.  I had visited many years before as a child but had forgotten the name over the years.   Now, however, you can find anything on the internet, and I was thrilled to be able to map my way to the store.  On the store’s website I found that they collected stories from bookstore patrons over the years and just for fun I wrote up and emailed a little story about my visit.

Dear Shakespeare and Company,

In 1971, the summer I was nine my parents took me to Europe.   My father, a young college professor, had left home a month earlier to teach a seminar in what was then Yugoslavia.  My mother and I were to fly over the cheapest way possible (Icelandic), pick up a new Volvo in Luxembourg, and drive to Yugoslavia to meet my father.  My mother was only 29 at the time and I don’t think she had been out of the United States before.  While my younger sisters were left to vacation with grandparents, my mother later claimed that she brought me along to ensure that she stopped for meals and found nightly lodging on her drive across several countries.

At nine I was already a voracious reader and my mother had underestimated the number of books that would be needed to keep me entertained during down times and I was reduced to rereading the small collection I had with me.   Fortunately, as the oldest child who had grown up in college atmosphere, I was well equipped to sit at the table and add my two cents to adult dinners.

By the time we had toured Yugoslavia and driven through Italy, we had added two more college associates to the group making for a full car. Eventually we reached Paris and found an inexpensive hotel where I had to sleep on the floor on a pile of blankets (this really was the era of “Europe on Five Dollars A Day”).  While not every stop in the city made an impression on my nine-year-old mind I have a vivid memory of the whole group finding a bookstore that I would later remember as being not too far from Notre Dame.

This was a group of readers, so everyone was willing to stop for a bit.  My mother and I wandered through the downstairs shelves.; my father was back near the entrance talking to a gentleman who must have been the owner.  The story that my father later told (and my father was known for embellishing a story for effect) was that the owner was quite impressed that my father was the only man traveling with 4 women (well, 3 women and one girl).  What I remember is that my mother and I were told we could go upstairs – so we did.  To my great joy I found some children’s books in English. (Perhaps I should be embarrassed that this was my introduction to Enid Blyton’s books – but I’m not.)  And I do remember finding on the wall the list of ‘rules’ for staying at the bookstore.  Though we didn’t stay overnight I was quite prepared to read a book a day!

As we paid for our books the person checking us out – possible the owner- gave me a postcard that declared I was entitled to a free book when I came back at age 18 (or maybe it was 19).  I held on to that postcard for years until it eventually got lost in a move.

I didn’t get back to Paris for years.  When I was there in the early ‘90s (before the internet) I made a brief search for a bookstore I remembered from childhood.  While I did find a bookstore that reminded me of the past- it wasn’t the one.

 

Now, years later, while planning a trip to Paris for the fall, I ran a quick internet search for that bookstore that I remembered.  To my surprise I quickly had a result that matched my childhood memories of book shopping in Paris!  I’m looking forward to visiting Shakespeare and Company again! Too bad I lost my (long, long expired) free book postcard.

 Kara Strite

February 2018

A Mini-trip To Beat The No-Travel Scheduled Blues

Long distance travel is the thing that we plan for, wait for, and talk about but sometimes a close-to-home mini-trip can help keep that travel bug at bay. So when an invitation came to spend a weekend with family exploring some of Dallas we jumped at the chance!

Our first stop was the Dallas Record Show in the Richardson Civic Center.  While this show wouldn’t have been on my radar (I gave up on vinyl a long time ago) one of our party is an avid audiophile with an enviable record collection.  While not a huge convention, the large room was neatly set up with rows of tables each holding bins of records.  The serious shoppers sorted through their favorite artists and negotiated deals; I just wandered down memory lane looking at covers of albums that I once owned.

 

Next stop, lunch.  To make things easier we all piled into one car and headed to Pie Tap Pizza.  Unfortunately, we weren’t specific enough with Google Maps and, not realizing there were several branches, ended up at the wrong one.  Back to the map … and a short drive across town.  Once there we split several pizzas which were tasty; the dipping sauce was flavorless and not worth the extra couple of dollars, but overall lunch was good.

When going into lunch we noticed the Hass Moto museum across the street and after lunch we crossed to road to check it out.  Opened in the spring of 2018, Haas Moto Museum is the creation of Bobby Haas.  With over 130 motorcycles displayed in a beautiful setting, Haas has collected and created a display that tells the story of the motorcycle.  The museum offers free admission to both military and first responders.  (We didn’t notice this when we paid admission for our two veterans – when I mentioned that in a review, praising them for the offer while lamenting that we hadn’t noticed, the museum responded with an offer to refund the cost of the two veteran tickets which they did graciously and promptly!  Wow!)

The Moto Museum is part of Dallas Design district and an array of antique type stores was next on the plan.  While there were the usual ‘antique malls’ with dozens of individually stocked booths, there were also a number of shops featuring the now very popular ‘mid-century modern’ look.   And my favorite stop was not an antique store but a yard and garden shop feature statues and outdoor rooms and a very comfortable bench swing!

 

We finished off the day with dinner at Pappadeaux.  This popular chain has several restaurants around the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  They are usually busy on a weekend evening and they don’t take reservations, but we found four empty chairs around the bar and the half hour wait passed painlessly.  Pappadeaux features New Orleans style cooking – spicy and tasty.  They also use a lot of shrimp which I’m allergic to so I played it safe with a simple grilled fish meal but everyone else enjoyed their alligator, jambalaya and Etouffee.