Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Taking a Trip Through History

I just got back from a vacation to Western New York.  We went there to see my family and have a good time.  I like it there because it is pretty.  It is right next to the Niagara River and Lake Ontario.  On a clear day, you can see Toronto across the lake.  We go there every summer, but this time my friend Jacob was also going to be there because he was going to visit his great grandma's house in Lockport, NY.  We visited Lockport last summer and saw the Erie Canal.

We left on a Friday night and arrived around 1:30 in the morning.  It takes longer to get there than before because we don't have passports and now you need passports to go through Canada.  Instead we go through Ohio and Pennsylvania to get to New York.

On Saturday we went to Fort Niagara and Niagara Falls with my friend Jacob. 
Fort Niagara was having a reenactment of the French and Indian War.  This war is also known as the sevens years war.  It was fought mostly in Canada, but since Fort Niagara was so close to Canada it part of the war too.  The French held control of Fort Niagara until July of 1759 when the British attacked with cannons for several days.  In the end, the British won and the French surrendered.
Sunday was the Fourth of July.  We had a party at my Aunt and Uncle's house.  It was cool.  We went swimming a lot.  That night, we went to the fireworks.  It was awesome.  We got ice cream to eat while we watched the fireworks.  It was a fun day.

July 5th is my dad's birthday.  It was Monday. We went to lunch and the food was horrible.  Then we went on a ride and stopped at my dads friend's house.  His name was Lenny.  Lenny's wife was my grandma's best friend.  Her name was Rose.  I was really tired and didn't feel good. We went back to my Uncle Kenny's house and I fell asleep like twice.  

On Tuesday, I was feeling better.  We went to lunch at Apple Granny's with grandma.  Then we dropped my grandma off at Uncle Kenny's and me, mommy, daddy and Alden rode the Trolley around Niagara Falls.  It was really, really, really, HOT!
We learned about "The Point of No Return."  At this spot in the rapids, if you were in the water you would not be able to get out of the water.  You would go over the Falls in three minutes or less.  A lot of daredevils have tried to go over the falls in a barrel or have tried to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope over the Falls.  The first person to go over the falls in a barrel was a women named Annie.  She did in 1901.  She thought she would become famous but she died poor.  The first man to go over the falls survived his attempt but died years later after a slip on an orange peel. NO KIDDING!  In 2003, a man from Michigan went over the falls in nothing but the clothes on his back.  He survived, but he was banned from Canada for the rest of his life.
On Wednesday, we went to the water park.  It was really hot outside so the water felt cold.  That night, we went to watch my cousin Julia's softball game.  It was still hot.  Me, Alden and my cousin Jack played around the soccer field.  We played at the little park and went on the tennis court.  We found a tennis ball and buried in the sand on the volley ball court.

Thursday, it was still hot.  We went to Murphy's Orchard in Burt, NY.  
The orchard was a stop on the Underground Railroad.  In the barn there was a secret room underneath the floor.  Slaves hid in the secret room until they were taken to Lewiston, NY where they could escape to Canada by crossing the Niagara River.  In Lewiston there is a house known to have seven basements.  The house was owned by Josiah Tryon  He helped many slaves escape to Canada from that house and across the River. 
That afternoon, we picked up my Aunt Dawn.  She is my grandma's sister.  Grandma, Aunt Dawn, Alden and I went to the cemetery where my Grandpa and my Great Grandpa are buried.  We planted flowers at their grave.  It was hot and the ground was hard.  But we planted them anyways.  Aunt Dawn treated us to ice cream after we were done at the cemetery. 

Friday it rained.  We drove around the Falls again, but mainly we stayed inside.  Uncle Kenny got a new car that day. 

Saturday is was time to go home.  We had to say good-bye to Uncle Kenny. 

On our way home we drove Buffalo and visited Forest Lawn Cemetery.
A lot of important people are buried there.  We went to find the grave of Millard Fillmore.  He was the 13th President of the United States.  Fillmore was born very poor.  His father sold him to work as an indentured servant.  He taught himself to read by stealing books.  He eventually earned enough money, thirty dollars, to buy his freedom.  He got married and became president.  He only served on term because he supported the fugitive slave law.  He and his wife attended the inauguration of the Franklin Pierce.  His wife caught a chill during that event, caught pneumonia and died.  She is buried there too.
We left the cemetery and drove the rest of the way home.  We stopped for dinner in Cleveland and got home around 8 at night.  I was glad that I got to see all of the historic places, and spend time with my family and friends too.

2 comments:

  1. Maxine, Grandpa and I loved visiting NY with you thru your blog. We visited that area years ago before you were born and love it there. Would love to go back there some time with you. You could probably show us a lot of things we never saw when we were there. Keep on blogging, we love to read them. Love you.

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  2. how is your summer been i'm moving to briton and i'm going to a new school:(

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