Ellen's final Buffalo visit

Ellen came out to visit this weekend for the last time before I move back to New Hampshire. We had a terrific time, combining a belated birthday celebration with sightseeing and low-key time together too. On Saturday, we went to watch the Buffalo Bisons take on the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs in AAA minor league baseball (the Bisons won, 4-1). Watching a minor league game is a much different experience from attending a major league stadium; for starters, the minor league stadia usually have about one quarter the seating capacity of their big-league brethren. This means you can get much closer to the action without spending a fortune. In fact, it costs the same amount of money to watch two Yankees games from field level ($250 per seat) as it does to buy season tickets to the Bisons ($505 per seat for seventy one home games). Then again, you get what you pay for. Unless A.J. Burnett is pitching, anyway.

On Sunday we crossed the border and went to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. What an experience. We'd been to see the American Falls in February, but the Horseshoe Falls are considerably bigger. The weather was perfect for waterfall-watching: Sunny and clear but not too hot. We bought tickets for the Maid of the Mist boat, which was incredible. It first took us past the base of the American Falls before turning and heading right up to the bottom of the Horseshoe Falls. The wind and spray from the waterfall were pretty ferocious, but we had a terrific vantage point from which to appreciate the Falls. I'll post pictures soon.

Ellen is on her way home now, sadly, but it's only three weeks until I head back east for good. And I won't be hurting for things to do between now and then, so hopefully the time will pass quickly!