The next morning we had a glorious breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express involving Fruit Loops
coffee
Tabasco sauces
bacon and potatoes
and an omelette
and then headed to the Strong Museum of Play and Toy Hall of Fame not knowing what to expect
even as the horse greeted us
and we walked past a carousel on our way to the ticket booth.
and diner
Once inside, we admired the large tanks of fish
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pretending
tricking
growing
balancing
and healing
before we went to the virtual pool game and realized that all this inspiration didn't help us understand what we could do
and so we turned to discovering
and found our way to the Sesame Street house where we posed
before posing with the Count.
Next we explored trains
and their destinations
and then we experienced a puzzle
before greeting the superheroes beginning with Superman (who else)
who explained their goals
and then on to Spiderman
in the hall of (super)heroes
followed by an explanation of the cape
and then IronMan
and Batman
before we saw the Berenstain bears
and learned their philosophy
and then the giant outside the castle
as I watched
the bridge troll
and Ben attempted to pull the sword from the stone.
After seeing Dorothy's shoes,
we heard Lincoln logs calling us
and so we walked by the various descriptions of play
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the National Toy Hall of Fame
which began with possible new entries
and we felt that the choice -- Uncle Milton's Ant Farm -- was obvious
as we viewed the membership
beginning with the frisbee
the viewmaster
erector set
cardboard box
flexible flyer
silly putty
Duncan yoyo and jump rope
skateboard
teddy bear
stick
Lincoln logs
tinkertoys
scrabble
play-doh
easy bake oven
Mr. Potato Head
slinky
Lionel trains
hula hoop
Monopoly
Legos
GI Joe and the baby doll
bicycle and roller skate
Tonka trucks
and Crayola crayons
before stopping to see the philosophy
and then celebrating Etch-a-sketch
and Candy Land
Jack in the box
and Raggedy Ann and Andy who got in in different years
Rocking horse
Atari 2600
Nintendo gameboy
Big Wheel
and the ball for a full review of the members of the National Toy Hall of Fame.
After a bit of philosophy from Ovid
We entered the Barbie area of the museum
where there was a massive display of dolls
along with statements about Barbie
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and her advanced age
not to mention her rivals
and her friends
and ultimately her international collection
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and bridal collection
which led to the question
which defines our great nation
as we went to the beanie baby exhibit
and then dealt with the meeting of Barbie and GI Joe
before taking some shoe photos
and saw the wheel of options
as we observed one final bit of philosophy
before heading off to the House of Guitars
where we met the owner
and explored the space including amps
and instruments
including this one from Bill Clinton
before taking a few more photos of the overwhelming collections
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and then found our way to the Jell-O Gallery and Gift Shop
where the door beckoned
but first we had to acknowledge those who served
and then we could see the display
and history of Jello in Le Roy
and the advertising photo
as well as the global reach of jello
and the sample boxes
with history of the ads, etc.
and this lovely plate
and photos
and ads
with the historical flavors
and memorabilia
before we went to the basement where old cars and carriages were on display
and after saying goodbye to the Jello cow
we saluted Bill Cosby
and Marilyn J. Smith
and shuffled off to Buffalo where we parked (legally) at Duff's
and went in for their famous wings
ordering from this menu
as salads came first
and then Ben's wings
and fries
and my grilled cheese sandwich.
Next we drove down the road to the Niagara River
and a first glimpse of the American Falls
and the calm river below the falls
and after a few shots of the falls
we knew we had to head below
to the Maid of the Mist
to make these views better
and so we went down and collected our ponchos
and joined the crowds boarding the boat
for the trip to horseshoe falls
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and then walked up the hill
to get closer to the American Falls
before driving to the border,
crossing into Canada,
parking the car,
checking into our hotel,
and finding our way to East Side Mario's
where Ben
watched my drink
as his salad came
with bread
and pasta
and I had my pizza before we called it a night.
