Waterbury CT, Pittsburgh PA, Mill Run PA, Columbus OH, Detroit MI, Dearborn MI, Toronto ON, Colburne ON, Montreal QC, Albany NY, Swampscott MA: 9 days - 2,200 miles - 38 hours of driving!
Aviary, Mattress Factory, boats, bridges, donuts, Falling Water, wedding party, rain, snow, trucks, potholes, DIA, The Ford Institute, distilleries, CN Tower, markets, falling ice, pizza, pasta, french fries, poutine, bagels, old town(s), trains, swimming pools, english, french, hotels, hotels, hotels.
We saw a little of a lot of cities and miles of empty land in between. Though on "spring" break, we experienced snow almost every day.
In our first overnight spot, Pittsburgh, we had the most beautiful weather, and were charmed by the complexity of this city of bridges. Heading down to Mill Run, we saw the spectacular Falling Water, and all of us were impressed with the magic of this country home. The local region is also a outdoor vacation spot with hiking, camping, and kayaking.
Columbus was all about celebrating family with a beautiful bride and groom, beer and dancing.
Heading north towards Detroit, we were hit with sleet, surrounded by rigs, riding on destroyed roads, and viewing burned out buildings on all sides of highway 75. Our first stop was the Detroit Institute of Arts to see the Diego Rivera Murals, and for all the doubt we had driving into this town, the museum exceeded expectations. These murals, their beauty, breadth, scale, and allegory are comparable to the Sistine Chapel (I stand by this). We stayed in a architectural beauty, visited the Ford Institute - itself could be a three day adventure.
From here, we headed across the border, again surrounded by Mack trucks, passed a boarder town, and quickly had nothing but grass and wind turbines around us for 4 hours. Eventually, we came up to some smoke stacks, and then entered a line of gleaming glass buildings. Toronto is huge, modern, and surprisingly easy to drive in. High winds mades some areas inaccessible to us on this leg of the journey. The kids loved the aquarium. We could look out the CN tower, if not step outside. Saw some movie shoots. And we ate delicious food at every stop.
Next it was time to prepare for the drive to Montreal, with an out-of-the-way stop at Niagara Falls. The falls are big and beautiful, if the cities on both sides seem to be seedy gambling towns (5 days of gray cold weather may have biased my perspective here). We drove the 401 and route 2 (to have some scenery) up to Montreal, and including a pizza stop, arrived about 8 hours later. The kids took a dip in the pool, and we headed to bed. While still cold, the train system is so similar to Boston, and the "underground city" made getting to the sights easy for us. The bagels are really good.
And then down 87, around the Adirondacks (porcupine in Mohawk) quick stop for dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's, and after another 3 hours on 90, home we arrived - 12:30am. Crashed into our own beds for a long sound night of sleep.
Places we stayed:
