Freakin' New York!

The day (abbreviated) in pictures:


"Stand by the little punkins, Meagan. I'll take your picture."


Around the west end of Lake Ontario and across the Burlington Skyway bridge. Such bonny weather!


Concentrating on the driving. Meagan was multi-tasking - Taking photos, navigating, and rockin' to Green Day ... We gave the speakers a good workout!


The fall colours were pretty, but very hard to capture with the camera. Still, a gorgeous day. A sunny day. A Green Day. We sang together, my girl and I. And the miles passed quickly.


Not far now!!!


We stopped at an information centre on the Canadian side of the border and got directions to a shopping mall in Amherst, NY. I'd always imagined the Mounties would be taller, Ms J.


"New York, Dad! We're in freakin' New York!!"


Ah, yes. The shopping mall. Our much anticipated destination, and only half an hour from the border.

Meagan had heard from an internet friend that a store called "Hot Topic" sold all kinds of Green Day souvenir items. Green Day, of course, is her favourite rock band. We saw them in concert last summer, Ms Journal. Remember? She searched the internet to find out where these stores are located and to her delight, found one in the Boulevard Mall in Amherst, NY.

"Can we go there, Dad? Can we go to Hot Topic?"

We found a good parking space and ventured into the mall. We found Hot Topic and went inside. Meagan was so excited! Shoes, t-shirts, school bags, earrings. She fell in Love with all of it. It was then that I considered the possibility that it might be illegal for us to bring anything back to Canada. We'd only been a few hours in the States. I wished so much that I'd checked before we left home.

We bought a few small items - shoe laces, a wrist band, and a couple of Green Day buttons - which could easily be concealed. She was a little disappointed at first, but thrilled still to be in the U.S. and to have visited this "radtacular" store. I promised we'd return another time.


We had dinner at a restaurant in the mall. TGI Friday's, it was called. Good "American" food. The people we met were all friendly, and Meagan observed they didn't have a very strong accent.


After dinner, it was time to go home. The sky threatened rain, but not a drop fell.


"Anything to declare?" they asked us at Canada Customs. "Nope," we said. "Nothing." And the lady smiled and waved us through. "Jeez," lamented Meagan. "We coulda bought more stuff."


Welcome sign a welcome sight.

You know Ms Journal, the Yanks have a nice spot there. It's alright, I guess. But I always feel a sense of ease when I'm once again on Canadian soil. It's my home and native land. We had a fun afternoon, but we're both glad to be home!

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