Go for the Donuts!

During our week in Niagra Falls, we decided to visit the States since we were so close by. We had risen rather late that morning, and were in search of a good place to have breakfast (though it was almost noon!).

I don't know how often you get to experience the wonders of border-crossing, but I'm sure you'd agree it's always a treat. We were kindly greeted by the American border patrol officer as we were crawling up to the stop line. Rather, I guess we missed one of the stop signs, because he came out waving his arms, yelling at us to "STOP!" When it was our turn at the window, the first question he threw at us was, "So, do you know what a stop sign is? Do you know how to read one? Because you missed one right there." Thanks for the warm welcome to your country...

He had all sorts of questions for us. He was kind of puzzled as to why I was from Regina and Jenn was from Quebec. (I'm not used to this whole "we're married now, and so therefore we're from the same place..." thing. I keep telling people Jenn and I are from different provinces... But typically husbands and wives live in the same spot. One of these weeks I'll get it down.) Finally he let us go through.

It was our mission to find a good place to eat. However, Niagra Falls USA had not restaurants, but rather endless streets of boarded up business. The only nice looking buildings were abandoned churches. So we continued on to Buffalo (about a 20 minute drive). Not much else greeted us there. No boarded buildings, but recognizable restaurants were not to be had. After 40 minutes in the city, we chose to turn leave the States and get back for some reliable Canadian cooking. Just before crossing the line, Jenn noticed a Dunkin' Donuts. We violently swerved off the road and into the parking lot. Jenn tried to order her long time favorite coconut "munchkins," but I guess they don't make those anymore...

We did pick some stuff up. They have super cream donuts! But when we tried to pay with Canadian dollars, the worker had no idea what to give back as change. I gave him my debit card instead, explaining that "if you charge us $1.20 US, the bank will do the work, and will charge us like $1.57 CND and there will be no problem at your end." But when I handed him my card, all he said was, "What is that?" I guess they have a different sort of debit in the US. So, out of his confusion (and since our bill was so small), he pushed our little bag toward us and motioned his hands as if to tell us to leave. So, if nothing else, we got some free donuts out of our Buffalo excursion.

If you know where you are going, I'm sure Buffalo is a nice place to visit... Too bad the Sabres didn't get further into this year's playoffs. It could've been fun to take in the excitement.

At any rate, New York, thanks for the donuts.