juliaandjanos part 2

Next the seashore. Neither Julia or Janos had ever been to the ocean, any ocean, so they were excited about that stop. A hurricane was coming up the coast so we expected rain and got it. I thought we would see larger waves but these were about the right size to initiate our traveling companions. We each tried a little body surfing and Julia got to try a boogie board courtesy of one of the local folks. Janos was quite surprised when some water splashed in his mouth and he tasted it. He said that he knew the ocean was salty but hadn't thought about it until then. We were also pleased to see a pod of dolphins swim by. A small museum on the road from the beach had a touch tank with live horseshoe crabs and whelk. That gave us a chance to see some of the animals that were under the waves we had just been enjoying. We stopped at a seafood shack for a mess of blue claw crabs before we moved on.

Philadelphia was the next place we visited. There we met Ben Franklin and chatted with him about how Catherine the Great felt about King George letting us get away with our rebellion. He said "You can bet she didn't like it." She figured it would give some of her subjects bad ideas. We also asked him about some of his experiments with electricity and whether he had the opportunity to go up in one of the Montgolfier brother's hot air balloons when he was in France. He said that he had, but that it was secured by a rope not floating free. The museum at the site of his home displayed some of his inventions and scientific studies. Next we saw the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. A Caribbean festival with great music and food was being held on the river front so we had the chance to see a little of it.

When Janos found that the Martin Guitar factory had tours he really wanted to see it. Since both Julia and Janos play we added it to our itinerary. The factory tour was good but loud. We got to see the entire process and also saw some of their original instruments and this picture shows a few experimental designs. They also had a room where you could try their instruments.

From there we went to visit Denise, Brett and Kai. We played with Bionicles and went out for sushi and sashimi including octopus, another new experience.

Niagara Falls, we rode the Maid of the Mist, visited the Cave of the Winds, saw a 3D multi-sensory movie where you could actually feel the spray from the falls, enjoyed the overlooks, toured along the Niagara river, and saw some of the barrels that have carried passengers over the falls successfully.

A brief stop at the Saranac brewery (previously known as Matt Brewing Company and Utica Club) then on to Soahn, Wendy, and Jarrett's for the summer party. Our guests had a little trouble understanding that this was just a party not honoring anything, anyone or any event. Great food including a luau style pig roasted in an imu (pit). Well actually, the pit we had kept filling with water because of the previous days/weeks of heavy rain so we made a mound with a central depression so we would have a properly roasted pig rather than poached, boiled or raw (depending on just how hot the rocks were before the pit flooded and put the fire out). We tie died shirts, climbed the rock wall, made wizard ice cream, enjoyed a DJ, watched fireworks, and did I mention the great food?

Then it was time to say goodby. The day after the party Janos left for New York where he stayed one night then left for Budapest. The day after that we dropped Julia off at a hostel in New Paltz (it looked and felt like we had gone back to the 1960's) where she toured the town and college and met a "real cool American boy" . Then she took the bus to New York for her flight to Moscow and a three day train trip to her home in Chelyabinsk. It was hard to say goodby but we had a great time and I am sure they will tell you that they had an excellent adventure.