A Long Road Trip / Vacation and the Things I Learned

Wow, so it's been a few months since I've written anything. This past weekend, my kids were participants in the Isshinryu World Karate Association's World Championship tournament, which is a bi-annual tournament for all Isshinryu students around the world. This year it was held in Akron, Ohio, which is about a 6 hour drive from our home in New Jersey. We decided to extend our time off to include a detour to Buffalo/Niagara Falls for 2-3 days on the way home to break up the monotony and see a great site! This was our children's first time in a hotel and their first time in a state that doesn't border NJ. It was also the longest car trip for them ever and along the way, I think I learned a lot. Here's what I can pass on to you.

1. Kids get absolutely stir crazy in the car past the first hour. There was so much bickering and silliness and noise that we almost lost our minds! Have them play tag at the rest stops. We learned that lesson late on the way home, but boy, it worked!

2. Kids get even more out of control in hotel rooms. Something about being cramped up in one room with two beds to jump on just stirs something up that makes me want to take a vacation from vacation.

3. Somehow you have more laundry than is possible on vacation, and you'd be wise to do it at your hotel at some point. Yep, I did two loads before we came home so I came home with minimal dirty laundry.

4. Nothing can be re-packed the way it was originally packed. Somehow, you don't have room for the same stuff you brought with you. You're going to buy souvenirs and stuff, but I'm not even talking about those. I'm talking about the exact same stuff you managed to pack so neatly on the way out. Yeah, it doesn't fit coming back. By the end, you're fine with various plastic bags that make no sense and just have everything thrown together.

5. Your kids will fight almost every single time about pushing the elevator buttons and opening the hotel door. Expect that.

6. Your kids will want to swim in the hotel pool and hot tub every minute you're in the hotel.

7. Torture can be defined as having to drive across PA on Route 80 from one border to the other. Seriously. The most boring, horrible ride I can remember taking. I've taken this ride before and have apparently blocked it from memory because it's that suckish and I got to hear from my kids over and over... are we STILL in Pennsylvania?? Are we ever going to get to Ohio?

8. That being said, if you do have to do a similar drive, do stop in Williamsport to see the Little League Museum and fields. That was fun for my kids since they watch the LLWS every year. But then you get back in the car and it's STILL four hours to Ohio!

9. Highways in every state are always under construction.

10. Highway signs in Ohio are shaped like the state, and street signs in Buffalo have, you guessed it, little buffalo on them. Clever places.

11. Akron, Ohio is a very dead little town. Seriously. Nothing goes on there. At all. Maybe it livens up with the University of Akron is in session. I don't know.

12. Cleveland is home to the Christmas Story house and museum, which was super cool for our kids to visit. You can go in the house and touch just about anything you want and the tour guides will take any pictures of your family you want. There's a store across the street that sells basically anything from the movie you could ask for, but I wasn't buying $25 bunny slippers or a $70 Red Rider BB Gun, sorry. Oh, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is there, attached to the Great Lakes Science Center, right on Lake Erie. Beautiful waterfront fun for all.

13. The NYS Thruway in western NY is a little two lane road with nothing around it. A huge difference from the Rockland/Westchester area where the NYS Thruway is a small slice of Hell.

14. When you get off a highway in PA to hit a Burger King or gas station, it's just a weird, creepy, quiet area and you wonder where the hell the people that work there live because there's nothing around you for miles and miles.

15. Western NY is absolutely beautiful.

16. Buffalo is a cool little city, albeit sort of dead as well, but what do you want a person who grew up in Jersey to think? Everywhere is dead compared to here. And sometimes that's a nice thing.

17. If you go to Niagara Falls, stay in Buffalo. It's cheaper and only a 20 min ride. Also, bring a passport. It's so hard to look at beautiful Canada right there and not be able to go.

18. Likewise, if you go to Niagara Falls, get there early to park in a $5.00 lot and do get yourself a guided tour. Yes, we spent more $ this way, but we got on the bus, so we didn't have to drive and pay to park at every spot (which you would have to) and we didn't have to walk from the overflowing parking lots to each attraction. You get special tour bus parking right near the entrances. Plus, you get to leave your stuff on the bus, which helps when you're in a poncho getting soaked. The tour guides take you to spots you probably wouldn't know to go on your own and then point out all the areas you can come back to and park for free and see things on your own. Well worth the money.

19. Apparently, nobody eats bagels anywhere. Seriously. I think we saw ONE bagel shop the entire trip and it was in Buffalo somewhere. However, if you want fireworks, alcohol or porn, you are more than covered.

20. If you're in Buffalo, eat at the Anchor Bar, home of the original buffalo wings. Bring change for the parking meter because the lot was always full, as was the restaurant, but we went on the one night we saw no line and hubby said the wings were very good. Very hot. He got the suicidal ones. Genius. :)

21. Driving through other states and seeing the towns/cities off the highways will make you realize how nice NJ actually is. Man, some places are seriously depressing and that was true for PA, OH and NY.

22. When you get home, your lawn will need to be cut.

23. Nobody will want to unpack.

24. Or cook. Not that you'll have food to cook anyway.

25. And, lastly, you'll be completely broke. Welcome home!!! :)

(That's us in The Christmas Story house kitchen)