DART 2023 on and on

 So we crossed into the US after leaving St Andrews by the Sea early in the AM - luckily the time change from Atlantic to Eastern helped us make excellent time to the New Hampshire, Vermont border. We stayed in Lebanon NH so we could re-visit the Four Aces Diner where we had eaten a meal on a past trip.

We had aged but apparently so had the clientele... former trip on Left and current trip on the Right

their famous popovers with maple butter - come steaming from the oven and the butter just melts right in!

Then it was on the road through the ADK to the easternmost point of the southern shore of Lake Ontario.  We had left off at Sackett's Harbor on our last tour of the area- so we used that as a starting point and stayed in Watertown.

after dinner at a local restaurant we went for Frosty's - soft serve! 

The next morning we headed out along the lake's south shore heading west- 

For breakfast we used a gift card I had been carrying for months for Cracker Barrel (not a "thing" in the city) food was good and service was as well-

We stopped at a State Park on the lake front- it was extremely windy that day- for the whole day - as it turned out- 

Then we went on to Fort Ontario in Oswego -

After leaving the fort we drove west and stopped at a Falls in Wolcott -

Our final dinner of the trip was in our overnight stop of Medina (at Zambistro and excellent) was to cap the trip off - probably the second or third best meal of the trip.

breakfast on our final morning of the trip- as we headed from Medina to Buffalo - along the south shore of the Lake...

Before we left Medina we went to the RR museum - 

then on to more lake side cruising- 

Our final point on the western edge of Lake Ontario- was at Old Fort Niagara- where the Niagara River flows into Lake Ontario.  This would bring us to the point of having circumnavigated the following of the Great Lakes- 

 *Lake Superior 

* Lake Huron - including the entire Georgian Bay

* Lake Erie

* Lake Ontario including the Niagara River, The St Lawrence River and the St Lawrence Seaway out to the end of the Gaspe Peninsula. 

You might ask "But what about Lake Michigan?" We might do it as a whole some day- but since Chicago is right on Lake Michigan and we have traveled up the and down the eastern side of the Lake when visiting friends in Traverse City area, along with trips up along some of the Wisconsin side- it holds less appeal for me. And for TB- he has family in Michigan in the Traverse Bay area, and so has seen a fair amount of the Lake Michigan shore as well; so who knows when we might get to it- 

 

The last photo of the trip - taken through the windshield as we approach the Buffalo airport for our return flights  to Chicago and Denver, looks like a signal from aliens - friendly ones - smiley faces in the sky....

or perhaps it was just us manifesting our feelings of completion of another DART in the series..... either story fits! #travelwithfriends, #travelbuddies, #insurancedudes, 

Next up for Phil & I on the travel calendar - D.C. in mid to late September- but first- surprise- social plans! Stay tuned....