An Erie Feeling

It's an erie feeling... well okay, so it was just a visit to Fort Erie. Bethany, Ben, Hannah and I took a ride to Fort Erie, Ontario on Friday. We got there at about noon and were able to visit with Grandmanita and Gail as well as take a drive around and visit some historical places. First we went to the Fort Erie cemetery where some relatives are buried and then we went to lunch at Gail's favorite place, the May Wah Chinese restaurant. After lunch we headed over to the Old Fort where Gail sneaked us in the back door. Actually, her husband is very involved in the history of the fort so she got us in for free. How cool is that? We watched a musket demonstration, toured the old fort, and heard how "bad" the Yanks were in the war. On the other side of the Niagara River the Brits were the good guys and the Yanks were the enemy. Here at home it's a slightly different story...
Anyway, from the fort we decided to go and find the old Teal house on the Ridgeway battlefield. It's now a museum (which was closed) that dates back to 1866 and a different war in Canada. We like to stop because the house belonged, at one time, to James' ancestors.

Next we took a drive down Teal Rd. which is where Grandpa Jim grew up. The old farmhouse and barn have been gone for several years, and it's just a dirt road, but it still says "Teal". (That's a name, not a color.) From there we found Grandma and Grandpa Teal's old church and their graves out in the churchyard.

After that there was just one thing to do before meeting up with Grandma and Gail again... find some mint chocolate Aero bars for James. This took a little looking around and I finally asked a woman who worked in Walmart. She directed me to a store across the street from where Nanny's house used to be, right where James bought them years ago.

After another short visit and delicious dinner, we finally headed back across the Peace Bridge for home. A wonderfully "Erie" day.