Day 4

We slept in and left Madison at 11 to drive to Edina, MN. On the way we stopped at an antiques store where Courtney got the most delicious ice cream and I wasted $7 on fudge that tasted like cardboard. Maya bought a hat. We arrived in Edina around 4, on the way seeing St. Paul and Minneapolis from a distance. The Rivkins gave us a tour of Lake Harriet, Lake of the Isles and Lake Calhoun, three of Minnesota's 12,000 lakes. We also walked around the Sculpture Garden and saw the famous oversized spoon and cherry that Minneapolis is apparently known for. Maya and Courtney spent the night at the Rivkins and I spent the night in Orono with my aunt, uncle and 2 cousins who I hadn't seen in years. It was really nice to stay in a house and to see familiar faces.

Day 3

We left our subpar accommodations early and headed West towards Chicago, which was a much quicker drive than our previous destinations. Parking in the loop, which is what the locals call the center of the city, we headed towards the Cultural Center to collect maps and do the free walking tour. Unfortunately, we were quickly rejected because it was 15 minutes before the place opened, so we walked through the Millennium Park. This park had unique pieces of art and architecture, including Cloud Gate, which looks like a giant reflective bean, and a cool outdoor concert venue. After, we went on a free hour-long tour by a very knowledgeable guide who talked about the city, individual buildings, the history, and personal anecdotes. We then made our way to the Sears tower. We paid to go up to the 99th floor and saw a 360 degree view of the city. After that we went to the fountain at Grant Park and walked along the water to the Navy Pier, which had a small, McDonalds sponsored carnival, delicious crepes and candy nuts, and lots of tourists. We then walked to the Trump building and stealthily used their bathroom, which had fancy cloth towels instead of the normal paper towels. The average room went for about $500 per night, but we didn't think it was all that impressive (except for the cloth towels). Next we hopped on the subway to Oak Park to see Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture. We passed through a lot of sketchy neighborhoods and were surprised to see that Oak Park was a nice, residential area. After walking around all day we'd worked up an appetite so we headed back to the downtown area to eat. The first place we tried was a bit more pricey than we'd planned, so we asked for the nearest TGI Friday's type restaurant and were directed to Bennigan's where we devoured our burgers in record time. We then left Chicago and drove two hours to Madison, WI to spend the night.

Day 2

We woke up at 4:45 to go back to Niagara to see the sunrise. We took even more pictures and then we headed off for Cedar Point, an amusement park in Sandusky, OH. It has been voted the best amusement park in the world for 11 straight years and it lived up to the hype. There were a ton of roller coasters and Chrissie went on her first big roller coaster. The biggest roller coaster we rode was called Millenium Force and it was the first roller coaster to break the 300 ft barrier. Chrissie and Courtney rode 5 coasters and a couple spinning rides that you couldn't pay me to go on. I ended up riding 4 before my stomach got the best of me. We played a card game called Scat in line and it made the lines go a lot quicker. Then we set off for Chicago but unfortunately didn't make it there that night as planned. Right over the Indiana border a really smart deer decided to jump into our car. We pulled over and called AAA and when the tow guy got there he took one look at the car and told us we could keep on driving even though the headlight was completely smashed and the driver side panel was falling off. Because of the delay we couldn't make it to the hotel that we had planned on staying at so we had to improvise and we ended up staying at a Motel in La Porte, IN. The motel had subpar accomodations although I guess you get what you pay for.

Day 1

We left at 6:00 am from Courtney's house in Needham, MA and headed towards Howe Caverns in NY. We arrived right when they opened at 9 and got on the first tour of the day. The caverns were a constant 52 degrees and we were a little chilly in shorts but the sights made up for it. We walked part of the tour and part of the tour was in a boat. At one point the guide turned off all the lights and we got to see how dark it was before they installed all the lighting. After the tour we got back into the car and set off for Niagara Falls. When we got to Niagara we crossed right over the Canada border and did a boat tour that took us right to the base of the falls, we walked behind the falls and we did a 4D simulation of the creation of the falls. It was a really nice day and there was a rainbow and we took a lot of pictures (especially Chrissie). We walked on Clifton Hill, this street with all sorts of weird attractions. It was Disney World meets Vegas. We walked into a fudge shop that smelled amazing. Courtney and I made a bet that Chrissie would get some but she resisted temptation. We crossed back over into the US to see the sunset from the US side but by the time we parked and SPRINTED to the park the sun had already set. We waited around because after it gets dark they light up the falls with all different color lights. That night we stayed at a hostel in Buffalo, NY. The hostel was really clean even though it was in an interesting area.