Early morning at the Dunkin Donuts

B woke at 4:40 this morning, and, all being in one motel room, one of us had to get up with her (as opposed to letting her tough it out until 6 am and wake up everyone), and today was my turn. We ended up at the Dunkin Donuts where, because I had a baby with me, the other few customers were very chatty and friendly. They were locals and I learned a bit (perhaps a skewed bit) about Niagara Falls. Evidently you can appreciate the falls much better from the Canadian side because you aren't looking down the falls but across at them. Early in the morning, late at night, and not on weekends is the time to cross the border. Also, evidently the Canadian side is much more tourism-oriented than the US side (which surprised me). In the 1960s, many of the tourism-oriented buildings were torn down in Niagara Falls US in order to make way for "urban renewal." "So, how'd that work out for the city?" "Not good." While the US was tearing down its tourism infrastructure, Canada "copied us."

Also of course got to see a picture of the woman's grandchild on her cell phone. One of the men reminded me so much of Uncle Gary because of his gregariousness, which I told him, and he responded that his wife said he'd "talk to a tree."

All in all, a very enjoyable way to spend a way-too-early morning on a shitty commercial strip in Niagara Falls, NY.