I have become interested in Upstate New York, the bit of the US which is now within a three-hour drive from my house. When I was a kid growing up in Nova Scotia, most of us thought the USA was the great Satan or at least, like Upper Canada, a source of nothing that is good. One taste of a beer proved it. Then I moved to Upper Canada and I had to cut through New England once or twice a year to go home. Wasn't so bad on Highway 2. Then Ross moved to Portland Maine and I added a couple of visits down there a year. In PEI the last few summers, I even flew the flags of Maine, Connecticut and Alaska from time to time picked up from Ebay or while travelling. For our next property I would like to add at least Ohio and New Mexico.
Now I find myself infatuated and want to pop over any given weekend just to have a look around. I am watching local Watertown TV sports - covering semi-pro football and single A baseball - and also listening to North Country NPR pretty much every day. Our next planned visit is Labour/Labor Day weekend when we are going to do some state park camping and check out the Great New York State Fair at Syracuse. Saturday, 20 August 2003 is even dubbed "Pie Day". What's not to like about Pie Day?
Without getting deeply into the US v. Canada thing, I find that the welcome you get in the US can't be beat. Maybe they are better at service, maybe it is like the thing where the best looking girl in the room is the foreign girl. Whatever it is, even the beer tasting pretty good these days.
Comments
Humblebub - August 13, 2003 6:40 am
WOW, the Syracuse State Fair. Now there is a stirred brain cell. Great memories as a kid. Something Mom and Dad always took me to. A great example of the US rural fizz. Enjoy. Wish I could be there.
Hans - August 13, 2003 9:38 am
Hey Alan:
My Dad is from Ogdensburg, NY, right across the river from Prescott, Ontario. Ogdensburg itself suffers from some of the problems of smalltown USA such as a deterioriating downtown and a homogenizing strip mall topography, but, as you say, the people are very welcoming. The Americans that I have encountered in this area have none of that Canadian-patented reserve nor do they have that ignorance about anything that is not American that can be found further South. The area along the river is really nice right from Ogdensburg through Morristown, a couple of state parks, to the resort town of Alex Bay and then the 1000 Islands. Finally, I should note, however, that my relatives preferred to boat across the river to get their beer in Canada (Labatt's of any kind was always preferred) rather than suffer through "bud" or "genny". Of course, coming from PEI, I was happy to drink anything in a can.
Alan - August 13, 2003 12:23 pm
I wonder how many of the Islanders I know are secret Americans. You can add Nate and Garrity into the fold. You are right about the tough times alot of the US Thousand Islands towns are facing. Watertown is no resort but they do look like they live on what they earn. My buddy Ross now makes fun of micro-brews by drinking Milronas - a Miller with a slice of lime.