Day 2- Toledo, OH - Niagara Falls, NY

           After a very hectic, but successful, first day out of Chicago, it was good to wake up and have a homemade breakfast. Once again, as the comforts of home soon give way to the confines of American hotels it dawns on me just how important the concept of “home” is to the individual. Home is were the heart, and your stuff is…Home is where you live a majority of your life. Home is where you plan your life’s adventures, then you go live those planned adventures.

            As we pulled away and waved goodbye to Aunt Anne and Uncle Jim my thoughts wandered to the relationships all of us have with people we know and love yet we hardly ever see. Distances we travel reflect the impact of geographical boundaries in our lives…while distance physically separates us, our uncanny ability to maintain strong, meaningful connections to other people is a cornerstone of human behavior. Sociologically speaking, we like to maintain connections with others in our group. Psychologically speaking, our individual behaviors include taking both the time and energy to maintain these relationships.

Here’s a simple question for you: Are you satisfied in the manner in which you maintain connections to distant friends and family? Here’s a simple challenge for you: Think of three people/families you rarely get to talk to or visit…then think about how you can change that situation.

As the day unfolded the weather played an ironic card today. It rained, hard, again…After the Chicago’s drought-filled summer it’s beyond ironic that I’ve driven through storms for two days in a row. Go figure…

I am going to close today’s entry with one of my favorite topics…food! For dinner I found a wonderful local Italian restaurant. Time was short so I went for a traditional East Coast favorite…the steak hoagie. I love to eat and I love to cook. This sandwich was remarkable in every way a sandwich could impress the diner. The bread, an individual eight-inch loaf was fresh-baked with a slight-crisp crust and a a warm and airy center. Simply to die for…The contents: A pile of East Coast goodness: Shave rib-eye steak, freshly sautéed onions and peppers, and a honey mustard/mayo 1-2 combination that brought all the flavors home. It was a sandwich worth driving 589 miles to eat and I can guarantee you it will be a meal I remember for a very long time…A seven dollar sandwich buys me lifetime memory. 

If you’re ever in Niagara Falls, NY- http://www.leonspizzabistro.com/about.html.

What are your memorable meals of a lifetime?

Travel is so enlightening…even a sandwich can rock your world.

Tomorrow is my first full day of touring as it’s time to explore the Niagara Falls region. I anticipate seeing Niagara Falls, riding on the Maid of the Mist, exploring Cave of the Winds, and visiting Old Fort Niagara.

As a special treat for you blog readers: I’ve launched my own Twitter account…See if you can find me @FollowMrKinzie..

Something special for the first Hitchian who checks in!  ;)

Thanks for joining me…Mr. K.