2022 • Great Lakes
June 21, 2022 to July 29, 2022
With the world starting to get back to normal, I decided to go on a trip that I had long wanted to go on: traveling to three of the professional sports halls of fame around the great lakes of Ontario and Erie. The trip started in New York City and ended in Cleveland, Ohio. While in New York, I visited the 9/11 Memorial Museum for the first time since 2019 and could spend as much time as I wanted without any students rushing me through. Also, while in NYC, I saw the Late Show with Stephen Colbert! Making our way north, the first hall of fame to visit was the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. Continuing north from Cooperstown, we made pit stops at Fort Ticonderoga and Burlington, Vermont. Then, we took a ferry across Lake Champlain before getting ready to cross the border into Canada the next day.
Upon crossing the border into Canada, we found ourselves in the French-speaking province of Québec and made our way towards Montréal. While in Montréal, I wanted to pay tribute to the old Montréal Expos baseball team by visiting their old stadium (stade olympique) and then spent some time walking around the city. Unfortunately, it was extremely hot in Montréal on that day, so we had to take frequent breaks and find shade and other places to cool down. After leaving Montréal, we made our way towards the capital of Canada: Ottawa. While in Ottawa, I made sure to visit the Canadian Houses of Parliament even though the main building (the Centre Block) was closed for massive renovations. Because of the renovations, temporary chambers were set up for the two houses of the Canadian Parliament: the House of Commons and the Senate. While in the Canadian Senate, one could see the throne of Canada, which, at the time, belonged to the Queen of Canada, Elizabeth II. After Ottawa, we went to Toronto to visit the Hockey Hall of Fame. At the Hockey Hall of Fame, I saw two of the three Stanley Cups (the original and one of the two replicas). The original never leaves Toronto, while the two replicas are the ones that are seen being handed out to the Stanley Cup champions. Finally, while in Toronto, we went to the top of the CN Tower, which was once the tallest free-standing structure in the world and remains the tallest in the Western Hemisphere. Afterward, we went to a Blue Jays game against the Boston Red Sox, where I saw Toronto win convincingly and Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. hit a home run.
After leaving Toronto, we started to make our way south, southwest back towards the United States. Before crossing the border, we visited Niagara Falls, as it is known that the better view is on the Canadian side of the border. We also went on the boat from the Canadian side and got soaked after going right underneath Horseshoe Falls! After, we crossed the border and started making our way towards Cleveland along the shore of Lake Erie. While in Pennsylvania, we stopped at a beach on the lake to lounge around and swim before continuing on the journey to Ohio. Once in Cleveland, we turned south to Canton to visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Since the Rams were the defending Super Bowl Champions, an entire film at the Hall of Fame was dedicated to their 2021 season. Upon returning to Cleveland, we walked around the city a bit, happened across a protest, and then were fascinated by the fireflies after dark. The next day, we went to the airport to head home to California.
