The week prior consisted of a number of tours, shopping, canal, lake, river cruises and of course, the pub crawl.

 Monday was the all day Lucy Land and western N.Y. tour, followed by the AAA Bisons baseball game at Dunn Tire Park.  

 Tuesday was the train ride on the Medina Railroad, a visit of the railroad museum and shopping at the Ridge Road Station, a railroad and Christmas gift shop . 

 Wednesday, more tours—a ride on a the Jetboat up the Niagara River into the rapids., and then a stop on the American side of Niagara Falls for several hours to tour the Cave of the Winds, ride the Maid of the Mist boat up to the base of the falls and enjoy the natural wonder of the falls.

 Also there was the tour the Buffalo and Western New York Naval Park and Museum, home to several decommissioned ships, displays on military history and WNY war memorials. Then a lunch cruise out into Lake Erie and up the Niagara river. The annual Wednesday night Pub Crawl started this year with dinner…a bus ride to a buffet at Chef’s Restaurant or a walk to a regular dinner at The Pearl Street Grill and Brewery were the most popular. After fueling up, we all met by the fountain in front of the hotel to be loaded on two school buses and taken to the drop off point at the corner of Chippewa and Delaware Streets, with instructions that we were to meet back at that spot at 12:30pm.

 The first thing we all noticed was the enormous number of motorcycles parked along Chippewa Street. Hundreds of bike fanatics gather every Wednesday evening at the Crocodile Bar, listening to oldies and drinking discount beer. Even though it looked like a great party, there wasn’t an inch of spare room for us, so our groups wandered down the street and found other drinking establishments to patronize. We even found one bar that was empty and staked it out as NHLBCC territory. The DJ played the music we wanted, the bartenders kept the beers flowing and eventually a round of shots were downed by all.

 A lot of folks rode back on the school buses but  upon finding out we were less than a mile from the hotel, many opted to party later and walk back. And some folks, not wanting the night to end, continued the party at the Players Sports Bar at the hotel.

 Thursday , a boat tour of the locks on the Erie Canal, followed by lunch, stops for souvenirs and a tour of the carousel museum. The other tour was the Erie County Fair – a day at the largest county fair in the U.S. Rides, midway shows, displays, farm competitions, etc.

 Friday was a visit of the HSBC Arena, home of the Buffalo Sabres for a behind the scenes tour of the facility and then a quick trip up the street to Dunn Tire Park, home of the AAA Buffalo Bisons.

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