Yesterday Jen, Jason and I drove the six hours of the first official leg of the expedition up north to Buffalo. We got into upstate with plenty of time (mostly because we decided it was not in the best interest of time to stop at Boxing Hall of Fame or the Jello Museum, among other exciting exits offered by the NY Thruway) . We decided it would be, however, to take a small detour to what is arguably the wettest tourist destination in America, Niagra Falls. (I do think that we rocked the complimentary ponchos.)
Jason, Jen and Emily looking classy on the Maid of the Mist
After getting our feet wet and being both awed and terrified by nature’s power (and how tiny our boat, the Maid of the Mist II, seemed in comparison), we met up with Mike Roach, ‘88 and his wife Christine ‘88 at the beautiful Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo to cheer on the Buffalo Bisons vs. the Yankee feeder team, Scranton. The Buffalo-nians were very welcoming, and between all the talking and eating we didn’t cheer on the Bisons as much as we probably should have (and maybe they needed it, as they ultimately lost in the 11th by a grand slam and a “lucky hit”. We all severely wanted the Bisons to win on account of the Williams crew being there.)
Ed Zablocki '74 and Steve Leous '80
The Schratz family, including Jeff '79 and Matt '07
Michael Lucow '74 and Jason '08
Steve Leous '80 and Ted Walsh '76. Ted's wife, Genna '76, were also in attendance.
The largest contingent at the game was the Roach family, who won greatest attendance by a landslide, and the eldest alums in attendance were Dan Roach ‘50, and Gloria Elmer, honorary ‘41 and wife of David Potter Elmer.
The Roach family, including Kate '87, Christine '88 and Mike '88
Dan Roach '50 and his wife Karin. Their license plate reads "6 EPHS."
After the 9th inning it wasn’t looking so good for the Bisons, so we cut our losses and shared french fries, Williams stories, and they all shared wings that claimed to be the nation’s first “buffalo wing” at the Anchorbar restaurant, courtesy of Mike. (I’m a vegetarian so I personally claimed the fries, but Jen and Jason were huge fans of the wings.) By the time we got back to the Roach house, the day’s events and the driving kicked in, so sleep courtesy of the Roach girl’s bunk beds was a wonderful respite from the Green Bullet (our van, name pending. If you have name suggestions for a shiny mint green Toyota Sienna, we’re shopping for good ones.)
This morning we visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House and the really cool Alright-Knox Art Gallery with Christine Roach.
Spirits are high and the gorp bag is full (a special thank you to Wegman’s supermarket). At the moment, we’re driving into Pennsylvania. We’ve officially been in PA for 4 miles, and have already seen one very prominent billboard declaring Fireworks for sale. I think we”ll do just fine here. We’re picking up Joe Cruz ‘91 Associate Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Science as well as Rob Swann, ‘90 Assistant Director of Alumni Relations for our second day festivities at PNC Park. See you in Pittsburgh-
Emily Flynn '09 Buffalo, NY buffalo
