DH was a little upset that I hesitated when our lack of space forced a decision around taking her or my golf clubs on this road trip. I really wasn't hesitating- I just wasn’t paying attention- but since neither of those answers score me any points, we decided that the official start to the road trip had to be the very first location of her beloved Tim Hortons coffee shop. DH had developed something of a worrisome addiction to Double Doubles by the end of our stay in TO (I'm sure the maid was puzzled by the coffee stained intravenous bags we left behind) and she knew that this would be one of the last Timmies she was going to indulge in for quite some time.

There was a time when I could make DH’s eyes roll back in her head without the aid of a Double Double (for our American friends, a Double Double is a lovingly prepared coffee with 2 creams and 2 sugars) but now I definitely need a little help from Tim Horton. This mecca of coffee is located in Hamilton and although the original store burned down, it has been replaced by a 2 story coffee dispensary that includes a quaint museum. We had hoped to meet the only original employee who still works at this Timmies but she was on a day off. I suspect that if/when our money runs out, DH will want to join this army of coffee mavens.

After finishing up her java juice, and dabbing her tears, we headed for the border (although we’ve heard that there are a number of harder-to-find Tim Hortons shops in the U.S.). Apparently the sinking Canadian dollar has taken its toll as there was no lineup at the border- we did get a bit of a rough ride from the U.S. border dude who was debating whether or not to let us in, but in relatively quick order we were switching our GPS measures to miles, gallons, and Fahrenheit. 

Our first significant U.S. stop was something of a déjà vu experience for DH. Back in her super cop days, DH regularly found herself on a Wing Run bus with heavily intoxicated fellow coppers heading for the Anchor Bar in Buffalo. She claims to have been a follower and not an instigator but most of her memories have an alcohol haze around them. As a history buff, the Anchor Bar was an important stop for me given that it is the home of the very first chicken/Buffalo wings. A former owner is credited with the creation of the dish when she deep-fried some wings and covered them in Frank's RedHot sauce and butter. Chicken wings were previously used for soup or simply thrown away.

The bar has obviously not changed much in the intervening years and DH was very concerned that there might have been a few leftover scrawling’s on the bathroom wall that might betray her past behaviour. Fortunately I didn’t find anything, although Carol B was still prominently mentioned (I did have to correct the phone number- no need to thank me Carol). The Anchor Bar has mixed reviews on their current wings but I thought they were great (and obviously steroid fed).

Before leaving New York, we stopped at the only factory in the world still making metal Kazoo’s. DH’s memory of Kazoo’s had something to do with tissue paper over a comb but even so, she didn’t seem terribly impressed by the Kazoo Factory.