Canadian Thanksgiving

Just getting back into D.C. after a milestone weekend in my life and also one of those rare meetings of the minds.

The weekend started as a friend of mine, Brian, left work with me early on Friday to book it to the airport. We flew to Buffalo where one of his industry contacts picked us up and took us out to eat in Buffalo. She picked up the tab for Brian and me. Then we stayed in the presidential suite of a swank hotel. In the morning, we met the sales manager for a complimentary buffet breakfast.

As soon as Brian and I said good-bye to her and grabbed some coffees, in walked the woman who was coming to pick us up  and kidnap us for the weekend across the international line. Brian had been Lou Anne's guest last year, so they recognized each other, and our meeting in the hotel lobby -- 30 minutes ahead of schedule -- was unplanned and coincidental. (As in, no cell phones were used in the making of it! Go figure!) We all went up to the presidential suite to sit and talk for a while before grabbing all our stuff and heading on the road.

Getting into Canada, I didn't have my passport, but my photo ID supplanted by a birth certificate worked. (I was just afraid it wouldn't be sufficient to get me back into the States! But it did.) We were coming up to celebrate the early-harvest Thanksgiving holiday with them with a meal on Sunday, one day early. So the first stop we made was a little grocery store where Lou Anne needed to pick up the humongous turkey she had ordered ahead of time for the following day's meal. Brian and I checked out the selection available at the liquor store next door. There were so many beers I hadn't ever seen or tasted before, which is very uncommon for me. I felt like a fish out of water.

We stopped at Lou Anne's farmhouse, where she gave us the grand tour and made lunch. Then she asked what sightseeing we'd like to do. Niagara Falls is in short driving distance, and although Brian and I had each been there before, it's really worth seeing again and again. This was my first time standing on the Canadian side and looking over at the U.S. side though. After that, we had a drink inside the Hard Rock Cafe and ducked into a casino for some rounds of craps, which I now know I understand even less than I knew I did. Once we hopped back in Lou Anne's car, I took a short nap in the back seat, and Brian dozed off in the passenger's seat. The afternoon was capped off with a tour of a winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake before we returned to the farm.

For dinner, we were finally joined by a fourth personality entering the mix. Lou Anne's brother, Frank, who's now a published author. Lou Anne is the editor of his book, and they're now working on a second volume with a third shortly to follow. They share synergy and passion in their work, but she has all these cracks about the hassles of editing her brother's work, and his humor is very self-deprecating. Frank makes himself the butt of every joke, and Lou Anne is eager to go along with the gag. I played the piano and organ for everybody. Even my friend Brian was surprised to learn I am more than a little decent at it. All three of us males are really deep into an appreciation of Led Zeppelin, so we stayed up pretty late discussing our common interest over drinks.

On Sunday, we had a quick breakfast at the farm. Lou Anne stayed back to prepare Thanksgiving dinner while we three kings went over to Frank's place to check out everything he has collected related to the band. There was enough to do for hours, and we really only scratched the surface of a thriving glacier. In the middle of the day, we broke for some outside time and fresh air. Conveniently enough, Lake Erie is just across the street from Frank's place, so we hopped a barrier and sat on the ledge dangling our feet over rocks and the lake. We could see Buffalo just on the other side of the water. Frank says this ledge is his place to get introspective, so he and Brian took a few minutes away from the Internet and cell phones to think about where we are in life and what we're doing. Me? I took a load of photos of the scenery and of the three of us.

Dinner back at the farm was wonderful. The three additional people who joined us resulted in a fusion of personalities. The company was excellent, and the food couldn't have been better. There was very little difference between that meal and the ones I grew up eating on the same holiday but on Thursdays in late November. I encouraged Frank to bust out his acoustic guitar and play whatever Neil Young and Led Zeppelin songs he knew so I could jam with him. That went unbelievably well.

This morning, it was awful we had to leave so soon. I hope to be back again someday soon. It's not really Canada I'll be missing so much as Frank and Lou Anne. They are just some really great people, and I'll now respect their friendship much more.