The pedal-paddle of little feet.

Pedaling around Hoyt Lake

On a really super hot sticky humid oppressive Saturday, we decided it would be an awesome idea to grab our books, pedal to the middle of Hoyt Lake in Delaware Park, and read.

Here's what really happened: he read; I pedaled.

Still, Hoyt Lake is really pretty, from both the interior and the perimeter. I spotted a large wading bird I didn't recognize, and the amateur birdwatcher in me compulsively pedaled the boat in circles past the bird until I could get a good photo. Thanks to the Google, I can say with confidence that the bird was a Black-Crowned Night Heron. Scientific name: Nycticorax nycticorax. It sounds very Seussian, right? Cool looking bird: red eyes, yellow legs, and a funny white rattail off the back of its neck. If you ask nicely, the Google can help you learn anything!

We took a walk around downtown Buffalo, which we don't usually do; the Taste of Buffalo food festival was going on, so there were lots of people around. The prices were exorbitant so we didn't partake of any yummy foodstuffs, but we did get some interesting perspectives on the downtown area.

Louis Sullivan's Guaranty Building

Here is a very typical shot of crazy Buffalo. In the left foreground, the Hogwarts-looking structure is the Erie County Courthouse; in the center of the background is the Ghostbusters-esque art deco City Hall; to the right of that, further away, is the in-progress Federal Courthouse, a modern green-glass structure; and in the right foreground, a corner of the monolithic concrete Erie County Parks Office.

Buffalo's architectural mayhem

As often as we try to get out of the house, downtown is never the first destination on our list; it's a perfectly nice area but unfortunately not well-suited for pedestrian tourism. Still, the history and strangeness of the buildings make it a worthwhile trip.