One of my bloggers recently remarked that I must be the only Canadian he knows crossing the border into the USA these days. Well, not quite the only one, there were 26 of us on the Big Red Bus. (Although it seats 48 I believe. There were cancellations.)
We crossed into USA at the Peace Bridge at Fort Erie/Buffalo, no problems at all with the Customs Officers, everything went smoothly in spite of all sorts of stories about people being refused entry. We stopped at the Duty Free, and it was interesting to note we were the only bus in the big parking lot, along with 4 or 5 cars..... usually the place is thronging with shoppers. Nobody travelling to USA.
When our Big Red Bus drove into the driveway at our hotel on Cape Cod in Eastham, Massachusetts, this is the scene that greeted us.
What a wonderful welcome! The Cape Cod area exists on tourism during the summer months, and although there were loads of Americans enjoying the area, Canadians are sorely missed. In many restaurants we were asked "Where are you folks from" and when we replied Toronto Canada, we heard lots of "Welcome! So glad you are here! Tell all your friends! etc etc" We heard heartbreaking stories about hundreds of hotel cancellations, and loss of income. And all because of one person. Sad.
I only personally know of one couple who still travels to the USA and it's because they have family there. Everyone else I know is staying home. My snowbird friends who spend the winters in California are putting their condo on the market now. They can't take the situation any more.
ReplyDeleteActually I cancelled the trip earlier this year and then had second thoughts..... why should I let the situation control what I do. So I went on the trip and had a great time.
DeleteGlad you could have a lovely trip into the States.
ReplyDeleteNot going to get into any political statements but glad you came!
In response to your comment on my blog.. of course we keep all of our business close to our chests. We have always been so careful and I feel if the fraud could happen to us it could happen to anybody. Its terrible how deceiving the scammers can be. Life is different for us but we are doing just fine for a couple of old foogies.. (:0)
Sue
That's a lovely sign and yes, all because of one person. I don't know any other Canadians planning to travel to the US this year.
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