This isn't going to help the Sabres

[Night Train]

This won't help either.

National exposure !  

 

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/buffalo/news/2025/08/27/buffalo-sabres-to-appear-7-times-on-national-broadcasts-this-season

[Flashsabre]

Missing  the playoffs for 15 years plays a big part. Why put up with the BS at the border when the product on the ice isn’t worth watching.

[Dex]

5 hours ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Plan is a take it slow day. Going to take Rt 20A until the 390, then veer south to Dansville. From there we'll head to Naples and putter around there for a bit. Then drive through the Bristol hills along Rt 21 into Canandaigua. I love the views along there. We'll stop at any of the farms, wineries, breweries, and antique shops that capture our interest along the way.

I booked a hotel in the Pittsford area and we may hang out in that area Saturday.

If you're headed to Naples, may I suggest stopping in at Inspire Moore Winery.  My wife and I have been wine club members there for the past 4-5 years or so.  It's a very friendly place with a relaxed atmosphere and very good wines.  We enjoy going there so much, that we've opted to pick up our quarterly wine club package as opposed to having it delivered and we live in the Buffalo area.  We prefer dry whites and reds, but they have something for most palates.  You can do a tasting and/or enjoy a glass of on the adjacent porch/deck with a view overlooking the vineyard.  You can also head down to an area directly behind the tasting area and get a great view of the vineyard from ground level.

The Roots Café on the same property, but with different owners, has really nice food if you're looking for some place to eat.

Edited 8 hours ago by Dex

[LabattBlue]

2 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Then explain the drop when the Sabres aren't playing?

Who knows? Maybe Canadians who come across for something as simple as dinner or outlet shopping decided it’s not worth it.  

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, Dex said:

If you're headed to Naples, may I suggest stopping in at Inspire Moore Winery.  My wife and I have been wine club members there for the past 4-5 years or so.  It's a very friendly place with a relaxed atmosphere and very good wines.  We enjoy going there so much, that we've opted to pick up our quarterly wine club package as opposed to having it delivered and we live in the Buffalo area.  We prefer dry whites and reds, but they have something for most palates.  You can do a tasting and/or enjoy a glass of on the adjacent porch/deck with a view overlooking the vineyard.  You can also head down to an area directly behind the tasting area and get a great view of the vineyard from ground level.

The Roots Café on the same property, but with different owners, has really nice food if you're looking for some place to eat.

Naples doesn't turn all its grapes into pies?  Who knew?  😉 

[pastajoe]

I’ve been vacationing on the south Jersey shore, and it historically has attracted many Canadians, especially from Quebec. So far I’ve only seen one Canadian license plate. 🤷‍♂️

[Ogelthorpe]

Or it could be that $.62 is the reason the Canadians are not coming. 

[JoeSchmoe]

4 hours ago, shrader said:

It does make me wonder about how many people actually have had the uncomfortable experiences vs. how many have heard a story of one.  People do have a way of magically making those stories their own.

This is exactly it. At my peak when the exchange was good, I was crossing the border at least once a week... usually more. I still go across once a month or so.

The ratio of jerk border guards to nice border guards pretty much matches the a-hole to non-a-hole ratio you see in the general public. Some are extremely nice. Some take their bad days out on you. Most are indifferent. The Canadian border guards are no different... But if I had to pick I'd say US are friendlier, probably because they're not worried about me smuggling booze or smokes.

I've heard so many "non-crossers" talk about how bad the US border guards are. These people might cross once every 5 years and have the fear of God anytime they do so. They dutifully soak up all the horror stories they hear on the CBC and social media though and somehow believe they're entering the Wild West on the other side of the river. As a die-hard "Niagaran", I feel much more at home in the Buffalo area than I do in the GTA. People are friendlier, traffic is sane, and of course I like the hockey team better! 

[In The Buff]

9 minutes ago, Ogelthorpe said:

Or it could be that $.62 is the reason the Canadians are not coming. 

lets be real, we know why they're not coming here. Tourism in general to the US is down across the board. Not just from Canadians but from the world in general.

As an aside, the US for the 1st time i can recall is on pace to have net negative migration. Meaning more people are leaving the US than entering it. Which puts the US in league with nations such as Syria, Sudan, Pakistan, China. Not nations one would typically expect the US to be joined with but here we are.

As for how it impacts our region, i hope the small business owners can weather the storm. Canadians are vital to our region & economy & they are our friends.

At least we'll have less Leafs fans in the crowd, but this isn't the way i wanted that to happen. I wanted us to beat them consistently on the ice. Where their fans got sick of making the trip, just to watch the Leafs lose again. Sadly that's not the case.

[Indabuff]

The problem is some people think they're waltzing into a public park.   It's not.   It's an international border.  The vast majority of people crossing have no ill intentions but unfortunately there are nefarious characters attempting to cross.  It's up to the officer in the booth to determine what a person's intentions are.  Don't have an itinerary?  Yeah that's gonna be a problem. 

It's the summer and regardless of crossing percentages and political pissing matches it's still busy.  Some of these officers show up to work not knowing if they're working a regular shift or a double...multiple days in a row.  It's no reason to be unprofessional but put yourself in their position.  

[PromoTheRobot]

5 hours ago, LabattBlue said:

Who knows? Maybe Canadians who come across for something as simple as dinner or outlet shopping decided it’s not worth it.  

Yes. That's the point of the article. Crossing for any reason is a hassle.

[PromoTheRobot]

1 hour ago, Indabuff said:

The problem is some people think they're waltzing into a public park.   It's not.   It's an international border.  The vast majority of people crossing have no ill intentions but unfortunately there are nefarious characters attempting to cross.  It's up to the officer in the booth to determine what a person's intentions are.  Don't have an itinerary?  Yeah that's gonna be a problem. 

It's the summer and regardless of crossing percentages and political pissing matches it's still busy.  Some of these officers show up to work not knowing if they're working a regular shift or a double...multiple days in a row.  It's no reason to be unprofessional but put yourself in their position.  

But until now there was a reasoned approach to crossing the border. There was an understanding that most people are just going to a game or doing some shopping, and that border crossings are an economic engine. Now how much sense is there in hurting businesses in your border community by treating everyone crossing with suspicion? That's overdoing it and it's unnecessary.

[clink]

11 hours ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Canadian here.

I know a LOT of Canadians who aren't crossing over and say they won't until Trump is out... even if the trade situation improves. Rightly or wrongly, the media here is very anti-Trump and they've done their best to paint the worst picture possible. 

I'm not a black or white person, and I still actively cross... though bad exchange and US inflation has reduced the frequency (I'm going to the Finger Lakes on Friday).  I suspect part of the 37% are people like me.

I think the border has actually gotten friendlier since the tension started. The US border guards are better than the Canadian ones! Maybe they had customer service lessons with all the poor media attention.

Grimes Glen is my fav hiking spot in Naples. While, it's not quite the "hidden gem" that it used to be (seeing a soccer mom toting a Macy's bag one weekend afternoon, was a bell cow to a changing time LOL), it is still a beautiful trek, IMO. Nothing like creek hikes and waterfalls ❤️

Why not stay at one of the two, new'ish hotels in Cdga vs staying in Pittsford? 

[JoeSchmoe]

6 hours ago, Dex said:

If you're headed to Naples, may I suggest stopping in at Inspire Moore Winery.  My wife and I have been wine club members there for the past 4-5 years or so.  It's a very friendly place with a relaxed atmosphere and very good wines.  We enjoy going there so much, that we've opted to pick up our quarterly wine club package as opposed to having it delivered and we live in the Buffalo area.  We prefer dry whites and reds, but they have something for most palates.  You can do a tasting and/or enjoy a glass of on the adjacent porch/deck with a view overlooking the vineyard.  You can also head down to an area directly behind the tasting area and get a great view of the vineyard from ground level.

The Roots Café on the same property, but with different owners, has really nice food if you're looking for some place to eat.

This sounds awesome... I'm going to make a point to stop here. We live close to a lot of wineries and like going as a quick impromptu date (one is walking distance). We don't drink a lot of wine and don't have refined palettes so we mainly just go for the ambience. Friendly, relaxed, and great views are right up our alley.

We may duck into the cafe as well if we haven't eaten yet. There's a BBQ place in Naples that caught my eye.

[JoeSchmoe]

5 minutes ago, clink said:

Grimes Glen is my fav hiking spot in Naples. While, it's not quite the "hidden gem" that it used to be (seeing a soccer mom toting a Macy's bag one weekend afternoon, was a bell cow to a changing time LOL), it is still a beautiful trek, IMO. Nothing like creek hikes and waterfalls ❤️

Why not stay at one of the two, new'ish hotels in Cdga vs staying in Pittsford? 

Grimes Glen was also on my to do list. Should we bring water shoes? 

I didn't see any hotels in Canandaigua for under $400CAD. Otherwise I probably would have stayed there. In any case my wife likes US suburbs for the shopping, cafes, etc. You guys probably take it for granted, but for us it's all kind of unique compared to Canada.

[Indabuff]

21 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

But until now there was a reasoned approach to crossing the border. There was an understanding that most people are just going to a game or doing some shopping, and that border crossings are an economic engine. Now how much sense is there in hurting businesses in your border community by treating everyone crossing with suspicion? That's overdoing it and it's unnecessary.

I'm sorry, do you commute daily across any of the four bridges for business or school?  Do you cross on a regular basis for family?  Do you work for CBSA or CBP?  I'm confused to how you've come to that conclusion.  Simply based on an article?  I've got better things to do then get into a pissing match over border perspectives on a hockey blog.  I simply posted because the fear of crossing the border for legitimate reasons is unwarranted.

 

[clink]

38 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Grimes Glen was also on my to do list. Should we bring water shoes? 

I didn't see any hotels in Canandaigua for under $400CAD. Otherwise I probably would have stayed there. In any case my wife likes US suburbs for the shopping, cafes, etc. You guys probably take it for granted, but for us it's all kind of unique compared to Canada.

Water shoes, absolutely!!! Even if it's been a relatively dry summer, there are likely a few spots that are unavoidable and mid-calf deep. 

Mind you, it's been a few years since I've been down that way, and the state has been "improving" the trail, so it might be traverseable with sneakers? There is a dirt path which runs on either side of the stream, but where's the fun in that? 😁

Just outside of Naples is the lesser known (not as many humans to spoil the nature setting) trail, Clark's Gully. 

A bit more of an advanced hike vs Grime's, and not as much stream, but it's just as pretty IMO 

I'd imagine those hotel rates will start to dip in the coming weeks? There are numerous B&B's in the city (I live here, and the "city" designation is laughable, as there can't be more than 20k residents in the city of Canandaigua), and they're in the historic district (gorgeous homes). 

I bet there are a few stunners to be found along the lake, if you search the Air B 'n B app? 

Pittsford is a pretty town, but I'm a country boy so Monroe County is a "no" for moi 😁