Isle View Park

By the time we left the Aquarium, it had become a beautiful day - sunny & warm! We decided to head to our old neighborhood in Tonawanda for a picnic  dinner at Isle View Park. There's a great little (and somewhat hidden) hot dog stand called Vinnie's right between Niawanda Park & Isle View Park. We always enjoy stopping there because it's a quiet section of the park that doesn't get the loads of traffic like near Mississippi Mudds & Old Man River. 

As much as we complained about Tonawanda, a little part of us will always miss living there. We especially miss having the River only a few blocks away. Not to mention, the Tonawanda's are our heritage... it is where both of our families originally settled. Simply put, it is where we are from. On my dad's side of the family, there are the famous Tiebor Seals, which were trained in the Canal by my great, great uncle and traveled with the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus. The first house on Morgan Street was also built by my father's side of the family. My great, great, great grandfather (the guy that came over on the boat from Germany) is buried in the Tonawanda City Cemetery. Ter's maternal grandfather worked for the logging industry in North Tonawanda. His great grandfather was a shoe maker in North Tonawanda. T's grandmother sold AVON door-to-door in Tonawanda as a single mom while raising her two daughters. My grandparents on my mother's side are Pennsylvania Dutch and settled in North Tonawanda. My mom was a NT Lumberjack. My dad and T's mom were both Tonawanda Warriors. My aunt & T's aunt went to high school together and were friends. T & I were both born at DeGraff Memorial Hospital in North Tonawanda. Ter spent some of his childhood on Frederick Rd. in Tonawanda, while I was in the city of North Tonawanda on Linden Ave until I was five. I grew up hearing about the T-NT rival. We both have memories of the Canal Fest. We both remember Bedell's Restaurant in Tonawanda. We remember the department store on Webster in NT (where Tanning Bed is) - it had an upstairs & there was a pet store downstairs. We can't remember the name of that store, but both remember visiting it as kids. T's parents owned LaCucina Restaurant in Tonawanda... and, anyone that is from TNT remembers LaCucina's!!  I went to church right across the street at Bethesda Tabernacle. My parents went to church with T's aunt & uncle. T's cousins vividly remember me as a little girl, pig tails in my hair proudly reciting my full name to them. We swear we met when we were children, arguing over a PacMan video game at his parent's restaurant. Shall I continue? :)

You see, we may have moved 30 miles South but the Tonawanda's will always be a part of who we are.