If you've taken the Queen Elizabeth Way from Toronto to Niagara Falls you know what Barack Obama, the potential next leader of the free world, faced in August 2004 when he made the sometimes white-knuckle drive with his wife Michelle.
Fresh off his rousing keynote address to the Democratic convention in Boston, Obama was in the area to celebrate his Canadian connection.
The occasion was the wedding dinner for the 2003 marriage of his younger sister Maya Soetoro and Burlington, Ont., native Konrad Ng. Like many tourists visiting southern Ontario, Obama wanted to see Niagara Falls.
Obama, who was in the midst of his campaign for a Senate seat, was following his brother-in-law for the 70 kilometres on the QEW. Ng didn't want to lose the future leader of the Democratic party.
Obama and his wife Michelle had flown into Toronto and got a hotel room with their daughters Malia Ann and Natasha, before they rented the car and drove the 120 kilometres south to Niagara Falls.
"[Obama] was able to take a couple days [from the campaign] and visit us and meet his new niece," said Ng, 34, whose daughter Suhaila, now four, was born a month earlier.
Obama commented that Toronto reminded him of Chicago.
"Every place we went he would remark on the commonality [of the places he visited]. I think it's in his character to see those things that are common to us," said Ng.
Family members who had not been able to attend the Hawaii wedding in late 2003 were invited to attend an event at a Chinese restaurant in Mississauga.
In addition to the Falls visit, the Obamas also stopped in Burlington, where Ng's parents live, and hung out at Spencer Smith Park for a few hours.
"[Obama] has young children so we went to the lake and played at the playground. Lake Ontario for me, growing up around it, has always a place to reflect. It's a very peaceful place. I always like sharing it with people," said Ng by phone from Hawaii.
Obama was recognized everywhere he went.
"They would say, 'Hey, are you that guy that gave that terrific speech?' I think that was pretty amazing when you are in Burlington in Spencer Smith Park and some people are walking their dog and they come up," recalled Ng.
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