The Algonquin Mill Fall Festival- Carrollton, Ohio

The Algonquin Mill Fall Festival
Carrollton, Ohio
October 9, 2009

The Algonquin Mill Fall Festival has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My parents took me to the Mill as a baby; I played at the festival while in the high school marching band and now enjoy it as an adult. We’ve made it a family tradition- I’ve only missed it once in all my years. As a child I enjoyed jumping into huge piles of hay, Clydesdale-drawn wagon rides and treats like warm cider and apple-butter bread. As an adult, I enjoy shopping for home and holiday decorations, the smell of burning fires and, of course, the endless treats which include cinnamon-spiced almonds, pumpkin roles and goat milk fudge. The Algonquin Mill Festival is the most anticipated festival of the year and one of our biggest family traditions.

The Algonquin Mill was built in 1826 and operated as a grain mill until 1938. It was originally a water-powered mill but was converted to steam power in 1890. It was donated to the Carroll County Historical Society for the purpose of restoration in 1969. In 1970, the first Algonquin Mill Festival was held.

After meeting at Kirk’s Restaurant in Waynesburg, Ohio for breakfast (breakfast, approx. $5) we head toward the Mill Festival, taking Route 43 South to Route 332. My dad usually joins us and we all enjoy the 30 minute ride together through the country. It is a scenic route which passes through picturesque farmland and a quaint town square. On the way, we stop at an antique sale held in a barn. We always have great furniture finds at this antique sale- I’ve found a mahogany chest and Joanna has found a crackled green pantry cupboard. This year, Joanna bought a cherry chest of drawers to match her bedroom set. Browsing for antiques is a great way to start the festival day!

On we go to the Algonquin Mill Festival (parking $8/car). The Algonquin Mill Festival is a family-friendly event with activities for all ages. There is a stage with entertainment from square dancers to violinists. Art contest entries are exhibited in the barn. Restored buildings like a stage-coach inn, a school house and the old grain mill can be visited. Tractors, steam engines and huge wood saws are on display. Stands selling crafts, decorations, food items and furniture are grouped in sections around the festival. Hayrides, face-painting and a petting zoo are only a few of the kids’ activities.

My sisters and I enjoy the shopping and, most of all, the food! The choices are endless- buckeye candies, Swiss cheese and trail bologna sample bags, cookies, warm apple dumplings, sour kraut, roasted nuts, potato soup, cider, pumpkin rolls... I could go on and on. But, with all these choices one thing remains the same- I always get some peanut butter fudge! My dad likes to just relax on the benches, observing whatever is going on around him. My sisters and I wander around the festival complex, browsing the stands that sell everything from alpaca scarves and lye soap to stained glass and wrought iron yard ornaments. At the end of the day we make our purchases and head back to fill up the car and head home. This year I found a great Christmas mantle decoration, Joanna got a few iron lawn ornaments for her new home and Megan got metal ‘icicle’ ornaments. Some years we go all out, saving for months and splurging at the Mill. Other years, we watch our spending and just enjoy the atmosphere. The Algonquin Mill Fall Festival is very special to me. It is an activity that my family has been doing for decades and we hope to continue to do together for years to come!

Ohio Daytrip- Covered Bridges & Wine Tour

Ohio Daytrip- Covered Bridges & Wine Tour
Ashtabula County, Ohio

October 3, 2009

Visiting the historical covered bridges of Ashtabula County is something that I’ve wanted to do for years but never got around to doing. I requested info on the Ashtabula County Tourism website and they sent pamphlets about covered bridge locations, self-guided tour maps and other attractions in the area. One of the self-guided tours was a Covered Bridges & Wine Tour, which passed several vineyards while making a loop to view three covered bridges. This tour seemed like a perfect daytrip to take with my little sister, Megan and my best friend, Diana.

We headed out around 1:30pm from my home in Akron, Ohio and followed Interstate 77North to I-271N to I-90E to Route 528. We arrived around 3:pm to our first destination, Grand River Cellars. We had been very impressed with Grand River Cellars the last time we visited and wanted to try their restaurant, the Tipsy Grape. We were seated at a high table in a cozy section of the dining room with a huge fireplace, furniture groupings and old world charm. We each decided order an appetizer so that we could all share. I ordered the Brie & Pear with blackberry glaze, Megan had the Artichoke & Asiago Dip and Di went with the cheese plate. We were very pleased with our selections. The portions were generous, the dip was warm and creamy and the pear and berries complimented the baked brie perfectly. We shared a bottle of Grand River Riesling, the remnants of which I’m finishing as I compose this blog. We plotted our course and headed out. While pulled over to the side of the driveway to take some pictures of grapes on the vine, a man in a truck approached us, dangled a freshly picked bunch of grapes out of the window and slurred “You girls are going to hell for stealing those grapes!”, then laughed and sped away. Let me be clear- we did not steal any grapes but the entire scene was so comical that it deserved a mention. We were again impressed with our visit to Grand River Cellars and it remains one of our favorite wineries.

From Grand River Cellars we took Griswold Road and followed a sign to Virant Family Winery, a casual winery that serves a lot of fruity wines. There was a wedding going on at the location and we saw a beautiful bride. The actual building looks much like a family restaurant with quilts and crafts on the walls. We each sampled a variety of wines including Riesling, Chiffon, Chantilly Blush, Blazzin’ Blackberry and Rippling Raspberry. They offer snacks and casual meal options, as well.

Our next destination was South River Vineyard. As soon as we pulled in, we were blown away by the surroundings! The location is gorgeous, settled in endless fields of vines. They have added outdoor areas that seem perfectly suited for weddings and other events. But what is really breathtaking about this vineyard is the building, an old church that was originally built at another location in 1892 and escaped demolition in 2000, being relocated and opened as the South River Vineyard tasting room in 2002. The inside is just as beautiful as the outside- stained glass windows, hard wood floors and long pews maintain the church-look but candles, small tables and the marble bar top create a certain mood. We decided to relax at a table with a few glasses and take in the atmosphere. We tried the Riesling, Riesling Reserve, Temptation, Concord and Blush Ice Wines. South River Vineyard was the find of trip!

We were anxious to see a covered bridge and were now very close to the first one on the tour, the Harpersfield Covered Bridge. The bridge is the 2nd longest in the state, measuring 228 feet. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The bridge was built in 1868 and has a lot of interesting history including being washed out by a storm in 1913. A walkway was added in the 1990s and we were able to cross the bridge and take pictures from a park area on the other side. It was fascinating to observe and utilize a tiny portion of Ohio history.

We followed the tour map and headed for the next bridge. This one was slightly more secluded, down a bumpy, pitted dirt road. The Riverdale Road Covered Bridge was built in 1874 and looks like it had been left to age gracefully. It was much smaller than the previous bridge but has the unique charm of something that looks worn.

From there we headed to the last bridge on the tour, the Mechanicsville Road Covered Bridge. The bridge is very picturesque with an arch construction. Built in 1867, it is believed to be the oldest of Ashtabula’s bridges. We crossed this bridge by foot, taking in its interesting architecture. Another landmark sits right beside the bridge- the oldest tavern in Ohio.

We decided that we’d like to visit one more winery before heading home. Someone had mentioned the Old Mill Winery earlier in the day and we decided to check it out. The restaurant was packed and we overheard management telling a patron that they almost always need to have reservations to get a table on a Saturday night. But, we just wanted to sample a few wines so we headed back to the bar. Megan ordered white sangria while Di and I tried a variety of dry and semi-dry wines. We spent some time relaxing on the outdoor patio and then headed home.

Visiting Ohio Wine Country is always a blast and experiencing a little bit of Ohio history by viewing a few covered bridges just added to the daytrip adventure. Even though Ashtabula County is only about an hour and a half away from my home, it is still a great place to spend a day or a weekend just getting away.

Great American Cities- Detroit

Sister Trip to see Detroit & Tori Amos Concert
August 8-9, 2009

Any time my sister Megan or I would tell someone we were planning to visit Detroit, Michigan to see a Tori Amos concert, they always said the same thing- “Be careful!” Detroit has a reputation in the media that only reflects the negative aspects of a city hit hard by the recession. But we suspected that Detroit had a lot to offer the weekend road-tripper looking for some fun.

We decided to take a short weekend trip and planned to drive out on Saturday morning, spend the day seeing a few city sights, go to the concert, spend the night and return the next morning. Instead of consulting the AAA guidebook, I posted questions on TripAdvisor as well as other message boards to get local recommendations. Megan and I chose the sights we wanted to see the most and planned our itinerary. At around 10:am on Saturday morning we hit the road. We drove Interstate 77 North to I-80 W to I-280 to I-75 N into Detroit talking about the possibility of running into M&M or Kid Rock while in town. We decided that while M&M has the bad-boy thing going on, Kid Rock is much more approachable. Alas, we didn’t run into either of them.

The first attraction we visited was the Motown Museum ($10/pp). It is a small museum but is packed with unique items that take you back in time to a legendary era in music. Album jackets and gold records for songs that are still popular today cover the walls. Some parts of the museum are kept to look just like they did when the great musicians were actually recording there. These places include the upstairs kitchen, the downstairs office with switchboard and, best of all, the actual recording studio. The highlight of the museum is the presentation in the studio. The narrator tells the history behind the studio, pointing out original musical instruments, pictures on the wall of famous artists and engaging the audience with demonstrations. He pulled me up front with a group of women to shake my hips and sing ‘Stop! In the Name of Love’, which was a total blast. Then he led the entire group in a rendition of ‘My Girl.’ The magnitude of the history behind the place really hit us when he pointed out that we sang a song in the same place that pioneers like the Temptations, the Supremes and Stevie Wonder had sang. Visiting the Motown Museum was a highlight of the trip.

Next we drove to the Detroit Institute of Art (DIA, $8/pp). I love to visit art museums and always make an effort to visit at least one on each of my trips but a little museum goes a long way with Megan. So we decided to limit our visit to a few sections and concentrated our attention on the Contemporary and Modern galleries. The museum has extensive collections and I quite enjoyed taking in the displays of Arts & Crafts furniture and art objects, thought-provoking minimalist pieces and light installations.

We always make a point to try the local fare when we travel. On this trip, we didn’t spend any time in restaurants. Instead we got food from local take-out places, street stands and bakeries. We’d heard that Detroit’s local food delicacy is a Coney Island hot dog and that there was a competition between two downtown places located right next-door to each other- American Coney Island (about $5/2 dogs- 115 Michigan Ave.) and Lafayette Coney Island (about $4/2- 118 W. Lafayette Blvd). We decided to put them to the test. We got two coney dogs with everything from each place and sampled both. In the end, Lafayette had the edge on texture of dog and flavor combination and won hands down.

A great culinary find in downtown Detroit is a little walk-up window located at 2 John R. St. near the Detroit Opera House- ‘Good Girls Go to Paris Creperie.’ We are big fans of crepes and I myself love to make huge batches for visitors so finding a creperie serving piping hot, super thin pancakes stuffed with delicious ingredients was very exciting. There are at least 20 different crepes (about $5/crepe) to choose from and we did go a little crepe crazy, visiting on both days. We sampled savory crepes stuffed with fillings like mushrooms, onions, spinach and chevre or apricot preserves and brie. We also tried sweet crepes with fruit fillings like blue berries and strawberries, bananas, coconut and chocolate or brown sugar and walnut. We enjoyed each one!After spending the afternoon taking in some sights and tasting local treats, we headed to our hotel to check in and get ready for the concert that evening.

We’d reserved a room at the Doubletree Fort Shelby in downtown Detroit. Originally built in 1916, the newly restored hotel has a spacious lobby and a grand staircase. We saw Before & After pictures of the $90 million restoration project and were amazed by the transformation from a graffitied shell to the up to date place it is now. The decor of the hotel combines classic and contemporary pieces and is inviting and comfortable.Our room was huge. We had a two-room suite on the 9th floor with views of the city, river and bridge. We were able to sit in the windows and watch boats go by. The room had two flat-screen TVs and a great channel selection. The front sitting area had a pull-out couch, lounge chair, coffee and end tables and a work station. The bathroom had granite countertops, ample outlets and great lighting. We had a two-queen bedroom with plenty of room to move around. I was pleased to see that each trash bin was divided into two sections with one side for recyclables.

After relaxing in the room for a little while, we started getting ready for the show. It had rained the entire afternoon but the weather cleared up right before we had to leave. We were both really happy about that- we’re girls, we work hard at our hair and make-up, we were wearing cute clothes and snakeskin heels- rain didn’t go with our outfits! We pranced through the lobby and down the block to the People Mover (50 cents/ride), an elevated tram that circles the downtown area with stops near most of the major attractions in the city- stadiums, theatres, casinos, etc. We rode the tram to the Broadway Station, taking in the bird’s eye views of the city as we passed over.
The Detroit Opera House is beautiful with ornate details, crystal chandeliers and floor to ceiling windows. Originally built in 1922 it underwent an extensive restoration in 1996. We were in the first row of the balcony so we had a great view of the stage. The opening act was ‘One Eskimo’ a folky-pop band with good vocals and thoughtful lyrics. Shortly after the opening act ended, the lights went down and Tori Amos and her band took the stage. This is the fourth time I’ve seen Tori in concert and her show has definitely evolved since the first time I saw her in a small venue with nothing but her and a piano on stage. She now has a drummer, guitarist and a light show. But, she still does things the way she used to, frequently switching between keyboards and sometimes playing two at once. She always puts on a great show and we had a great time.
After the concert, we headed toward the People Mover. As we walked up to the door, a nice guy gave us a few free tokens and we used those to ride for the rest of the evening. We rode to the Greektown Casino and walked around the floor watching people play cards, throw dice and win pots on slot machines. The casino was full of people having fun- there were a lot of events in the city that night, including a Tiger’s game, so there were plenty of characters to mingle with in Greektown. We felt like we were in the middle of a huge party.

After exploring the casino, we headed out to the bustling Monroe Street to the Astoria Pastry Shop (541 Monroe St.) to pick out a few late-night snacks before riding the People Mover back to our hotel.
After changing into comfy clothes we explored the hotel- now that it was late there were very few people in the lobby and we had fun descending the grand staircase, testing out all the of lobby furniture and getting a mini workout in by going down and climbing up ten floors of stairs. We stayed up late snacking on pastries from the bakery, watching TV and talking. The next morning we got ready and checked out of the hotel by 10:am. We decided to bring back souvenir pastries from Astoria Pastry Shop so we made our way across town using nothing but our keen sense of direction and the view of the Greektown Casino to guide us. After having crepes for breakfast, we were on the road and heading into Ohio by noon on Sunday.

Megan and I had a great time in Detroit. We moved around the city freely by car, on foot and public transportation and always felt safe. We were welcomed by many friendly local Detroiters that were full of the Midwestern openness we love and were eager to talk about anything from Cleveland vs. Detroit basketball match-ups to our fabulous snakeskin shoes. The spirit of revitalization is apparent in the city. Sporting events, musical performances, casinos and museums offer something for every visitor. We were glad to spend our tourism dollars in Rustbelt city that’s close to home. We hope to bring our friends back soon to spend another fabulous weekend!

Sister Trip to the Finger Lakes Region- Keuka Lake & Hammondsport, NY

Sister Trip to the Finger Lakes Region- Keuka Lake & Hammondsport, NY

July 1-4, 2009

My little sister Megan and I had wanted to vacation at Keuka Lake in Hammondsport, New York for years. She had spent many summers at Keuka Lake as a nanny to a family with a summer home on the lake. Even after they sold their cottage, she still traveled to Hammondsport for summer vacations. Although Megan and my middle sister, Joanna, had vacationed at Keuka Lake, I’d only spent a day there and was looking forward to experiencing the Lake, the town of Hammondsport and the surrounding Finger Lakes Region on a long holiday weekend.

Day 1- Watkins Glen State Park

From Akron, Ohio the drive to Hammondsport is only about 5.5 hours. We listened to CDs of movie soundtracks, stopped at scenic overlooks and talked about our upcoming adventures as we drove Interstate 77 North to I-271N to I-90E to I-86E to New York Route 54N into Hammondsport, New York, where we’d be staying. But we’d gotten on the road early so our first stop was Watkins Glen State Park, just east of Hammondsport.

The little town of Watkins Glen, on the south end of Seneca Lake, is quite quaint with galleries, antique shops, book stores and other small town storefronts. We were amazed to find the Watkins Glen State Park ($7.00/car) right in the middle of town. It rained our entire trip but when we arrived around 2:00pm the showers had stopped and the sun was peeking out from under the clouds. The views from the parking lot were amazing- we could see steep cliffs on both sides and a bridge crossing over the first of 19 waterfalls.

As soon as we passed through the tunnel which is the entrance to Watkins Glen State Park, we were instantly amazed by the stunning beauty of our surroundings. We’d seen pictures of the park but were still taken aback by everything we were seeing- waterfalls shooting from narrow crevices in the rock wall, small footpaths curving around the gorge, arching bridges over steep cliffs. We decided to explore as much as we could and spent the rest of the afternoon hiking each of the main trails- Indian, South Rim, Lover’s Lane and the spectacular Gorge Trail. We decided to hike the Indian Trail to the top of the Gorge and then walk the Gorge Trail back. This was a very wise decision- there’s a 400-foot rise in elevation over 1.5 miles from the bottom to the top of the Gorge. The Gorge Trail consists of 832 steps- it was much easier for us to make the trek on the Indian Trail with rugged terrain but no steps and just do the steps on the way down.

The views on the Gorge Trail are striking! The sights got more and more impressive as we traveled down the Gorge behind the trickling Rainbow Falls, over a bridge crossing the 60-foot Central Cascade waterfall, into the Spiral Tunnel and behind the rushing Cavern Cascade waterfall. When we reached the bottom of the Gorge Trail we turned around and headed back up so we could do the Lover’s Lane path next. After that, we hiked the South Rim Trail back the Mile Point Bridge and hiked the Gorge Trail out again. Watkins Glen State Park was a great way to start our vacation and was one of the highlights of the entire trip.

From Watkins Glen we traveled beautiful country roads over hills and into valleys back to Hammondsport. We stopped to take in beautiful views of Keuka Lake from an eastern hilltop. After stopping at the Hammondsport Grocery for a few snacks including super-soft and delicious powdered donuts, we checked in to the Vinehurst Inn ($84/night, 10% AAA discount). We enjoyed the Vinehurst very much. The accommodations are very affordable and offer a Continental breakfast, a dining patio and an outdoor fireplace area. We had Room #1 with neutral decor, vaulted ceilings and a small kitchenette area with fridge, microwave, sink and dishes. We loved being the last unit because we had a lot of privacy- there was a landscaped area and a birch tree outside our window and a small area of grapevines beyond. A bench outside our room was a nice place to sit and read. We unpacked, got settled into our room and spent the rest of the evening drinking wine and playing cards.

Day 2- Wine Tasting and More

Although a high chance of rain was in the forecast for every day of our trip, we decided that we were not going to let that stop us from doing most of the things we wanted to do, including hiking a huge hill on the western side of the Lake called ‘Bully Hill.’ After enjoying the Continental breakfast at the Inn, we drove into Hammondsport, parked lakeside and started our hike up a 2.25-milelong continuously climbing hill. The sky was cloudy but blue and there were great views of the hillside, vineyards, lake and bluff. The sky turned dark as we walked back down the hill and rain started to pour as we were nearing the bottom but we just had fun with it, jumping in puddles, kicking our feet and laughing.

Wine-tasting was on the agenda for this day but we first stopped at the Glen Curtis Museum ($7.50/person, $1 AAA discount) because we saw a sign that said they were featuring vintage bathing suits. After watching a short film about Glen Curtis and all his accomplishments (avid athlete and sportsman, aviation pioneer, inventor, “fastest man on Earth”), we took in the bathing suit exhibit. It alone was worth the entrance fee. The bathing suits were fantastic! We loved examining the details of each suit as they were so unique. After the vintage bathing suit exhibit, we walked around the rest of the museum and looked at bicycles and motorcycles that Glen Curtis had built, furniture and jewelry belonging to his wife, and the airplanes, flying boats and other inventions that made him such an influential figure in his day. Visiting the Glen Curtis Museum isn’t the typical type of attraction that we’d take in but we really enjoyed ourselves- the bathing suit exhibit was one of the highlights of the trip.

From there we headed to the Bully Hill Vineyard for our first wine tasting of the trip. We decided to do the custom tasting, which was $1/tasting of any wine on their menu. Our wine guy was very helpful- he took the time to ask us what we typically liked and made suggestions. We chatted with him about hiking in the area while tasting American Riesling, Goat White, Bully Hill Riesling, Sweet Walter White, Ives and Banty Red. After selecting a few bottles to purchase, we headed over to the Bully Hill Restaurant to enjoy a mid-afternoon snack of tapas. We selected Olive Oil Roasted Garlic with Goat Cheese and Baked Brie with Sweet Walter Cranberry Compote along with a glass of Seasons wine. The portions we received were much larger than we had expected and we enjoyed both tapas very much but I think we’d probably give the Roasted Garlic and Goat Cheese the edge if we had to pick a favorite.

From Bully Hill we headed over to Dr. Konstantin Franks Vinifera Wine Cellars for a free tasting. We waited for a few moments to gather a group of about 10 and then headed into a tasting room where a wine guy would give us a choice between two wines, one sweeter and the other drier. Meg and I usually just got one of each so we could try each others, as well. We tried five different pairings including the 2006 Chardonnay, 2007 Gewurztraminer, 2007 Semi Dry Riesling, Salmon Run Coho Red and the Chateau Frank Celebre Champagne. The wine guy was a lot of fun- he kept us laughing the whole time.

After leaving Dr. Franks, our last stop was Heron Hill Winery. We each decided to try any 6 wines on the menu for $5. We loved our wine guy- although he was serving a few different couples he had a way of carrying on individual conversations with each of us. He gave us tastes of wines we had not chosen because he thought we’d enjoy them- all his suggestions were great. He was a blast. I tried the Classic Chardonnay Unoaked 2007, Classic Semi-Dry Riesling 2007, Classic Semi-Sweet Riesling 2007, Late Harvest Vidal Blanc 2007, Reserve Old Riesling 2005, Ingle Vineyard Riesling 2006, Late Harvest Riesling 2004 and Riesling Ice Wine 2003. We made a few purchases and then headed back to our hotel room to relax.

After resting, Megan and I thought it would be fun to go out for a few drinks. We headed to Maloney’s Pub, a place that the Heron Hill wine guy said had live music and a cool vibe. It was open mic night and a duo was playing bar classics like “Margaritaville” and “Rolling Stone.” We met a few locals who generously kept us in shots of Patron and Absolute Cran all night. I chatted with a local grocer Dan who made a few suggestions for the trip to Corning we had planned for the next day. Megan and I had a blast- it was the perfect way to cap off a day full of fun!

Day 3- Bath, Corning and Beyond

It was drizzly and we were recovering from the night out so instead of hiking we decided to just take it easy. Our first destination was Bath to do a little thrift store shopping. On our way we stopped at the Betty Kay Bake Shop to pick up a few treats. The glazed donuts and apple fritters were amazing (3 donuts, 3 cookies- about $3.50)- of all our travels only their glazed donuts have rivaled our own hometown bakery Archer’s.

After making a few purchases at the local thrift shop, we headed East on I-86 to Corning to visit the Corning Museum of Glass. When we arrived the place was packed with kids because they get in for free. Someone had told us that the gift shop offers almost as much to see as the tour does so we decided to skip the tour and visit the huge gift shop instead. What an amazing sight! Everything just gleamed and sparkled. Along with classic Corning and Pyrex bake ware, intricate pieces of art glass and crystal were displayed. Christmas ornaments and household decorations were displayed along with glass lenses used in the space program. As a couple of girls who love to shop, we could have spent hours in here!

We headed into historic Corning for lunch. On Dan’s recommendation, we tried Atlas Brick Oven Pizza (medium pizza, about $9) and it was scrumptious! We ordered the classic sauce and cheese blend, half plain, half with pepperoni. After a morning of feeling slightly under the weather, Atlas Pizza was all I needed to cure a lingering hangover.

That evening we headed to Maloney’s Pub to see ‘Blues Explosion.’ We just wanted to spend a little more time in Hammondsport on our last night so we had a few drinks, enjoyed the band but then headed back to the Inn to start packing up. We spent our last night in the room, playing cards, scrolling through the pictures and reflecting on our trip.

Day 4- Letchworth State Park

Our last day had arrived and we were up early and ready to go by 9:am. Before heading home, we had one last stop to make on our way. We wanted to visit Letchworth State Park, known as the Grand Canyon of the East. From Hammondsport, we headed up NY Route 15 to I-390 and followed county roads from there. Along the way we could see huge wind turbines on the hilltops that surrounded us. We pulled into Letchworth State Park ($6/car) and drove quite a way before we finally came to the Visitors’ Center. We walked from the Visitors’ Center to the lower rim and all the way to the Upper Falls, taking in the views along the way. Letchworth offers vast canyons, roaring waterfalls and grand sights. The Gorge is quite large and offers several spectacular waterfall views. Megan and I enjoyed standing in the misting spray and viewing the rainbows created by the middle falls. We watched a train pass high above the upper falls. We took in many amazing sights.

After leaving Letchworth State Park, we drove northwest until we met up with I-90W and followed that to I-271S to I-77S. We were home by the early evening. Our trip was made up of a combination of the things we enjoy doing the most- active recreation like hiking, relaxing with some wine, doing a little shopping, etc. By preparing and bringing most of our own food we were able to keep costs down. We had a great time at each of the places we ended up and spent our time on a vacation buzz of meeting great people, trying new things and laughing. We’re looking forward to returning soon, hopefully with friends!


More Watkins Glen & Letworth State Parks Pictures