As is often the case these days, I've fallen a bit behind on my blogging. It's now September 20. We left the Finger Lakes on September 10. My last post prior to this one was on September 8. We've covered a lot of territory; I'll try to be brief.
On Labor Day morning we did a little backtracking. We drove back the hour and half from Geneva to the Buffalo/Niagra Falls area. We were excited to do so because there's plenty to do in the area, and we had a special guest joining us for a couple of days.
Ben had to work until 3:00 but made the drive (3 hours) from Slippery Rock after getting off. He made it just as the sun was setting. We had a full two days of fun planned and we kicked it off as soon as he arrived. After getting a bite to eat we headed to Niagra Falls State Park to get a look at the falls at night. Morning, noon or night, they're always spectacular. At night they are lit up, turning them into a kaleidoscope of ever-changing color. As an added bonus, from May to October our Canadian friends have nightly fireworks at 10:00 PM. The fireworks show was about five minutes in length and very enjoyable even though the weather was a little drizzly.
Tuesday morning, we hit the links at the City of Niagra Falls Hyde Park Golf Course. The course wasn't very busy and the nice gentleman in the pro shop gave us an extra cart so Beth could ride along and provide commentary on the match. I asked Ben for two shots a hole, but he felt that was a little excessive, so we settled for one shot a hole. It was a close match, but thanks to one really bad par 3 on the back nine, he whipped me.
After all that intense golf we had worked up a pretty good appetite. We wanted to provide Ben with an impeccable dining experience. I'm sure there are a number of options in the Buffalo area, but the choice was easy. It was a return visit for Beth and I, and Ben's first trip to the Anchor Bar. The original home of the Buffalo Wings. We order plenty, Beth went with chicken tenders, Ben opted for the "boneless wings", and I stuck with the original. There was plenty of sampling going on. In the end we agreed they were all good. If you've ever nibbled on a chicken wing or tender, and you're in Buffalo give the Anchor Bar in downtown a try. I think you'll be glad you did.
It was around 5:30 when we were finishing at the Anchor Bar. It was a little cloudy and the temperature was forecast to be in the mid-60's throughout the evening. It was a perfect night for baseball! The Buffalo Bisons, (triple A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays), were in town and taking on the Gwinett Stripers (Braves affiliate). Buffalo has a reputation of being a great minor league baseball town and we were looking forward to the experience. It would also complete the New York triple A trifecta of seeing a game in Rochester, Syracuse and Buffalo.
Suddenly Ben had a puzzled look on his face and showed us his phone. There was an announcement that the game was postponed due to unplayable wet conditions on the field. It happens. Games get rained out. There was only one problem. It hadn't rained in Buffalo for at least twenty-four hours. Since we were only a few minutes from the stadium we decided to drive by just to confirm this wasn't some kind of hoax. At the stadium there were other fans, many with their dogs in tow since it was "bring your dog to the game night", milling about with the same confused looks that we had. The gates were locked, and signs that simply said "Tonight's game is postponed due to an unplayable field". We dug a little bit for the truth, but never came up with anything that made sense. Our best guess is the teams wanted a night off or someone forgot to turn the sprinkler off when they left Monday night. We left feeling a little bamboozled. But we didn't leave the stadium before putting a curse on the Bisons. I'm not sure if it'll be as successful as the Curse of the Bambino on the Red Sox or the Billy Goat Curse on the Cubs...........only time will tell.
Although disappointed there would be no baseball, we did enjoy looking around the canal side area. There are several shops, restaurants and a very nice military park. The military park has several naval ships, a submarine and military aircraft on display, as well as memorials to those western New Yorkers who had lost their lives in various conflicts around the world.
Wednesday morning before we headed back to the Finger Lakes and Ben returned home, we had one more item on the agenda. On a previous visit to Ben's, we had toured the Frank Lloyd Wright designed home "Fallingwater" in the Pennsylvania Laurel Highlands. There is another Frank Lloyd Wright designed home in Buffalo. It's known simply as the "Martin House", named after the owner, Darwin Martin. The Martin House and Fallingwater are very different, but it's easy to see Wright's work in both homes.
Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House
Beth and I arrived back in Geneva in time to make one more trip to Ventosa Vineyards. As I had mentioned in a previous blog, there are over 100 wineries in the Finger Lakes region. We only made it to a couple, but we enjoyed them and the live music they frequently offer.
The last two of days of our Finger Lakes stay were spent relaxing by the lake. We enjoyed walking along the lake shore and pedaling the Cayuga-Seneca Trail a couple of more times. We also found ourselves frequently sitting and staring at the beautiful lake. Beth's mother (NaNa) named us the Traveling Idiots (a term of endearment, I'm sure). While sitting by the lake we came up with the "Gazing Geezers" and "Bench Bums". They all seem to fit!
We pulled out Saturday morning, with hopes of returning to Geneva and the Finger Lakes Region again. We drove to Ben's for the weekend, but of course there were a few stops along the way. First up was Letchworth State Park, which was named the nation's top state park in 2015. It is also known as the "Grand Canyon of the East". OK, it's a really nice park, but to call it the "Grand Canyon of the East" might be a bit of an exaggeration. We also spent a little time in the town of Ellicottville. It's a ski village in the winter, but is a year-round destination with golf, biking, hiking and more. Our last stop was a "spur of the moment" stop at Allegany State Park (also in NY). Like all the NY State Parks we visited, it was really nice with camping, canoeing, hiking, fishing and much more to keep you busy.
Because of Ben's schedule we didn't see too much of him over the weekend. But as always, we enjoyed the time we had with him, as well as with his sweet dog Allie. Monday morning at 4:00 AM we fired up the Silver Bullet for the great westward migration. One thousand one hundred sixty-six miles and a little over seventeen hours later we pulled into the Holiday Inn Express in North Platte, Nebraska. When I did the math, it ended up that we averaged a little over sixty seven miles per hour! Who were we running from? Nobody! But we were stalked most of the drive. We can vouch that Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska can grow a whole bunch of corn. We estimated that at a minimum, at least 60% of the time we were driving there was a corn field on either or both sides of the highway. That's a lot of stalks!
Having put in so many miles the previous day, we had only a short four-hour drive from North Platte to Denver. We had a nice morning soak in the hotel hot tub and stretched our legs with a walk along North Platte's Riverside Trail. After our walk we enjoyed visiting the Golden Spike Tower and Visitors Center. The tower overlooks the world's largest railyard. It may not sound terribly exciting, but it was actually very interesting. The museum told the story of North Platte's railroad history and the tower offered views of the very busy railyard, which at its widest point is 101 tracks wide. Most interesting was the story of the North Platte Canteen.
After close to 1,500 miles in two days, the Silver Bullet is getting some much-needed rest in a hotel parking lot near the Denver Airport. We'll be flying back to pick it up next week for the ongoing adventure. Next up, a month in Ouray, Colorado! Why Ouray? You can see for yourself below:
