Gasport Adventure

It was too nice a fall day to NOT spend some time outdoors!  After Bible study, several of the ladies went out to lunch, but I declined because I could not bear to be inside any longer.

I picked up a slice of pizza at THE VILLAGE EATERY and a large drink at the convenience store next door and headed out towards Gasport.  I located the winery where my niece will be married this coming Saturday evening (so that I will know how to get there on Saturday) and kept going.  Before getting to the Village of Gasport I stopped at this farmstand

(White Pines Nursery) and purchased a few gourds and one ear of indian corn (is that what they call it?).  I proceeded on towards Gasport and I saw signs for BECKER FARMS and decided that since I was already in the area, it was a perfect time to check it out.  On the way there, I passed some magnificent ruins (of an old mill) and decided to stop on the way back.  

I thoroughly enjoyed BECKER FARMS..

....and walked around for close to an hour seeing the sights.  I bought a "paint your pumpkin" kit to have on hand when my grandkids visit next month.  (I hope my four small pumpkins last that long).  Here are some of the many pictures I took:

 alpacas

I am not sure what this building is used for but there were rows of seats in behind the railing.  

1894 barn

  

NEXT STOP, the remains of the old mill 

 Royalton Historical Society Informational Sign for the flour and saw mills

This was once an active mill district. From 1812 through 1965 there were flour, grist and saw mills. 

Royalton Historical District Informational Sign.

Pretty much adjacent to the old building, but across the creek I stopped at this gift shop:

 The outhouse still has a "seat" in it.  The gift shop was closed. I hope to go in it another day.

On the way back to the Village of Gasport, I stopped at this farmstand and bought two more gourds.  

Once back in Lockport, I stopped at NIAGARA PRODUCE and bought some sweet corn and a tomato.  

HARTLAND ADVENTURE

A couple of weeks ago, I found an old schoolhouse

that is used for the Hartland Historical Society and while I was exploring it, I found out that they had a Fall Festival coming up.  Peggy suggested we go to the festival and I agreed.

It turned out to be a very nice INDIAN SUMMER day.  On my way out to meet up with Peg, I stopped at a great yard sale and bought three glass/china items. I met up with my sister, Peggy, at her house just down the road from the schoolhouse and we went.  We had only been there a few minutes when our cousin, Becky, walked in so she joined us.

They had lots of food available including chicken chowder.  They offered a Chinese Auction:

I bought ten dollars worth of tickets and

divided them up between a four slice toaster and a decorative fall plate and gourds.  

The turkey dinner was delicious.  

The music was just starting up when Peggy and I left.

Joe Szalay and and the Creek Side Musicians.

    Peggy and I drove around the area a bit, since I have not seen much of it.  She pointed out a few Amish farms/businesses.  We decided to do some urban exploring of a building she and Dave had noticed several days ago on Rose Road.  We parked at St. Patricks Cemetery and walked the half mile to the site.

with all of these around: 

We explored the cemetery a bit, looking for a suitable spot for a geocache and then headed back to Peg and Daves house.  

On the way home, I stopped to take a picture of this old silo 

The owner was selling pumpkins and vegetables nearby and he said people are always stopping to take pictures of it.  He said there used to be a huge barn behind it, which he had torn down.  

Erie Canal Adventure: 9/26/14

My sister, Gail, and I set today as the day to take a two hour boat cruise on the Erie Canal.

I had some errands to run and then had some extra time before meeting up with her, so I went to the Art Galleries on Market Street.  I knew they were in an old building,

but I didn't know the significance of the building and I didn't know that many pieces of old equipment, etc. are still in the building, as well as some original work areas that have not been covered over.

There are several small galleries and I saw some very good and very interesting artwork including this.

I met up with Gail at REID'S for lunch....I had a white hot with onions and sauce, fries with sauce and a chocolate milkshake.  

Then we headed to CANALSIDE (a party house where they also offer boat tours of the canal).

We purchased tickets and boarded at 12:30.  First we headed west and passed through the locks and then we went a mile or maybe more and returned, going through the locks a second time.  Then we continued past CANALSIDE, all the way down to WideWaters.  

It was a great tour.  It was neat to see the canal from a different perspective.  Here are some of my pictures.  

rear view of some stores on west Main Street.

view of the canal from the "bow" of the ship!

at the BIG BRIDGE

our captain!   

this is the famous upside down

bridge.

this is the locks opening up for our return trip.

some fall color on the south side of the canal in Lowertown.  

The highlight of the cruise/tour was when I got to sing along with that old Erie Canal Song.....

I don't know the name of it.....it starts "I have got a mule and her name is Sal....."

"fifteen miles on the Erie Canal" and "Low bridge, Everybody down"  Also, seeing these old remains of a very old structure was pretty neat.  

My complete set of pictures is here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/juneny/sets/72157647648817437/

Amish Hall Tree Shopping and More: September 16, 2014

It was a glorious fall day, and I decided I must get out and do something.  First, I went over to visit my Uncle Bob and Aunt Hiroko.  We had a nice visit and Uncle Bob showed me pictures of his Uncle Willy, who I never met.  He also gave me a few old photographs.

I decided it was time to try to find a Amish made coat tree.  I located the Amish area near Medina (using a map on the back of a brochure for Miller's  Bulk Food and Bakery. (where I had stopped bo buy a melon).   The map  took me to Murdock Road where I found OHIO CRAFT FURNITURE.

I found what I wanted and made my purchase.   The Amish woman who sold it to me helped me get it in my car.  She referred to it as a "hall tree".  

I headed back towards Lockport on Ridge Road.  At the corner of Carmen Road, I saw a sign for District #10 Schoolhouse Historic Site.  I turned and drove down hoping to find it.  I did find it and then realized that I had seen it before, since it was just down the road from Dave and Peggy's house. (so now I was in Middleport)

I was surprised to see a few cars and people around.  As I was taking a picture of the school,

a woman came out and invited me in.  She told me that they are getting ready for their FALL FESTIVAL which will be September 27th from 11 - 5.  She showed me a desk that is original to the building.  Another woman gave me a flier for the event.  They were making chowder and it smelled heavenly.  The outhouse behind the school has been restored. I am going to try to go to the fall festival.

I found my way back up to Ridge Road. When I got to the "four corners of "Johnson Creek" I noticed this NYS historical sign.

 here is a view of the creek itself.

I continued on and  I stopped at a cemetery I have seen a few times before, but now I had time to stop so I did.

 I think it is just outside of Jeddo............

Further along the Ridge, I stopped at a very nice farmstand and bought two small pumpkins for $3.00. Somewhere on the Ridge, I stopped here 

hoping to buy a chuck roast, but they did not have any.  They do, however offer some ready made food along with various grocery items.

It was lunch time by now and I was starting to get hungry.  My original idea had been to go to Lock City Pizza for a slice, but I was not anywhere near it and could not get there without going out of my way.  

So, I stopped at REID'S and bought a burger with sauce and a slice, an order of onion rings and a REAL chocolate shake (one they made up from ice cream, instead of pumping the mixture out of a machine).  It was very good.

The HALL TREE fits perfectly into the spot I picked out for it!  

Akron ADVENTURE

Becky said she wanted to go to the Peach Festival in Lewiston, so I called her and asked her if she wanted to go.  First she said yes, but then she called me back and asked if we could just go geocaching!  I agreed to that idea and chose Akron (just beyond the SW corner of Niagara County).

We headed out at 11:30 today.  Our first stop was for lunch at the CANDY APPLE
 CAFE where we both had Reuben Sandwiches.

We then went geocaching. I think we found three out of five we looked for.  Then we headed back to Lockport, stopping at Andersons for ice cream along the way.  

Labor Day Adventure

Peg and I decided to get together and have some fun today.  I chose several geocaches between Lockport and Lewiston and we headed out.  Our first find was an earthcache

Thats me pointing at "the escarpment".  The next geocache was an easy one at a winery.  Then we went to Niagara County Community College and looked for two geocaches.  Both of them would have required more bushwhacking than we wanted to do, so we moved on.

We drove through the Tuscorara Indian Reservation in search of a burger joint that Megan and Chris and the kids went to called SMOKIN' JOES.  What we found was more than one Smokin' Joes locations and none of them had a burger place.  As we left the reservation, we saw these two signs: 

I don't know what all that is about.

In Lewiston, we found that DeCamillo's was open so we went in and bought some sweets.  The cashier recommended the BRICKYARD for lunch so we checked it out and decided to eat there.  We each ordered a sandwich and shared them.  

The sweet potato fries were delicious and so was the cornbread.  I thought the sandwiches were a bit too light on the quantity of meat, but they were very good anyways.   

After that we went to HIBBARDS where we each had a small frozen custard cone.  Absolutely delicious!  

On the way home, we looked for a couple more geocaches and found one of them.  When we got back to Lockport we retrieved the geocache we hid last week from THE STAIRCASE TO NOWHERE, since it was rejected by the NY Administrator.  Oh well!

It was a good but tiring day, probably because it was so darn hot!