Category: Great Lakes

Posted on

Three Days in Buffalo

Buffalo, New York, was the town we would always drive through to get to Canada. We rarely even stopped for lunch, knowing that once we got across the border, Niagara-on-the-Lake and the Niagara Wine Trail with its many wineries and good food, was less than an hour away.

This last week, the catalyst to not only stop in Buffalo, but stay a few days and explore everything the city had to offer, was because of a special Frank Lloyd Wright exhibition at the Martin House.

It was wonderful to be back in the car again. And our first road trip since our visit to New Hampshire and Maine last September! We got a late start because of a sump pump and a dehumidifier that were both misbehaving in the Red House. We almost made it to the Thruway when Lynn thought he might want to triple check that he had turned everything off. So, we drove back home and to insure a “better safe than sorry” philosophy, he simply unplugged the offending basement appliances.

Charlie the Butcher’s Kitchen

Have you ever had a “beef on weck?” We had stopped many years ago at Schwabl’s in West Seneca (about 10 minutes from Buffalo) to eat their famous hand-carved roast beef on a weck roll. If you don’t know what a weck is, well, it’s like a Kaiser roll but with salt and caraway sprinkled on top. (It’s also short for “kummelweck”; Kümmel means caraway in German.) Side note: I wrote about how amusing some German words are in my last Substack short story, “Dill with a Capital D” and Kümmel was mentioned in the story if you’d like to read it.

We walked into this particular Charlie the Butcher location (there are now several) and ordered two beefs on weck and split an order of onion rings. I slathered on a generous dollop of horseradish as well as mustard on mine, and yes, it was delicious.

Richardson Olmsted Campus

After lunch we headed over to the Richardson Olmsted Campus and discovered the Lipsey Architecture Center on the lower floor of the Richardson Hotel. The Center did a wonderful job of highlighting many of the historically important buildings in Buffalo which suddenly gave us that much more to see over the next few days. The campus, which opened in 1880, was once the Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane. Designed by Henry Hobson Richardson (hence the current name), as well as the landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted (who also designed New York City’s Central Park), it is an astonishing complex. Many of the buildings are in ruin and if you walk around the grounds, the ones still standing kind of give off a Jack Nicholson’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest vibe. Much of the complex fell into disrepair in 1974, but luckily the property was saved from the wrecking ball and is now owned by a private developer. Here are a couple of photographs.

Wright Designed a Boathouse?

We have frequently driven on I-190 heading either towards Niagara Falls or the Peace Bridge when traveling to Toronto. Somehow, we missed the fact that Frank Lloyd Wright had designed a boathouse in 1905 which, however, wasn’t built until 2007. (The building is practically impossible to see from the highway even if you are leaning out of a car.) It reflects many Wright details (small square windows and a flat roof) and is now managed by a rowing club. Apparently, it can also be rented out for weddings, etc.

Then, Louis Sullivan & Dankmar Adler

Thanks again to the very thorough timeline of important Buffalo buildings at the Lipsey Architecture Center, we discovered that the Guaranty Building, designed by the aforementioned gentlemen, had been saved from the wrecking ball (yeah!), and was most recently renovated in 2008.

Currently owned by the law firm Hodgson Russ LLP, there is a wonderful (and free) exhibition in the lobby that details the history of the building when it was built in the late 1890’s. At the time it was the tallest building in Buffalo. What was really cool about this building is that it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. There are many terra cotta blocks, circular windows on the top floor of the building that let in light, and numerous decorative features that hide the steel-frame construction.

A Drive-By of Two Other FLW Houses

We have been on other Frank Lloyd Wright house tours where people simply show up and try to finagle their way into the house. Or they pretend they were lost or late, and on one tour we were on, the couple was bold enough to park their car in the driveway! I’m very sensitive to people who are lucky enough to own Frank Lloyd Wright houses. I also have to assume they don’t want people photographing their properties or banging on their doors. Therefore, we did a quick drive-by of two other FLW houses near the sprawling Delaware Park which though I briefly photographed, I will not share. I will say that the houses were on the smaller side, but I think it might be kind of fun to live in one of his houses at least for a while.

Dinner – Bacchus Wine Bar

After checking into the hotel (Holiday Inn had the cheapest mid-week rate we could find in Buffalo), we headed for dinner. We hadn’t been out to dinner since Christmas (really!), so I was looking forward to having someone cook for me. I won’t go into how much it pains me to look at restaurant menu prices these days, but I do understand the struggles many restaurants are facing to simply stay afloat what with surging food costs and an ongoing labor shortage. However, if you are billing yourself as a “wine bar,” it would be nice to have a wine list that doesn’t make you crazy when you look at the mark-up. While I did find a bottle that wasn’t outrageous and it was drinkable, I was annoyed at having to spend that much time reading a menu to find something we could afford. That said, the food was very good. I hadn’t had foie gras in a long time and Bacchus’ version was delicious. (Yes, that’s a waffle cradling the duck liver. I’m not a big fan of waffles, but it did in fact pull the dish together.) They were also running a halibut special that night with an asparagus risotto that I couldn’t refuse. We skipped dessert, finished the wine, and walked around the area afterwards.

Did you know that Buffalo had a tram? Neither did I. It reminded me of Europe. (I think they actually call it a Light Rail.) And that there are so many interesting buildings to see? I didn’t either. (I did read that at one time Buffalo was considered to be second only to Chicago in its collection of architecturally significant buildings.)

Day Two

In the “old” days we would avoid hotel breakfasts like the plague. Today, with the cost of a bagel sandwich (egg/cheese/bacon) pushing $10, plus a cup of coffee another $3, I’m always looking for a hotel that includes some sort of breakfast with the rate. It wasn’t the worse breakfast we ever had. They had run out of anything that resembled bread by the time we got downstairs, but they had loads of cheese omelets and something that was pretending to be a miniature cinnamon bun. Neither killed us.

Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site

We had time before we could get into see the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit, so we decided to visit the Ansley Wilcox House, also known as the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site. Anyone ever wonder what the Pan-American Exposition was like? Well, I didn’t, but I now know a bunch of fun facts about what was happening back in 1901! There were parades! And music! And rides! There were even commemorative stamps issued! It was also where President William McKinley was shot. Theodore Roosevelt (VP at the time and vacationing up in the Adirondacks) had to high tail it to Buffalo to take the oath of office. Not an easy task in 1901 since this journey involved a wagon, a horse, and finally, a train. According to our tour guide (this is a National Park Service site), Roosevelt was standing right where the small round table is in the photo below when he was sworn in. Again, this was a house that was slated for demolition in the 1960’s, but a group of people got together to save it which is how it’s now a national historic site.

Finally, The Imperial Hotel At 100

Titled “Thought Built,” the show on view at the Barton House (as part of the Martin House complex), celebrates the short legacy of the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, Japan. The exhibition succinctly detailed Wright’s creativity and sheer determination to be awarded the commission of the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, Japan. After three years of sketching possible designs (1913), Wright was finally awarded the project in 1916. It took another seven years for the hotel to be built and while the hotel officially opened on September 1, 1923, it was also the very same day that a massive earthquake destroyed much of the capital as well as Yokohama. While the hotel managed to survive the earthquake with minimal damage (due to the way it was designed), by 1968 the hotel was demolished to make room for a high-rise.

Every time I see a Frank Lloyd Wright house, I discover something new. This time around it was learning of Wright’s love for Japanese woodblock prints and how he especially liked to bring back small gifts from Japan for many of his clients.

If you haven’t seen any photographs or renderings of the Imperial Hotel, I strongly encourage you to research it. The hotel complex is really amazing. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take any photographs in the exhibit, but I did manage to get a photograph of the conservatory with a full-size replica of the Winged Victory of Samothrace. (I looked up who/what and why this sculpture is famous and discovered that the original has been at the Louvre since 1884.) We had visited the Martin House years ago, but it was nice to see it again.

When in Buffalo You Gotta Have Wings!

We thought about going to the famous Anchor Bar for wings, but since they’ve become a chain (12 locations and counting apparently), we decided to give our dollars to a more local establishment that specialized in burgers and wings. Were the wings good? Yep! How good? So good that we ate them all before I remembered I didn’t take a picture. We also sat outside, which was lovely, since the rain that had been forecast for the entire week never materialized. We drank a couple of beers and got extremely messy with the wings and a side order of fries. (Allen Burger Venture is the name of the establishment if anyone is interested.)

The Future of Parking

Going to segue here and talk about parking a bit. And apps. I love apps. And I love finding a parking spot right near where I want to be. What I don’t like is having to feed a parking meter three blocks away from where I am parking. And then having to go back to my car to put a flimsy piece of paper on the dashboard to show whoever is checking that I paid to park. If it’s windy the day you are doing this particular maneuver, all I can say is make sure that the little piece of paper you are probably clutching in one hand doesn’t fly out the window. (This happened to us once when we were in lower Manhattan and all I can say is “Ugh.”)

Buffalo has a system where you download their parking app, they charge your credit card, and when you are ready to park, you find out what zone you are in by looking at some of the street signs. Then you indicate on the app how long you want to park at that particular spot. At first, I was a little bit weirded out by this new gizmo (for me), but afterwards I thought it was brilliant. You can also add time via the app so no more running back to a car or feeding a meter!

Niagara Falls Next

I know it’s touristy, but I love going there! It’s not like we haven’t been to Niagara Falls before, we have. It’s just that I love seeing waterfalls and I justified going back up to the falls because I’m doing research for a new book. Also, Niagara Falls is less than 30 minutes from Buffalo and if you have the Empire Pass like we do, you can get into the state park for free.

The last time we had been to the falls it was very crowded. This particular Thursday in May it wasn’t too crowded, and we asked someone to take a photograph of us so we could compare it to the shot we took seven years ago! (Apparently, my hair was a different color then.) But I noticed that we were standing in nearly the same spot as the last time! (See the skyscrapers on the Canadian side?) Also, since 2017, the park service has changed the guardrails and added coin-operated binoculars.

After seeing the falls, taking some photographs, and even paying $1.25 each to walk onto the Observation Deck, as well as down to “Crow’s Nest,” (we didn’t see any crows just people), we drove back to Buffalo.

Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Like the rest of the sites to see in Buffalo, we had never been to this museum. I was disappointed in how few people were visiting given that it was their late night (open until 8 p.m.!) But we walked through the galleries and admired the collection, and most importantly, the building. They’ve also built a terrific addition to the museum with ample light and walkways to make the visit enjoyable.

Here’s a money saving tip if you like to visit as many museums as we do. If you purchase a museum membership at a sustaining level or higher, you’ll usually get into a host of other museums for free if they are part of NARM (National American Reciprocal Museum Association). I shopped around for the cheapest sustaining membership I could find. And, now ironically, because we are members of the Adirondack Experience, The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake, people think we live in the Adirondacks. Which suits me just fine.

The Edward Hotel and Hutch’s for Dinner

Normally, I choose a hotel based on its proximity to where I want to eat dinner. The restaurant was Hutch’s. The boutique hotel, The Edward, was a mere five-minute walk away, so that’s where we stayed our second night. (I generally try to avoid driving after dinner if there are cocktails and wine involved.)

A few years ago, we experienced our very first contact-free check-in when we were traveling around Cape Cod. While I originally thought it was because of the pandemic, I’m finding that more and more hotels are adopting this method of getting into your room because it saves on labor costs. I realize this will probably be the wave of the future and eventually I will get used to someone texting me a code to the front door of the hotel as well as the room. The upside is you don’t have to see or talk to anyone. The downside is that if there’s a problem with the room, it may be impossible to fix. The Edward was reasonably priced, clean and very quiet. It also had on-site parking, which strangely the Holiday Inn we stayed at did not. If I stay there again though I would spend the extra $20 to upgrade to a suite because the room we chose (The Madison) was small. And one side of the bed was pushed against the wall. Guess which side of the bed was mine? Not the good side.

When we walked into Hutch’s, the place was bustling with activity. The menu was inventive, and the wine list was impressive in both its range of bottles as well as price points. Could we get three appetizers and just split an entree? Absolutely. There were oysters, then escargot, and because they had a soft-shell crab special, we had that too. We split a steak (it was very expensive), but they carved it perfectly for us to share. And yes, we even had a sticky toffee pudding for dessert!

Let me just mention that I have lost count of how many times I have to ask a server for a soup spoon or large serving spoon so that if we are splitting a dish, I can be ladylike about it. The fact that our server dropped a big spoon (and tongs!) at our table without even being asked, well, it just notched up the whole dining experience for me.

No Boat Ride, Alternate Plans – Day Three

Right before we had left for dinner the night before, I had gotten a phone call from someone at the boat company we had booked a tour with. Apparently, we were the only ones who had signed up for a 12:30 tour of the Buffalo River and she wanted to know if she could switch us to a later tour that day. Since there were a few other things in Buffalo that we still wanted to see, and I didn’t want to get home super late, we declined. Luckily, she was kind enough to refund our money.

That said, now with our morning free, we drove down to see “Silo City.” We didn’t get really close to any of these massive structures, but it was impressive to see many of these big grain elevators still standing.

Afterwards, we went on the hunt to find where the Larkin Building used to be. Designed for the Larkin Soap Company by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1903, at the time it was described as one of the largest office buildings in the world used by a single firm. And because the building was so unique, even in 1908, the company was giving tours to over 50,000 people a year. Unfortunately, in 1945 the property was foreclosed on for back taxes and by 1950 the entire building was demolished. Many architectural historians describe this destruction as “the most significant loss of an architectural icon in the history of North America.”

After the building was torn down, the only indication that the Larkin was ever there is a commemorative sign and a brick pillar at one end. (The site was supposed to be a truck stop but now it’s just a parking lot.)

It seems that the general theme of this trip has been to gaze at historical plaques where buildings used to be and marvel at the ones that somehow were saved.

We had now run out of things to do in Buffalo. It was still too early to head home (really, barely noon), so we thought we’d drive further west to visit a couple of lighthouses on Lake Erie that I had always wanted to see. So we did – Dunkirk and Barcelona. Which do you think I liked better?

Until our next “Let’s Go” adventure.

Posted on

Luggage, I Missed You!

Sooner or later we would have to start traveling again, right? We were both vaccinated and Lynn had finally recovered from his surgery long enough to sit in a car without me feeling like I was punishing him! So off we went!

We decided to start off small. Literally, stay someplace for one night; first of all to see if we felt comfortable staying in a hotel and eating INSIDE a restaurant. Plus, we had a list of state parks to visit thinking maybe we could squeeze in a hike or two. And, of course, there were a ton of wineries along the way that needed our attention.

We pulled onto the NY State Thruway ramp and two hours later stopped in Seneca Falls to have brunch at one of the few restaurants (84 Fall) that was open on a Sunday. We walked inside and they were packed! “Did we have a reservation?” the hostess asked us. We did not. She offered to seat us at the bar. The bar? We hadn’t sat at a bar in 18 months! “The bar would be perfect, ” I said.

I was so happy to be out again, sitting at a bar, having a drink, that I even ordered a Mimosa! Now people who know me know I detest Mimosas. One should not mix orange juice with champagne (or in this case sparkling wine) under any circumstances. But I figured I had to order one since it was “brunch,” and the drinks were only 99 cents a piece! I drank it; I didn’t gag, it was actually okay. Perhaps my taste buds had changed in the last year and a half?

My brunch entrée – sunnyside up eggs on a mound of “Utica Greens” was spicy and delicious. If you don’t know what “Utica Greens” are, it’s escarole that’s been cooked (usually boiled first then sautéed), and made “spicy” with peppers, maybe some bacon or pancetta, garlic (of course), and lots of grated Parmesan. I have only had this dish a few times in the last 11 years we’ve been up here and I have to say 84 Fall’s version was delicious. I mean, doesn’t this look really good?

After brunch, we drove to Seneca Lake. I need to share how wine tastings in this part of the world happened in the “early” days. You would simply show up at a winery, tastings were often free, and most times you simply stood at a makeshift table or counter to sample their wines. Now we are finding that more and more wineries are asking you to reserve a tasting in advance; you are seated at a table and given a tasting “menu.” It’s a much longer, but not necessarily enjoyable experience, especially if you realize very quickly that you don’t particularly like the wine they are pouring. Most of the time I think the view is really what you’re paying for. I mean, who doesn’t like to look at a beautiful lake or vineyards with grapes dripping off the vines?

We started by visiting Standing Stone, followed by Billsboro, and enjoyed both of their wines immensely. Then we checked into a cheap hotel (really, it was $105!) Which leads me to wonder why I always spent so much money on “Relais & Châteaux” wannabes! We had stayed at this particular Microtel in Geneva, NY, before, specifically to eat at Kindred Fare. In the old days (i.e., pre-COVID), given that it was a Sunday night, the place might have been half empty. Apparently, like us, everyone was “catching up” on all the dining out they had missed since nearly every table was taken both inside and outside of this establishment. Since we were last there, they had done away with the “chefs counter,” so we shared a long table with a three-top. Calamari and crispy chick peas with pickled onions to start? Yes, please!

In the morning, we headed to Letchworth State Park. It had been on my list of parks to visit for a while and I was anxious to see what all the fuss was about. Called the “Grand Canyon of the East,” I had seen pictures of the falls but didn’t really understand the enormity of all that rushing water.

First of all, the park is much bigger than I anticipated – 66 miles of hiking trails according to the NY State Park website. Luckily, there are many areas to pull over when driving through the park, so you have ample opportunity to see the cliffs and rock formations and take lots of photographs! We hiked the most difficult trail first (up and down what seemed like 1,000 stairs), and then drove a bit, parked, and just walked on a paved walkway to see the other two falls.

After all that hiking, we decided to have lunch. Who knew there was a full-service restaurant within the park? We went into the Glen Iris Inn and luckily they had a table outside for us. However, when we walked through the somewhat dismal-looking dining room, I looked at Lynn and gave him my “something is wrong here” look. When we reached our table I asked him, “Notice anything unusual walking through the dining room?”

He looked at me. I wasn’t going to wait for his response.

“No one had ANY food on their table,” I said.

We decided to order sandwiches. Luckily, for us, 10 minutes later, we both had decent turkey clubs and a couple bottles of Perrier. In any case, our lunch was perfectly fine and I thought the Inn looked pretty. After lunch, we walked over to the William Pryor Letchworth Museum and learned all about Mr. Letchworth’s life and his philanthropic efforts. Then we got back in the car and drove home.

By the next day, I had already started planning another getaway. Perhaps instead of just one night we could stay two and try the wineries we had missed? Maybe we could even venture up to both Lake Erie and Lake Ontario? Two Great Lakes in one day? (Yes, in fact, in that part of New York State between Buffalo and Niagara Falls, it’s totally doable. )

A Three Day Trip

We planned to start out the morning by hiking some trails in Clark Reservation State Park. Want to hear the stupid part of the story first? At the height of COVID last year, we went to quite a few state parks (even in the snow) just to get outside and thus, discovered we liked walking and hiking the trails. Prior to the current summer season, we decided to renew our Empire Pass, which for a low annual fee, gets you into all the NY State Parks for free. This particular park had a parking meter that lets you scan your Empire Pass. Once that’s done, the machine spits out a parking ticket with instructions to display it on the dash of your vehicle. I grabbed the ticket and turned around so quickly that I didn’t remember the very low fence that divided the parking lot from the meter. Which is how I lost my balance and tripped over the fence! Yes, I did in fact land right on my elbow and the wrist that I broke six years ago.

Lynn’s reaction: “what are you doing?” was actually pretty amusing. What did it look like I was doing? ( Let me note: I did not cry although I really do like crying and feel it is perfectly acceptable behavior under certain circumstances.) Lynn then started to fuss over me and talk so much (he’s not a talker) that I just had to tell him to be quiet. My concern was: did I break anything? (I didn’t think I did because I wasn’t really in excruciating pain and I remembered how bad my wrist hurt the last time I broke it.) Most disconcerting, however, there seemed to be quite a bit of blood oozing all over my shorts and dripping from my elbow. Luckily, we had packages of baby wipes in the car which Lynn kept handing to me and I rummaged around in our luggage and found some bandages, too! After sitting on the ground for a good 10 minutes while patting the “evil fence” I had tripped over, I got up, dusted myself off, bandaged my elbow (and my ankle, too, which was also bleeding), and then we started to walk.

After that dismal beginning, I was hoping for a more tranquil hike, but there were lots of rocks to climb over and portions of the trail were more than I wanted to deal with at that given moment. See what I mean with all these craters and cliffs we had to tackle?

We decided to cut our hike short and grab some lunch. Ever hear about The Inns of Aurora? In the town of Aurora? Neither had we. Apparently, this is a collection of old homes in the same town that were purchased and renovated by the founder of the “American Girl” doll stores and made into luxury boutique hotels. With most rooms ranging from $352 to $605 a night (yikes!), we weren’t staying there. We did have a decent lunch though at 1833 Kitchen & Bar inside the Aurora Inn which had a nice view of Cayuga Lake.

Then we got down to business: JR Dill Winery on Seneca Lake poured us some lovely reds that afternoon and gave us some pretty interesting “sculpture” to admire. Unfortunately, it was after 5 p.m., and with most wineries closing at that hour, we ran out of time to visit any others.

We stayed in Penn Yan for the evening and after a decent dinner at Union Block Italian Bistro (pasta, clams, wine, no dessert), we walked part of the Keuka Lake Outlet Trail. The trail view gave me this strange feeling that I was in Europe. I mean, look at this, doesn’t it look a bit like Amsterdam? Especially with the boat?

Burnt Rose Wine Bar

We walked back through town and were approached on the sidewalk by a friendly server who was standing outside a new wine bar that had just opened last week. “Would we like to come inside?” he inquired. Who could resist a new wine bar? Not I!

“Burnt Rose Wine Bar” is the new kid in town under owner Rose Curry and her chef-partner, Chet. She has curated an interesting wine list along with some small plates that I think will work beautifully in this area. Did I mention they also had someone playing piano that night which really gave the wine bar the European feel that I love? Alas, we had just finished dinner (as I mentioned), but I’m always up for another glass of wine! If you are visiting Penn Yan, you should definitely check them out.

In the morning, our continental hotel breakfast was waiting for us. Now, listen up, just because it’s “free” doesn’t mean you have to eat it! Lynn doesn’t eat cereal – ever. Why would he eat it on “vacation?” We found a local bakery, grabbed a couple of chocolate croissants and coffee, and hit the road.

Onto Our Next Stop

We managed a quick walk around Knox Farm State Park in East Aurora and thought we had enough time to have lunch before a scheduled 2 p.m. tour of the Roycroft Campus in the same town. The first restaurant we tried told us there would be a half-hour wait for a table. We kept walking, then decided to go back to the restaurant across the street from Roycroft. This restaurant was packed too, but they “found” a spot for us – a table that was crammed into an awkward corner with a view of a dirty brick wall. I asked our server whether a cold sandwich or salad could be delivered in 30 minutes (or less) to meet our tour appointment, and if not, to please let us know, and we would go someplace else. Said server never came back so after another 10 minutes of stupid indecision on our part, we walked back to a gas station we had seen that was serving this:

Yes, “Beef on a Weck!” Now, don’t even begin to think that I had lost my mind! Julie and Lynn eating at a gas station? (We’ve had many good meals at various “Autostradas” while driving through Italy. This was not such a place. ) However, it was actually a separate “establishment” inside the gas station. The woman behind the counter sliced the roast beef to order, then added a generous dollop of spicy horseradish, and a crunchy pickle on the side. We took the sandwiches back to the car and ate them in five minutes with a few minutes to spare before our tour started. And, really, I think not only was this a cheaper lunch ($7.99 for each sandwich) but probably WAY better than anything we would have eaten at either of those two restaurants.

P.S. If you don’t know what a “weck” is, it’s kind of like a Kaiser roll (but softer) with some Kosher salt and caraway seeds sprinkled on top.

The Roycroft Campus and Elbert Hubbard

I knew nothing about this collection of buildings or Mr. Hubbard. Now I do. Founded in 1897, Elbert (after working as a traveling salesman for the Larkin Soap Factory in Buffalo, NY), decided he wanted to become a writer and printer instead. So what did he do? He traveled to England to visit the British textile designer William Morris who was also a key figure in starting the arts and crafts movement. Most of the buildings on the “campus” Elbert built are still there and if you are a history and/or an arts and crafts aficionado, I think the tour and the museum are worth a visit.

Fun fact: I did not know that the word “chapel” (which one normally associates with a small church) actually derives from the medieval term for a “guild hall for printers.” Consequently, back then a “chapel” structure had no religious connotation at all. And the Roycroft symbol (shown below), was a copy of a symbol that medieval monks used to mark the end of their manuscripts. Elbert went one step further by putting an “R” on his publications; thereby, identifying manuscripts that were printed by the Roycroft Press. And, did anyone ever notice the “design” on an Oreo? Neither had I until this was pointed out to us on the tour.

Sad fact: Elbert Hubbard and his second wife, Alice, while traveling abroad, both died on the Lusitania off the coast of Kinsale, Ireland, after it was sunk by a German U-boat. (We’ve been to Kinsale and I don’t think I knew that the ship went down near there.)

We both enjoyed this highly educational visit and after our tour, we had one more waterfall on the agenda to visit. This one came with a twist – fire!

Eternal Flame Falls

I was prepared this time. There was no parking meter to pay, no fence to trip over. I changed into a sturdier pair of sneakers and even took out my hiking poles. The start of the trail started out flat and easy. What I wasn’t prepared for (again) were the rocks, tree roots, and having to descend into the slate creek bed itself which was only partially dry. Lynn held my hand (as he always does) when I come to the realization that some of the climbs we do are just too steep for my comfort level. (For some reason, I rarely have any problem climbing up; it’s just the slippery paths one has to climb down that make me tremble.) About 30 minutes after we began our descent (and after climbing over multiple fallen trees), we reached the “eternal flame.” The actual waterfall is pretty, but small, and yes, there is the smell of gas once you reach the flame.

And then we walked back to the car and drove towards Hamburg. Our destination after a quick shower at a cheap hotel (Comfort Inn $92/night!) was Lucia’s on the Lake. We had been there two years before and were wowed by both the food and the view of Lake Erie. Neither disappointed the second time around although management was blasting music that was in poor taste. (Eighties disco? Really?) We had oysters, lobster and scallop ravioli, a pear and arugula salad, halibut, and even a peach cobbler for dessert! The only let down was the lackluster wine list with nary a single Finger Lakes or Niagara Escarpment winery represented.

Doesn’t this just look yummy? Even so, I didn’t feel guilty after eating all this delicious food knowing the “steps” I had logged that day.


In the morning we continued. We drove up to Buffalo, towards Niagara Falls, waved to the Canadians on the other side of the Peace Bridge (figuratively, of course), and went to see Old Fort Niagara.

Located inside Fort Niagara State Park (but operated by a non-for-profit so there is an admission fee), there is a lot of history and beautiful sights to take in. The main focus is the “French Castle.” Not only is it the oldest building on the Great Lakes, but it survived the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, and the War of 1812! If you are traveling up to see any part of the Niagara region or even the Falls, I highly recommend a stop at this historical treasure.

Yes, I took about a zillion pictures of this place! If you look closely at the stained glass window, you will see two tiny sailboats on Lake Ontario! I have to assume my enthusiasm for this particular venue was because we hadn’t traveled since March 2020! Finally after visiting the fort, there were two more stops we had to make before we drove home later that day.

Chateau Niagara Winery And Lunch

Jim and Kathy Baker are the owners and winemakers of Chateau Niagara. Actually, my first impression of their low key tasting room (especially since there was no indication that they were open) was that one of them (or perhaps both) had to work a second job since there was a white stretch limo parked out front! Luckily, I was wrong. (Why, I thought this and not the obvious “bridal or birthday party outing” I have no idea.)

To say I was super impressed with all the wine we sampled that afternoon would be an understatement. Jim and Kathy make a bevy of French style wines as well as some interesting blends made with East European grapes. Their lineup includes: Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Riesling, Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer as well as a delightful Saperavi and two blends (Trinity and Bulls Blood) that I thought were true palate pleasers. Jim also tried to explain to me a new wine he had crafted called “A La Mode” which you might think should be an ice cream topper or at the very least a dessert wine. “A La Mode” is a wine that has a pale yellow hue to it and consequently, looks like it should taste like a white wine. Wrong, it’s a wine that tastes like a red!

(Jim, if you are reading this, please roll your eyes; first at my crazy idea that you had to drive a limo because no one visited your winery. Now, bang your head against one of your wine barrels (but don’t hurt yourself) because I can’t even explain your delicious “A La Mode” wine to my readers or myself.)

Anyway, after spending nearly an hour with Jim and Kathy and their dog Fionn, we walked out with a wine club membership and a case of wine. I’d say that was a successful visit! And then we went to have lunch.

Have you ever been to the town of Medina? Have you ever even heard of the town of Medina? Neither had we! I’m not sure what’s going on in that town but there were people walking around on the streets! (If you live way upstate like I do, joking aside, sometimes it’s pretty unusual to actually see humans!) And, guess what, they have not one but two luxury boutique hotels! They also have a couple of restaurants, one of them being Zambistro that offered us lunch at their rooftop bar/restaurant with a narrow view of the Erie Canal.

We had grilled chicken panini with homemade potato chips which were decent. But what caught my interest on the dessert menu were “French cream puffs.” Did they actually mean “profiteroles?” Maybe it was the “a la mode” I had just tried at Chateau Niagara that made me think of ice cream. Or maybe, it was the fact that it was 4 p.m., we had just finished lunch and still had a 3.5 hour drive home. There are many desserts I can resist- profiteroles are not one of them. Full disclosure: they weren’t the worst profiteroles I’ve eaten, the ice cream was okay and the “stacking” was impressive. However, the type of chocolate used seemed to be an afterthought. And since I don’t particularly like milk chocolate, I had to deduct some stars for the execution of this dish.

And then we drove home. Next month, we will be traveling for a full five days to a more populated area (Cape Cod and Maine). We hope those who are traveling there as well will be kind to the people who are taking care of them on their journey. The hand written sign I found taped to a door on this current trip, I think sums it up perfectly. Ditto for Elbert Hubbard’s words which I think are still appropriate to this day.

Until our next “Let’s Go” adventure.

Posted on

A Trip To See Lucy, A First Time Visit to Chautauqua Plus A Dose Of Frank Lloyd Wright

While I wasn’t a big “I Love Lucy” fan, I did understand the appeal of the show and her character. Therefore, when I found out earlier this summer that there was a museum devoted entirely to her career in her hometown of Jamestown, NY, I thought it might be worth a visit.

The Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum is actually housed in two store-front buildings in downtown Jamestown, NY. I think the museum does a pretty good job showcasing not only her career but the relationship she had with Desi in producing the show. It was also fun to see some of the (recreated) stage sets they used during the filming.

Looking at the old issues of TV guide, I got a sense of how very popular she was during the 1950’s not to mention the countless movies (over 80!) she did even before the show!

I was particularly thrilled to learn she also was the first woman to run a major television production studio (Desilu Productions) that she retained even after she and Desi divorced.

On the way out of town we also paid a visit to the cemetery where she is buried. I have to assume the cemetery staff got tired of having to explain to countless visitors where her plot was located since they thought of a clever way to lead one to her. (Hint: follow the red hearts!)

Next Stop: Chautauqua Institution

While I had read about Chautauqua and all the programs they offer during the summer, until we moved full-time to the Mohawk Valley driving there from Long Island just wasn’t going to work for us.

Earlier in the summer I came across a play “One Man, Two Guvnors” that was being performed by the Chautauqua Theater Company and it sounded really fun so we got tickets for a Sunday matinee. (It’s a British play that premiered in London in 2011 based on a 1743 Italian comedy.)

Never having visited Chautauqua, I wasn’t sure what to expect. 1. I knew there was a religious component to the organization but I also knew there were lots of educational things (lectures, art classes, plus theatre and music events that one could attend. 2. I didn’t realize how big the place was (kind of like a small town) and that you could actually live there for the summer.

I did enjoy walking around and seeing the Victorian-style houses and we even walked into the Athenaeum Hotel to get a glimpse at the inside. (It’s less posh inside than it looks on the outside.

I also enjoyed looking at the flowers (lots and lots of flowers) that lined many of the walkways and in the gardens of many of the houses.

So bottom line, we enjoyed our visit and the play very much. And if next summer the theatre company puts on a play that we might like to see, I would definitely make the now not-so-distant journey. (It’s about a 4.5 hour drive as opposed to a 7 hour drive!)

Dinner on Lake Erie

I’m allowed to be a snob when it comes to Italian-American restaurants. My husband, Lynn, is first generation Italian-American (his mother was a WWII bride from Naples, Italy) and the true Italian food she cooked tasted nothing like what is being served in “Italian” restaurants even 40 years after I first met her.

So when I found a restaurant on Lake Erie that kind of had the feel of an Italian-American “red sauce” joint but the menu proved to be so very different, I was cautiously optimistic.

It was a Sunday night in the summer and there in the town of Hamburg, New York, with a view of Lake Erie is Lucia’s on the Lake. We had luckily made a dinner reservation that happened to coincide perfectly with the sunset that evening. Plus we were seated at a high table in the bar where the (noisy) party people were hanging out but at least we had a view.

Here’s our view that night:

And really, if you ignore the power lines, it was really very pretty. The food I have to say was amazing but pricey. So if you can skip ordering the high ticket items, go for some great cooking, a decent wine list and a view overlooking Lake Erie that can’t be beat.

I had the halibut, shrimp and clam special over linguine and Lynn, well, Lynn insisted he was ordering the beef “Stroganoff.” Last time I saw that on the menu was probably in the 1980’s at the original Russian Tea Room in New York City. That dish practically screams “winter” in my mind but sometimes the guy just has to eat meat. (I tasted it and the dish was really delicious but too heavy for me.)

Graycliff – a Frank Lloyd Wright Design

We had reserved tickets nearly 1 month in advance to tour Graycliff, a house that Frank Lloyd Wright built in the late 1920’s for Isabelle and Darwin Martin overlooking Lake Erie. We had visited the Martin house in Buffalo last year but never got around to seeing their “modest” lake home. (Mr. Martin worked for the Larkin Company which was a huge soap manufacturer in the late 1800’s.)

The house is now owned by a group called the Graycliff Conservancy. This non-profit was responsible for saving the property in the late 1990’s. It had been sold by the Martin family to a group of Hungarian priests in the 1950’s who established a boarding school on the grounds and the priests, unfortunately, took it upon themselves to make some cosmetic and structural changes to the complex.

Like many other Frank Lloyd Wright houses we’ve seen, there were massive renovations to be done to bring the house back to its original grandeur. While the Conservancy is not quite there yet (funding obviously being a big issue), they have accomplished enough I thought to give visitors like ourselves a glimpse into life on the lake during the “roaring 20’s.”

They’ve just started landscaping some of the front areas of the house and are still trying to furnish the house with authentic period pieces. A tour of the kitchen revealed this incredibly interesting sink. It seems that Isabelle was an avid gardener and loved having fresh flowers everywhere in the house. She had this sink designed so that when she was bringing in cut flowers to make arrangements, she could stand them up and give them a sip of water to boot. I think this is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.

So this summer our “bucket” list got a bit shorter by visiting this Frank Lloyd Wright gem. We loved touring the house and hearing all the tales of the family who lived there.

Until our next “Let’s Go” adventure.