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Lake Erie State Park

On Saturday, June 6th, Bob and I went for a motorcycle ride that added 190 miles to our odometer. We left home around 11:00 am and didn’t return home until after 7:00 pm. We rode to Lake Erie State Park via County Route 380. The park is located in Chautauqua County, a short distance northeast of the village of Brocton, NY. Our New York State Empire Passport gained us free admission to the park. Without the passport, it would have cost us $6.00 to enter the park.

We parked on the day-use side of the park, as opposed to the campground side of the park.

From the parking lot you can see the bathhouse, which is available for wedding and party rentals. To the right of the bathhouse is a small bridge.

We crossed over the bridge.

discovered a beautiful On the other side of the bridge we discovered a private picnic area atop a high bluff overlooking Lake Erie.

Even though it was windy and a little bit chilly on the bluff, we enjoyed a picnic lunch with a wonderful view.

After lunch we took a short walk along the beach.

We weren’t the only ones who enjoyed the beach that day.

Here’s a closer look at the bathhouse.

The bathhouse is available for wedding and party rentals. It was a beautiful beach area. Lake Erie State Park’s website, however, mentions that swimming is not permitted.

From Lake Erie State Park we rode west along Lake Erie, via Route 5, en route Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA. I will share photographs from stops along the way in my next blog post.

Ride with Friends Along Lake Erie

Yesterday, Bob and I went for a ride with friends along Lake Erie in New York.

We met up with our friends at 11:00 am at our local Tim Hortons. Two other couples rode with us: our friends Susan and Dave and their friends Melinda and Ron. Before leaving Tim Hortons parking lot, we checked out Dave’s new motorcycle — a 2014 Harley Davidson — that he and Susan purchased on Saturday. It is a nice motorcycle!

Admiring the new motorcycle

Dave led our ride. The following two maps show our ride route.

Our first stop was alongside Lake Front Blvd. in Dunkirk, NY.

Lake Front Blvd.
Dunkirk, NY

Our next stop was for lunch at Castaway’s Waterfront Bar & Grill in Angola, NY. We ate lunch on the patio, with a lovely view of Lake Erie.

I had a grilled chicken sandwich and potato salad for lunch.

The food was delicious, and the service was excellent. Our waitress was very personable, and she checked on us several times to see if we needed drink refills, food accompaniments or additional food.

We made one more food stop, for dessert, at Sunset Grill in Irving, NY. Everyone, except Susan, got ice cream.

Susan took these two pictures, while we were at Sunset Grill. I liked the picnic table swings. In fact, I mentioned to Bob a couple times that we should buy a picnic table swing for our back yard. After a while it got chilly in the shade, so we moved to tables on the sunny deck.

Our next-to-last stop, on our way back home, was at Barcelona Harbor in Westfield, NY. I enjoyed watching the seagulls bobbing up and down on Lake Erie as well as flying overhead.

Seagull flying overhead at Barcelona Harbor

Off in the distance, along the beach, I spotted a waterfall.

Susan and I walked over to the waterfall and took a picture of each other at the waterfall.

Susan at Barcelona Harbor Waterfall

Our last stop was in Mayville, NY to fuel up. From Mayville we rode straight home, arriving at our house around 7:00 pm. What a wonderful day for a ride, the day made even better because we shared it with friends.

Labor Day Weekend in Northeastern Ohio – First Day

Bob and I spent Labor Day weekend in Cleveland, Ohio. We went to Cleveland to visit the zoo. We visited the zoo, but we saw so much more.

We made two sightseeing stops on our way to Cleveland. Both stops were in Ashtabula County, Ohio. Our first stop was at the Smolen-Gulf Covered Bridge.

Smolen-Gulf Covered Bridge

The Smolen-Gulf Bridge lies on Ashtabula County Road 25 and crosses over the Ashtabula River. The bridge is 613 feet long. It is the longest covered bridge in the United States. It is the fourth largest covered bridge in the world.

We walked across the bridge, using the covered walkways on either side of the bridge. We visited Indian Trails Park, located underneath the bridge, as well.

I’m standing alongside the Ashtabula River.

We plan to make a return trip to Ohio because there are sixteen more covered bridges in Ashtabula County!

Our second stop was in Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio’s first summer resort. Our first destination upon arriving at Geneva-on-the-Lake was Lake Erie.

It was a windy day!
Note the white caps on Lake Erie.

This “Kool Bus” was parked near the lake shore.

One of Geneva-on-the-Lake’s main attractions is “the Strip”, a section of State Route 531 which is lined with arcades, amusement rides, restaurants, nightclubs and live music.

the Strip

Eddie’s Grill is a popular place to eat on the Strip.

We considered eating lunch here but decided against it when we saw the line. We opted instead to eat after we reached Cleveland and had settled into our hotel room.

This mural was appropriately located on the side of The Cove Nite Club.

We arrived at our hotel, Best Western Inn & Suites, in the early afternoon. One of the hotel’s suites would be our home for two nights (September 4-5).

Our hotel room included two queen beds, a hide-a-bed sofa and a small kitchenette.

There were two restaurants within walking distance of the hotel. Bob Evans was located across one street, and Goody’s Family Restaurant was across another street. Because we can eat at Bob Evans any time, we decided to eat dinner at Goody’s Family Restaurant. It was a good choice. Bob ordered Sicilian Pork Chops; I ordered meatloaf. Our meals were delicious, and the service was very good. After dinner we returned to the hotel for the evening. The next day we went to the Cleveland Zoo, which will be the topic of my next blog post.

Photoshop Elements Playtime

As I was browsing through photographs today, I came across two photographs that Bob and I had taken of each other during a motorcycle ride in May of this year. As I looked at the two photographs I thought how nice it would have been had we been photographed together. Photoshop Elements makes that possible.

I selected Bob, using Photoshop Elements’ quick selection tool. I, then, used the move tool and dragged Bob out of his photograph and into my photograph. Viola! Bob and I, together, on Lake Erie!

Day Trip Along Shores of Lake Erie and Chautauqua Lake

Bob and I spent a few hours yesterday afternoon driving along the shores of Lake Erie and Chautauqua Lake in New York. We drove a distance of approximately 119 miles according to the route that we traveled.

Our first stop was in Dunkirk, where we visited the historic Dunkirk Lighthouse and various points of interest along Chadwick Bay. The Dunkirk Lighthouse is located at Point Gratiot on Lake Erie. We had two admission fees to choose from: $6.00 for a Lighthouse, museum & grounds guided tour or $1.00 for grounds only. We chose to walk the grounds.

Dunkirk Lighthouse and Attached Light Keeper’s House
The lighthouse and keeper’s house were built in 1875-1876. The lighthouse is 61 feet tall.

In addition to the lighthouse and the light keeper’s house we saw boats, anchors, a tank, a ship’s bell, and a bottle-necked beacon pier light as we walked the grounds.

Before departing Dunkirk, we visited several points of interest along Chadwick Bay — a memorial park, the marina and Wright Park Beach.

Memorial Park
Lake Shore Drive East (Rt. 5)

Chadwick Bay Marina

Chadwick Bay Goose

This goose was daring me to take one more step towards him. Did I? Would You? I snapped my picture and stepped BACK.

Wright Park beach

Our second stop was at Barcelona Harbor. There are two main attractions at Barcelona Harbor — the Sea Lion and the Barcelona Lighthouse. The Sea Lion is a reproduction of a late 16th century British three-mast, square-rigged sailing vessel, faithfully built in the same manner as actual ships of the time. The ship building effort took several years and several persons to complete. The Sea Lion was officially commissioned on Chautauqua Lake in 1985. The ship was sold in 1992 to the Buffalo Maritime Society, where it was operated until it sank at its moorings in 1999. Local divers and other concerned citizens raised the ship in 2000, towing her back to Barcelona. The ship is dry docked while being restored.

The Sea Lion

The Sea Lion’s restoration is progressing nicely, as you can see by looking at this photograph of her that I took in July 2003. It is hoped that the Sea Lion will sail again.

Barcelona Sea Lion in Jul03

Barcelona Harbor’s second main attraction is the Barcelona Lighthouse. The Barcelona Lighthouse was the first lighthouse in the world to be lit by natural gas.

Barcelona Lighthouse and Light Keeper’s House

Barcelona Lighthouse and Harbor

When we departed Barcelona Harbor we left Lake Erie behind, turning inland towards Westfield. We passed through Westfield and continued on to Mayville, located on the north end of Chautauqua Lake.

Our first view of Chautauqua Lake

We made our third stop in Mayville beside a house at which several sculptures, large and small, occupied the front yard.

Sculpture by Kirsten Engstrom

I discovered today, via an Internet search, that these sculptures were built by Kirsten Engstrom. In my research I found Ms. Engstrom’s biography at the Discover Chautauqua website.

“Kristen, sculptor, massage therapist, and teacher, was born in Philadelphia, Pa. in 1944. She received her B.A. in English Literature and Mathematics in 1969, her M.A. in Art in 1972 and her L.M.T. in 1996.

Seeking to broaden her education, Kirsten went abroad in 1976. The Spanish spirit, the unspoiled countryside and villages of an island off the coast of Spain – Mallorca – captured her attention. Here she put down roots and stayed 20 years.

She was director of “Es Retall”, art gallery, and school, in Palme de Mallorca, Spain 1979-82. She has developed art programs in Cultural Centers throughout Mallorca as well as taught Art at the elementary, secondary and university levels in the USA.

She has exhibited extensively abroad, in Mallorca and Barcelona and stateside in New York, Florida, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. Kirsten returned to live in the USA in 1995, and is now doing monumental outdoor sculptures in addition to her other work.

Her sculptures in clay and reinforced concrete reflect her ever-present personal involvement in everything she does. Whether it is running an Art Gallery, teaching or creating her own sculptures, she involves herself so completely in the activity that she is never quite certain if she has created “it” or “it” is in the process of creating or changing her. Both are probably true. There is definitely a back-to-earth heroic beauty in her work that has become her trademark.

Since 2000, she spends part of every year teaching in Hawaii. She spends the rest of the year building sculptures, exhibiting and teaching in New York and Florida. She loves to involve the community when she constructs a monumental piece, inviting school children and adults to observe the process, comment and participate in the creation.”

I was quite happy, also, to find a video about Ms. Engstrom and her art.

In my opinion Ms. Engstrom’s art is beautiful and brilliant! What is your impression of her art?

A Ride Alongside the Shores of Lake Erie

I wrote in my previous blog post that we attended Hollywood Happening in Gowanda on May 31st. We rode to Gowanda, NY from Warren, PA via Route 62. When we departed Gowanda, we continued on Route 62 to Route 438. We followed Route 438 through the Cattaragus Indian Reservation to Routes 5 and 20 to Silver Creek, NY, at which point we chose to take Route 5 alongside the shores of Lake Erie. The views of Lake Erie are especially scenic along Route 5.