Westfield NY | The Beauty Around Us

A Sunday Drive

We went for a drive this past Sunday. We drove to Point Gratiot Park in Dunkirk, NY. From our home in Warren, PA it is an approximate 75-minute drive to the park. Upon arriving, we parked in the unpaved parking lot near the beach area. We went for a walk from the parking lot to the Dunkirk Light and back.

We walked a total of 1.33 miles round trip, making several stops along the way.

This is the beach. I read that the beach is an excellent place to find beach glass. Before the beach is open for swimming I believe that the sand dunes will be raked onto the beach. Those sand dunes, at present, are covered in some snow, leftover from winter storms. We did not walk on the beach. Instead we walked along the tree line, on a cliff above the beach.

In front of and below the benches is the beach.

We passed by steps leading down to the beach (photo by Bob).

The cliff was steep in places, especially as we got closer to the lighthouse.

The lighthouse is closed for the season. It reopens on May 1st.

From Dunkirk we drove to Barcelona Harbor in Westfield, NY where I photographed bufflehead and merganser ducks and the moon.

Overnight Getaway

We returned home late this morning from an overnight getaway. We spent the night at Best Western in Erie PA, using a $25 gift certificate that expires later this month as partial payment. We earned the gift certificate from a prior stay at a Best Western hotel. I believe we will earn another $25 gift certificate from this stay.

We departed Warren shortly after 9:00 am yesterday and arrived at our hotel around 2:45 pm. We made a few stops en route the hotel.

Before leaving Warren we stopped at Tim Hortons, where Bob purchased a cup of coffee.

Our second stop was in Findley Lake NY. We saw nothing of interest and moved on.

Upon arriving in Erie we drove the perimeter of Presque Isle, stopping briefly to capture photographs of ducks and Canadian geese in a swamp area.

Pair of Mallard Ducks at Presque Isle State Park (Erie, PA)

Pair of Canadian Geese at Presque Isle State Park (Erie, PA)

That goose on the left was very noisy! Two Canadian Geese, equally noisy, flew overhead just moments after I had returned to our car.

We ate lunch at Cheddars Scratch Kitchen in Erie. Bob ordered Creamy Garlic Tilapia & Shrimp over rice, with broccoli cheese casserole and southern green beans. I ordered a chicken tender platter, with salad and French fries. Both meals were delicious.

Our final stop before going to the hotel was at the Erie Zoo. When the zoo reopened last year during the COVID pandemic, timed tickets were required for entry. Timed tickets are required again this year, but NOT for the month of March. We used our membership card to enter the zoo. We went for a stroll through the zoo. I didn’t take too many pictures. The majority of my pictures were of an orangutan family.

Erie Zoo Wild Asia entrance

Erie Zoo Bornean Orangutans

Erie Zoo Bornean Orangutan

We had considered taking our granddaughters to the zoo, if Stacey’s employer had her scheduled to work in Erie on Monday. We could have driven the girls to Erie, and Stacey could have taken them back home. I am glad, though, that I did not approach Stacey with my idea. The majority of the animals were quiet or not visible. The merry-go-round, playground and train ride were closed, as were all the food vendors. We will take the girls to the zoo in April, when it is warmer (and hopefully more of the zoo will be open). Our present zoo membership expires on 30 April. I have not yet decided, if we will renew the membership.

As I wrote earlier, we arrived at the hotel around 2:45 pm. We checked into room 408, a two queen bed suite. We had eaten a late lunch and knew we wouldn’t be hungry for dinner. Other than Bob driving to a nearby fuel station to pick up water and snacks, we stayed in for rest of the day. We had a relaxing afternoon and evening watching TV, for the most part. We particularly liked the science fiction movie “Divergent”. This movie is old, having been released in 2014. We had never seen the movie and are interested in watching the next two sequels, “Insurgent” and “Allegiant”.

Now for the next day …

We were showered, dressed and had eaten breakfast by 8:00 am this morning. Rather than grab a “grab n go” breakfast at the hotel, we ate breakfast at the nearby Cracker Barrel. Bob ordered a double meat breakfast; I ordered Grandma’s Sampler. Breakfast was delicious and filling.

After breakfast, we began our drive back home. We drove home via Route 5, along the shores of Lake Erie. We made three photo stops.

Our first stop was next door to North East Marina in North East, PA.

This lighthouse-shaped building is near the North East Marina in North East, PA. The body of water in the background is Lake Erie.

After a quick search, I couldn’t find any information on the Internet about this building. The next time we are in this area we plan to stop at North East Marina and make some inquiries.

Our second stop was at Barcelona Harbor in Westfield NY, where we saw more seagulls.

Seagull in Flight

This is the same Seagull in flight.

Two Seagulls

Several Seagulls

Our third stop was at Bournes Creek Falls, located a couple miles from Barcelona Harbor.

We saw Bournes Creek Falls for the first time in January. The waterfall looked a lot different today than it did in January!

We continued on to Dunkirk NY, where we left the shores of Lake Erie and headed south.

We returned home at 11:30 am. Our kitty, Wickett, sure was happy to see us.

A New-to-Me Waterfall

The other day an article about New York waterfalls appeared in my Facebook newsfeed. The article showcased several New York roadside waterfalls. Scrolling through the article, I noted we have seen about half of the featured waterfalls. The waterfalls that we have not yet seen are a few hours away by car, except for one — Bournes Creek Falls in Westfield NY.

We decided to go for a drive in search of wildlife and that particular waterfall. We didn’t see any wildlife, but we did find the waterfall. Bournes Creek Falls is located along West Lake Road, not far from Barcelona Harbor on Lake Erie. I have noted the location of the waterfall here on Google Maps. There is no parking area for this waterfall; however, there is room to pull off on the berm of the road.

Bournes Creek Falls consists of two drops, totaling about 12-15 feet in height.

Bournes Creek Falls, the first drop

It is obvious that Bournes Creek Falls is a roadside waterfall from the background noise heard at the end of this video.

Seagulls and Geese

On Sunday, March 10, Bob and I went for a drive along NYS Route 5, between the Daniel Reed Pier in Westfield to the Dunkirk City Pier in Dunkirk, and NYS Route 60 to McCrea Point Park in Jamestown. We saw a waterfall, seagulls and waterfowl. My earlier blog post was about Barcelona Falls at the Daniel Reed Pier. This blog post is about the seagulls and waterfowl that we saw, while at Lake Erie.

An ice fishing seagull

This seagull was noisy!

Canadian Geese at Barcelona Harbor.

I just missed a bird-in-flight opportunity, as the geese took off the ice and flew overhead. I had returned to the warmth of the car, after taking this photograph of the geese. It was quite windy and COLD at Barcelona Harbor! I jumped out of the car in an attempt to photograph the geese in flight, but I was too late. I did capture a photograph of a seagull flying, though.

An in-flight seagull

Leaving Barcelona Harbor, we drove about 15 miles to Dunkirk. I didn’t find anything to photograph at the Dunkirk City Pier. In fact I didn’t see even one bird.

Leaving Lake Erie behind, we followed NYS Route 60 to Jamestown, where we stopped at McCrea Point Park—the subject of my next blog post.

Barcelona Falls

On Sunday, March 10, Bob and I went for a drive along NYS Route 5, between the Daniel Reed Pier in Westfield to the Dunkirk City Pier in Dunkirk, and NYS Route 60 to McCrea Point Park in Jamestown. We saw a waterfall, seagulls and waterfowl. Today’s blog post is about the waterfall that we saw, while at the Daniel Reed Pier.

Once you are parked on the Daniel Reed Pier, walk along the waters edge towards the cliff. Walk along the base of the cliff for a short distance to Barcelona Falls. The sandy shore line of Lake Erie changes from year to year so access to the base of the falls is unpredictable. On the day that we were at the pier, it was best to observe the waterfall from a distance.

Barcelona Falls is located on an unnamed creek that flows into Lake Erie.

According to the falzguy.com webpage, Barcelona Falls “has a height of 18 feet, a crest width of 4 feet and faces to the north northwest. The elevation of the crest above sea level is 590 feet.”

The flow of Barcelona Falls can be anywhere between a trickle to a deluge. The waterfall is best viewed in the early spring or after a period of heavy rain.

In my next blog post I will share some photographs of the seagulls and waterfowl that we saw on Lake Erie.

Barcelona Harbor

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, where we enjoyed a picnic with a view.

From Lake Erie State Park we rode west along Lake Erie, via Route 5, en route Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA. We made two photo stops. Our first photo stop was at Barcelona Harbor in Westfield, NY. There are two main attractions at Barcelona Harbor — the Sea Lion and the Barcelona Lighthouse.

The Sea Lion

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 waiting to be restored. I hope that the Sea Lion sails again.

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.