Fun on Lake Erie!

Location: Geneva State Park, OH

We continued our trek across Pennsylvania on Highway 6 deciding to take in the wonderful world of Erie, PA. What a better way than biking Presque Isle.

This pic was taken on Presque Isle looking back across the bay toward Erie.

 

 

But wait, before we left Pennsylvania we lunched at a diner, as promised. So many of the signs now make sense. We didn't get the "booth service" signs. Ah, many diners are just stools at the counter and don't have booths. Oh we westerners.

The diner we chose had booth service and the menu was mainly burgers, hot dogs and good ol' American food. I didn't see anything particularly regional (like Moxie soda in Maine, or hush puppies in the South, or hoagies in NJ).

 

Ned enjoying a chocolate milk shake. Ironically, he was wearing his Route 66 shirt today. Ned's covering up one of the 6's...as in Route 6 across Pennsylvania.

 

We really enjoyed stopping by the Allegheny Dam. Here's Ned on the lake side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was gushing out on the lower side. Quite a sight to see!

 

Biking around Presque Isle we got a little bit of everything. Views of the city (as in the first picture) as well as several lighthouses.

Presque has miles and miles of paved bike lanes that take you next to beaches, lagoons, fishing piers and amusement attractions.

(Kathy, we're thinking of you as we're visiting your hometown. They said they missed you...)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most of the paths were tree lined.

 

 

 

 

Ned, dipping his toes in Lake Erie. It was a bit too cool for us to swim, around the high 60's.

 

 

Not too many swimmers, but a couple of kites flying!

 

 

Apparently, one of the iconic places to visit here is Sara's, a diner and hot dog stand. They have tons of goofy signs and 50's memorabilia.

Oh no, beware of the sharks in Lake Erie Ned!!

 

 

 

 

I preferred the slower pace of driving a 57 Chevy...Fred Flinstone style.

 

We were going to stay another night in Pennsylvania, but we were having so much fun goofing around Lake Erie we decided to just keep driving...right into Ohio. Tonight we're camped at Geneva Lake State Park. The town reminds me of a Jersey Shore crazy summer scene. Lots of arcades, pizza places, miniature golf and family fun stuff.

The campground is awesome...both laundry & a good cell connection - oh and it's beautiful too.

 

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Pennsylvania Grand Canyon - Allegheny Mountains

Location: Lyman Run State Park, PA

So raise your hand if you ever heard of the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. Yeah, me neither. Nonetheless it was our destination for the day. You can view the PA Grand Canyon from the east or west rim. Here's Ned looking from the east side.

The road to the right of the river is the Pine Creek Rail Trail. That was our biking destination this afternoon.

 

We met a fellow biker on the trail telling us to be sure we didn't miss the Bald Eagle that had a nest in the area. He even rode with us to where we could spot it. Turns out someone else had a high powered telescope set up for viewing. It was awesome to watch the eagle just hanging out in the tree. Here's Ned taking a peek.

 

We rode for about 20 miles all along the river. Such a lush green area. This area is in the Allegheny Mountains and you can certainly tell they get plenty of snow in the winter. It felt a lot like spring here with the myriad of wildflowers and cooler temperatures.

In the winter these trails are used for cross country skiing.

 

 

We rode to the site of a former town called Tiadaghton. This was a former logging area and the town was built around a sawmill. At it's height it had 2 stores, a post office, a hotel, a one-room school house and 20 homes. The sawmill burnt down in 1906 and the post office closed in 1936, sealing the fate of the town. When the post office left 6 families remained. Now, all you see is a grassy field in the bend of the river.

 

 

We are traveling across Pennsylvania on Route 6. It's a scenic byway almost across the entire state. Between mountain areas (the Poconos yesterday and the Alleghenys today) are miles and miles of rolling green hills and picture perfect bucolic farms.

 

"I'm on top of the world looking down on creation"

 

When we do pass through a small town, it seems the one staple is the diner. They are all unique in design. This one dates back to the 1920's. Over the door it says, "Ladies Invited".

 

 

This diner was in one of biggest towns, Wellsboro. I suppose we should eat at one before we leave Pennsylvania. I'll report back what you can expect from one of their menus.

As we drove through Wellsboro, we had just missed the Flag Day Parade, marching bands and all. All we saw was the aftermath of straggling band members wandering around and the entire street lined with flags.

 

After a couple of bike riding days we're ready to call it a night. Really enjoying Lyman Run State Park - it's very quiet on a Sunday night.

 

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Poconos Mountains & the Lehigh Gorge Rail Trail

Location: Frances Slocum State Park, PA

Today we began our migration West. I guess this officially marks the half-way point of the trip. After a week of the big cities, Washington D.C., Philadelphia and NYC, we are once again headed into the more "off the beaten path" places. Our big outing today was biking the Lehigh Gorge Rail Trail.

 

 

I had read about this trail about a year ago. It was highlighted as a trail not to be missed. Okay, sounds good to me! If you ride the entire length of the trail from White Haven to Jim Thorpe, (26 miles) you can then take a train back. We opted to just do a 20 mile round trip.

We rode along the Lehigh Gorge River occasionally hearing shouts and squeals from the river. Turns out this area is also known for their whitewater rafting.

We saw several white water kayakers too. What surprised me the most was we also spotted someone paddle boarding down the rapids. What the heck! I couldn't get a good picture, but I would have love to see her navigating over some of those rapids.

 

 

The trail had some beautiful waterfalls too.

 

 

These falls are particularly graceful because of the way the water alternates paths down the rock wall. Herons, beavers, snakes, blue-tailed lizards, and black bears are often seen along this trail...

 

 

 

The only wild life we spotted was a very cool looking blue tailed lizard.

 

 

We stopped along the way to do some exploring on foot as well. (Here's Mr. Ned powering down towards the river. You think after all the walking we've done the last couple of days he'd be at least a little tired.)

 

 

I have no idea where these rafters were, we just saw their boat stowed on one of the rocks.

 

 

I hear the trail is most spectacular in the fall season. Okay I'll plan a trip back!

 

 

After our bike ride we headed to the west side of Wilkes-Barre. This is definitely coal country, or should I say "once upon a time coal country." We are camped at a beautiful state park deep in the Poconos Mountains. It feels SO good to be back to nature.

 

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Being a tourist in New York

Location: Liberty Harbor RV Park, NJ

I don't know if it was the city sounds, the early morning sun or the ship horn blasts that woke us up early, but we were UP at 5:30. Today was our day to play tourist, starting with a trip to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

The NJ point of departure looked so close on the map, who know it would turn out to be a 2 mile walk. Oh yeah, there's a marina that we had to walk around. Good news, we were the first ones there!

Here's the NJ point of departure.

 

We got on the first ferry to Ellis Island and so glad we did. It was really amazing to experience the island

 

 

 

and the massive hall almost all to ourselves before the crowds set in.

We spent several hours taking the audio tour and experiencing Ellis Island as a newly arrived immigrant.

So interesting to hear the stories first hand.

On some days over 5000 people a day crossed through these halls.

 

 

I especially loved all the photographs, most of them blown up to huge wall murals, of the people who arrived.

Thought this quote by an Italian said it all. "Well I came to America because I heard the streets were paved with gold. When I got here I found out three things: first, the streets weren't paved with gold; second, they weren't paved at all; and third, I was expected to pave them.".

 

About 10% of those coming through were detained for poor health. How'd you like to sleep three bunk beds deep, in side by side bunks? I thought Winnie was a wee bit tiny, but this is a bit too close for my taste.

The bunk beds were raised during the day to give people standing room, then lowered at night.

By the time we left Ellis Island for the Statue of Liberty there were thousands of people there and still arriving. It was so crowded!

We couldn't get the tickets to the pedestal or base, but were able to walk around the grounds, spend some time at the National Park Visitor Center, watch a short movie and hear bagpipe band play.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she with silent lips. "Give me your tired, poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tots to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"....err wait a minute, that's just the tourists still arriving by the thousands. Never mind.

 

We finally made it free of screaming kids and hordes of school children on field trips. Glad to be back at Battery Park and break free!

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring neighborhoods. Loved seeing this iconic picture made into a sculpture, on the back of someone's pick-up truck!

 

We took a break for lunch in some swanky neighborhood. Got a great window seat and spent a good hour people watching. Yes, adult libations were in order.

 

 

We eventually made it to The High Line. What a great little retreat in the middle of Chelsea.

 

 

 

 

The best part for me was cooling my hot and tired feet in the stream.

 

 

 

 

Ah, shades of home.

A bit different taking a skinny dip in the South Yuba River and laying out on a NYC walkway with thousands of people strolling by - just sayin'

 

We took awhile slowly making our way back to the water taxi. We got in another 10 miles walk-about today. I think what I enjoyed best was all the great little parks, green spaces, and incredibly scenic river walkways. Thanks NYC. Hope to come back soon, perhaps with Megan on her next business trip? (hint, hint Megan).

 

 

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New York Chocolate Walk

Location: Liberty Harbor RV Park

Today was epic. My expectations were set pretty low, not thrilled about our camping situation or not knowing how our chocolate walk-about would turn out. Things could not have gone better. Here's the view from where we're camped. It just so happens to be right next to the water taxi to Manhattan. Perfect.

Mid morning we took the short water taxi ride from Liberty Harbor NJ over to Manhattan. It dropped us off at Battery Park. We strolled The Esplanade enjoying the city park and awesome views of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

 

 

What a cool city parkway.

 

 

 

We walked to Pier 11, near the Brooklyn Bridge and then took another water taxi over to Brooklyn.

 

From there we walked to the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn in search of Raaka Chocolate, a handcrafted bean to bar chocolate maker. They are one of my absolute favorites. They make virgin chocolate which means they don't roast their beans but conch at 150 degrees to develop some flavors.

 

My favorite bar is their Bourbon Cask Aged chocolate. I first encountered their chocolate at the Ferry Building in SF. I was really looking forward to visiting their chocolate making facility in Brooklyn.

Bingo...here I am at the source, standing in front of their bourbon barrels, tasting some of their chocolate. Sooooo good!

We met Peter, their Community Outreach Director, and he was so incredibly nice. He gave us an impromptu tour of their facility and also gave us some tips on making bourbon flavored chocolate. I love the openness of the handcrafted bean to bar community. Everyone is so willing to share information.

 

One of the unique things about Raaka Chocolate is they use an optical sorter instead of a conventional winnower to remove the shell from their nibs. Here's Ned checking it out with Peter.

This experience was so worth the walk!

 

Not too far away from Raaka is Cacao Prieto. Their claim to fame is they are both a distillery and a handcrafted chocolate maker.

 

 

They have a really interesting space with a gorgeous copper still next to some cool chocolate making equipment.

 

 

 

They have a great presentation of their bourbons and chocolate. You can do bourbon tasting as well.

 

 

 

 

Yes, we bought lots of chocolate at both places...research purposes.

 

We walked back to the DUMBO area. So far we logged a good 6 miles hoofing it. We couldn't believe it was near 4 o'oclock by this time! Where had the time gone? We decided to visit our all time favorite pizza pie place, Grimaldi's. There was a long line, but so worth it!

14 years ago, when we were dating, we had stumbled upon this place. So fun to revisit it again. (And even better to be still crazy in love with this guy!)

We were going to walk the Brooklyn Bridge back, but decided to save our legs for walking around Manhattan. Another water taxi ride back and then we stumbled upon this...

We went inside and talked to the security guard. It's just an office building now, but in 1904 it was the cocoa trading exchange. There's a mural on the wall showing the traders on the floor. Very cool.

In keeping with our National Park theme, we walked by the first American Government Building, where George Washington was officially sworn into office.

Unfortunately, it was past closing hours by this time so we couldn't go inside.

 

Next stop was the World Trade Center Memorial. Such a beautiful space.

 

 

We continued our walking tour of Manhattan, but at about 10 miles of walking we finally called Uncle. We took a water taxi back to our $100 a night parking lot space.

 

 

 

But don't feel too sorry for us about the "camping" situation. We are parked at the Liberty Harbor Yacht Club. What a better way to top off the evening than having beers and Manhattans at the Surf City Yacht Club bar watching the boats come in with the NY skyline in the backdrop. Epic Day indeed.

 

 

 

 

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