New York State of Mind

We spent last week in New York, but it probably isn't the New York you're thinking of.  Everyone was so excited for us when I told them we were in New York, and wanted to know what cool sites we were seeing. Would we go to Central Park or visit the Statue of Liberty?  I felt like I was letting everyone down when I told them that we were hundreds of miles from that New York.  I think most people think of New York City when they hear "New York" since that's where most people want to visit.  But we're all the way on the other side of the state, working our way northeast.

Also, we pretty much always stay in small towns.  We like quiet towns close to well-known sites but not necessarily in the same town as them.  We're planning a week in NYC in the fall and even for that trip, we managed to find an RV park that is technically in New Jersey (but only a short ferry ride into the city).  I'm curious to see how the family handles it.  Hopefully most of the tourists will be home by then and we'll be able to navigate the city easier. 

Anyway, we picked a small farm town called Byron for this stop, because it was:

a.) On our route to Maine,

b.) Close to Niagara Falls, 

c.) MUCH more affordable than any RV parks in the vicinity.  Like, $200 more affordable.

This park is super well-known to locals and the place was filled up to the brim by the weekend!  Jeff said he felt like we were at a Nascar rally.

These purple flowers lined the roads from Geneva to Byron.  So pretty!

Western New York is everything you don't think of when you think of New York!  It is filled with cornfields and farms. Everyone seems to have an industrial mower to tackle the huge fields they call backyards.  It's buggy and a lot of it is rural. It's cozy and beautiful.

Western New Yorkers are everything you do think of when you think of New York, or at least some of them are!  We heard wonderful accents and got odd looks when we said hello to strangers.  That was maybe my favorite part about interacting with the people there.  Several were so startled to be spoken to by a stranger that they were noticeably taken aback. So you know that made me want to talk to them all the more!  Jeff said that he walked past a guy and nodded and said, "Hi," and the guy's eyes got big and he looked at Jeff like he was crazy.  The girls said they had similar experiences.  I did meet a few friendly strangers and got to visit with them at the pool and laundry facilities.  

A first:  Paying to use a cart at Aldi.  You're supposed to get the quarter back when you return it, but mine was broken and wouldn't latch properly. 

We drove to Lake Ontario Beach Park on one of our morning excursions, which is in Rochester. 

Perfectly raked and level.  No rocks or debris of any kind.

Never been to a beach like this before!

Pretty, though!

A few days of rain kept us inside, so we headed out to explore as soon as it cleared.

The kids and I visited Letchworth State Park, home to the Grand Canyon of the east and Mary Jemison's grave.  They have a cabin that she built herself, as well as a statue and some neat structures.  There is also a nature preserve within the park, which we checked out.

This was a really cool stop for Megan.  For years, her favorite book was Indian Captive, the story of Mary Jemison's early life.  She read it until it fell apart, so she taped it up and kept reading.

Mary was taken captive during the French and Indian War and became an adopted member of the Seneca Indians.  We learned a lot about Mary's life here, and were happy to read that she came to know the Lord as an adult.

We saved Niagara Falls for our Saturday family outing and went over in the morning.

I saw signs all over that said you didn't have to pay for parking if you were staying for 20 minutes or less.  I thought that was weird.  This was Niagara Falls.  THE Niagara Falls.  Who would drive all the way out here and only stay for 20 minutes?

Well, including our snack break and bathroom stop, I think we stayed for maybe 25 minutes.

The falls are very quiet compared to Shoshone Falls, with no mist or wind up by the viewing areas.  I think part of why our day at Shoshone was so wonderful was just the enormity and volume and sensory overload.  Maybe if we had done the Maid of the Mist ride it would have been different here.  (We skipped it since it would have been about $80 for a 20-minute ride.)  The kids said they're glad they saw it so they know what it's like, but that "it wasn't anything to write home about."  I know, everyone's a critic!

Since we were already so close, we decided to drive down to Buffalo for lunch.  There is a popular pizza place called Gino's there that we wanted to try.  We walked around the neighborhood while we waited for our pizza.  The houses were spectacular!  These houses look so historic and museum-like, but they have people living in them.  They were out mowing their lawns and barbecuing, so I didn't want to take photos as I walked by.  But wow, were they pretty!  Here is one of the houses:

Gino's NYC style pizza!  So good!

Top 3 things I will remember about our week in Byron:

1.  Thousands of fireflies in the woods at dusk each night.  Jeff and I walked the dogs on a trail that went through the middle of the woods and I couldn't believe my eyes.  I know I tend to be overly enthusiastic, so I asked Jeff if it was really as incredible as I thought it was and he said, "Yeah, it's pretty incredible."  So there you have it.

2.  That amazing pizza.  I loved the sweet sauce type and I loved the chewy NYC style.  The pizza lives up to the hype.

3.  The kids and I tried geocaching one day.  We followed a dirt road to find a hidden cache in the crook of a tree.  I thought it was thrilling; the kids thought they could have done without the spiderwebs and mosquitos.  I think my kids are getting too soft!  Maybe they need to go to some kind of wilderness camp to toughen up?  😉

We had a short travel day on Sunday and ended up in Vermont!  More on that next week!