Michigan to New York

September 19, 2023

We made our first family stop on the trip staying 3 nights at Holland State Park on Lake Michigan. We had a very nice time visiting Laurie’s family, friends and old haunts and found lots of local produce to enjoy - the local farmers market had very nice tomatoes, cucumbers and fresh sweet corn. Yum! With Laurie's sister Jackie we went to Fennville and picked apples and peaches and of course had to stop at the orchards cafe to get a piece of homemade pie. We rode our bikes about 15 miles along the Lake Michigan shoreline and stopped at a blueberry farm market and all had blueberry custard. We also walked around the beach cottages and on the beach near the park. It was a nice visit. 

Mark, Laurie and Jackie biking

Holland Lighthouse

Holland Farmers Market

Picking apples

Laurie and Jackie eating Blueberry Custard

Rough Lake Michigan

We spent one night visiting Mark’s cousin Roseanne and her husband Tom - remember from last winters trip when we ran into them in Arizona after a 20-year absence. We spent a night nice with them in Castalia, Ohio near Mark’s hometown of Sandusky and had drinks at Tom’s beer garden - it was nice visiting with them again. After we left them, we took a nice walk at Sheldon Marsh Natural Preserve and walked out to see Lake Erie.

Then it was on to Cleveland where we spent 4 days visiting with Mark’s brother John and his wife Linda. This time we were lucky to see their three kids, six grandchildren, and helped celebrate 2 of the grandchildren’s birthdays. We spent some time at Cuyahoga Valley National Park and took some walks that we had not done before; one to the Ledges and one to Brandywine Falls. Another day, we drove into Cleveland and down to the waterfront and through some very nice neighborhoods. Linda and I drove to a local farm markets for fresh corn and had a great time looking at all the gourds and pumpkins.  We spent our last night there going out for dinner and ordering just appetizers! That was fun! We followed that with a big campfire in their back yard!

Birthday party

Brandywine Falls

The Ledges

The Ledges

Cleveland Skyline

Weird Gourds

Farmers Market Pumpkins

Leaving Cleveland we headed east through Pennsylvania to New York and Niagara Falls. We spent 3 nights at 4 Mile Creek State Park on Lake Ontario, a little north of Niagara Falls. We had a lakefront site and could see across Lake Ontario to the Toronto skyline. We spent a very nice day at Niagara Falls State Park on the American side of the Niagara River. We walked all over the park seeing - Goat Island and Luna Island, The Three Sisters Islands, and the falls and rapids from all the different viewpoints. It is quite awesome - such a huge amount of water going over the falls. We took a ride on the Maid of the Mist boat to see the falls from a totally different viewpoint. They give you raincoats for the trip, but this was no mist! … it was more like a downpour and our hats, sleeves, shoes and pants bottoms were totally soaked. It was a very fun experience!  We also stopped at Whirlpool State Park, located on the Niagara river below the falls, where the river narrows and has created an impressive whirlpool.

Toronto Skyline across Lake Ontario

Campsite at Four Mile Creek Campground

They say "Mist" but it poured!

Niagara River Rapids

American and Canadian Falls

Whirlpool State Park

American Falls

Canadian Horseshoe Falls

The next day we visited Lockport, New York located on the Erie Canal.  The Erie Canal was finished in 1825 and was 360 miles long, 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep connecting Lake Erie at Buffalo to the Hudson River at Albany.  It was enlarged over the years, but the advancement of steam power and railroads kind of did it in. It is still in use from May to October, mostly by private boats. They drain part of the canal in the winter to prevent ice from breaking the dikes. We took a boat ride on the Lockport Locks and Erie Canal Cruises and went through two locks and down the canal a ways. It was very nice and kind of gave you a feeling of a much slower time. We took a roundabout way back to our campground and stopped to see Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse on Lake Ontario. It was a nice day.

Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse

Our next destination was Letchworth State Park which is dubbed the “grand canyon of the east” with a gorge 590-600 feet deep and three very nice waterfalls. We hiked to all  three waterfalls. They were very beautiful. The highest is 107 feet tall. 

Lower Falls

Upper Falls

Letchworth Gorge

Middle Falls

The neatest thing that we saw was the ascension of 3 hot air balloons. It was so unexpected and such a special treat so we pulled out our lawn chairs from the back of the truck and sat down and watched the whole process from beginning to end. The balloons went up and then over one of the falls before heading off into the distance.

Yesterday, we arrived at Watkins Glen State Park in the Finger Lakes. 

More to come ...