Arrived in Westfield NY on June 18th. This is a quiet beautiful area with acres and acres of grapes. Our campground was located less than a quarter mile from Lake Erie.
While here we took a trip to Panama Rocks. Panama Rocks is an enchanting world of towering rocks, deep crevices and passageways, cool, cavernous dens, and small caves. The rock formations are a unique outcrop of 300 million year old quartz conglomerate sedimentary rock that extend about half a mile and reach upwards of 60 feet tall. Grotesque roots snake down the rocks and delicate ferns, mosses, and lichens add to it’s unique, jungle-like charm.
We spent a few hours walking around, between, and through the many rock formations. On our way in we missed the path and actually started by having to make our way down between some rocks to descend to the path. Below are some of what we saw and climbed around.
We also took a trip to the Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Museum in Jamestown NY. There was a lot of great memorabilia there along with replicas of the original show sets. It was a great trip down memory lane as both Jeff and I liked watching the show. See below for some snapshots of what we saw.
Took a ride one day to the Southern Tier Brewery. They had a limited addition beer mixed with grapes. Food was good, would recommend to anyone.
Took a ride on the Lady Kate out of Presque Isle in Erie PA. We were supposed to see a number of lighthouses but due to the rough seas in Lake Erie we only moved a short distance into the Lake and spent the rest of the trip tooling around the Erie harbor. Had not realized that the Lake is that affected a windy day.
One nice sunny day we rented a pontoon boat and went fishing on Lake Chautauqua. We started using a bobber and were really not catching anything. I switched to a sinker and caught about dozen yellow perch. Threw them all back but did try that type of fish when we went out for dinner. Regardless, it was fun to be out on the water, tooling around, and enjoying the day!
Jeff got a chance to go swimming in Lake Erie as there was a small beach nearby – Barcelona Beach. It was also a place for boats to launch.
Went to a really awesome lighthouse in Dunkirk NY. This lighthouse had rooms of memorabilia from people in the area covering each branch of the military.
Took the dogs on a few walks through the woods at Luensman Overview Park and Lake Erie State Park. The views from Luensman were amazing – could see across to Canada!
This trip would not be complete, with so many grapes nearby, without doing some wine tasting and relaxing. Below are pictures from Johnson’s Estate, 21 Brix and Noble.
To say good-bye to Westfield, see the sunsetting below on Lake Erie.
On to Grand Island, NY – see you at the falls!
Fran and Jeff’s Retirement Adventures 