Letchworth State Park

Back in Mid-September DH and I decided to take a day trip to Letchworth State Park.  Eventho I grew up in and around Western New York I never visited Letchworth.  Come to find out, I used to live about an hour away from it!  People from the Buffalo/Niagara Falls area joke that locals don't visit The Falls (or more specifically ride on The Maid of The Mist) until after we move from the area.  I guess the same could be said of Letchworth State Park.

These first two photos are part of the Glen Iris Inn at Letchworth State Park.  It was formerly the estate of William Pryor Letchworth and has been a country inn since 1914.  It overlooks the Middle Falls on the Gennessee River and overlooks Letchworth. 

Before I start posting the waterfall photos I wanted to make special mention of this area within Letchworth.  It's called Tea Table Rock area.  It's located in the Wolf Creek section of the park and named for the unusual rock formation.  In the 1920's, photographs of the scenic area were said to show the 'table' high on the edge of the cliff.  As for this specific photo that I took this is one of the many picnic areas of Tea Table.  It was an open-air pavilion.  There was a back wall with a fireplace and chimney.  The two sides were somewhat enclosed but had window frames that were cut out much like you see on this back wall...other parts of the sides had half walls that were about hip-high or so.  Where I was standing - taking the photo - that entrance side was open and exposed.  I think it was a great way for people to huddle to get away from the elements but still have open air for the nature lovers.  It looked VERY old and really took me back to a different time.

Here is a photo of some of the cliffs they were referring to.  When we went in mid-September, the leaves had yet to change...as you can see here.  It was still an amazing sight to see, tho!

I tried to take as many photos as I could before DH's patience ran thin.  There is a lower falls, middle falls, and upper falls.  The Middle Falls was the largest.  We mistakenly thought that was the Upper Falls and didn't actually make it up to the top.  I know we have to go back at some point so when we do I will report back and hopefully have more photos of that waterfall.

I know it's hard to see, but close to the middle of this photo, there is a small bridge that you can walk over.  We didn't make it over to the other side so I didn't get any photos from that area.  Again, I hope to go back and explore it more!

Here is a closer look at one of the bridges.  It's a little grainy because I zoomed in as much as I could.  Again, we didn't make it over to that side or else I would have gotten a better snapshot.

Here's another angle of the gorge area.  And another one of the many cliffs.  Overall, Letchworth State Park is nearly 14,500 acres and about 17 miles long.  It's about a 35 mile drive from Rochester and a 60 mile drive from Buffalo.

I was able to get more photos of the Middle Falls when we went.  Here is one as we were approaching.  In the upper right-hand corner, (which is actually the Portage Viaduct), you can see what looks like a bridge and/or railroad bridge way type structure or skywalk.  That area is where the Upper Falls is.

As we continued to walk, we could feel the mist of the falls.  The stone surrounding everything was truly amazing!  It was a bit windy that day and because we arrived earlier in the day it wasn't too busy YET and was a tad chilly.

I've always LOVED waterfalls!  When I saw how massive the Middle Falls were I knew I had to take as many pictures as possible!  I'm bummed we didn't make it to the Upper Falls that day.  Letchworth State Park is also known as the "Grand Canyon of the East".

Here's a side-shot of the Middle Falls.  I read that as many as 50 waterfalls found on tributaries that flow into Gennessee River.  In some places, the rock walls are over 550 feet high!  I had a lot of fun that day and can't wait to go back!

3 New-To-Me Products I've Enjoyed Lately

I still have LOTS to catch up on but wanted to hurry up and post about 3 products that I have enjoyed lately.

The first being this Organic Cranberry Spiced Apple Kombucha from Trader Joe's in Rochester.

It was pretty strong for a nice kick in the pants! BAM!

Next up...

So Delicious Cheddar Shreds!  Yes!  So Delicious!  I found them at the Whole Foods Market in Buffalo!  And OMG I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE it!  It smells more cheddary than anything else I have ever smelled vegan-cheese-wise.  There is more of a TANG to it than other vegan cheeses, too!  I do LOVE Daiya Shreds - but - dare I say I enjoy THESE shreds more?  Possibly.  I'm upset that I only bought 1 bag because I know I won't be able to find any anywhere near me.  I've been Googling this and any online announcements only date back to mid-August and Mid September so this HAS to be a NEW product!

And speaking of Daiya...OMG...I'm in LOVE with their new Alfredo Sauce!  This is so creamy and so rich and so YUM!  I found it at Wegman's in Lakewood a few months ago and just got rid of the box last week because I was going thru my kitchen and pitching it.  It's not unusual for me to keep a label or box of something I enjoy to remind myself to pick it up again the next time I see it but I will NOT be forgetting about this little gem anytime soon so I figured it was safe to part ways with the box!

QUESTION OF THE DAY...what are the last 3 new-to-you-productions that have been memorable for you?

Road Trip to Rochester & Buffalo: Pi-Craft, New Whole Foods Market, and Wind Farms!

This past weekend DH and I were headed to Woodmere, OH, and decided to change directions and head to Rochester, NY, instead.  We wanted to get the Abarth out before winter, too!  When we got to Rochester we visited 2 Music Stores he wanted to go to and we stopped at a place called Pi-Craft for lunch.  It was WONDERFUL!  Basically, you put the toppings that you want on your pizza and they Stone Fire it in 3 to 6 minutes!  They had VEGAN options!  So as you can see here I opted for the Vegan Cheese, Sauce, Tomato, Artichoke, Mushrooms, Spinach, Garlic, etc.

Come to find out not only do they have a location in Rochester - they have another one in Buffalo!  I'm sure we will be stopping at the Buffalo Location in the future!  While we were in Rochester we briefly stopped at Trader Joe's.  I only bought 3 items one of which was their Apple Cranberry BOOCH.  It was a strange trip because we kept changing our direction throughout the trip.  We ended up in Buffalo on our way home.  I found out they finally opened the new Whole Foods Market there so we stopped real quick and it was unlike any other WF's I have seen!

I bought some things there but totally forgot to take photos before putting it away!  Oops!  This store was HUGE!  In this 2nd pic if you look to the far left there is a restaurant and bar there with local brews.  We weren't able to stop to eat there but it looked really neat.  We might be going to Buffalo on the 23rd with my parents who are looking into a camper so I might see if we can stop there again!

Because we were driving all over the place I can't really tell you an exact location where we started seeing these Wind Turbines and Wind Farms but I know one of the many locations was in or around Warsaw, NY.   There were HUNDREDS of them all over the place.  I've seen them in other places here and there but on this trip, we were certainly in the core of the Wind Farm zone.

Agree or Disagree with them - it was certainly not something most of us see every day!  

Again, I have multiple posts today so be sure to scroll down.  I just couldn't wait to share my vegan pizza with you or the mention of the new WF's in Buffalo!

CHEERS!