Lake Erie State Park - Dunkirk, Pennsylvania

I have been bogged down by writing about this Niagara trip, so I will summarize the rest here.

Slacklining at Lake Erie State Park

It's a small world, after all.

After Maid of the Mist and delicious fish n' chips at Betty's we headed to Dunkirk, Pennsylvania. Why Dunkirk, you ask? Well, Kris had to visit a winery there. The town is very small, but it does have a Cold Stone (yes!) and it is on the edge of Lake Erie.

Another plus, Dunkirk is home to Lake Erie State Park - a beautiful, green, tree-filled lake-front park. My dad, Russell, and I decided to spend the day at the park while Kris was working. Russell and I slacklined, and even my dad tried (pretty good for a first timer). Unfortunately, while I was slacklining over the grass and wildflowers, I apparently stepped on a bee and was stung right on the bottom of my foot! I scraped off the pulsing stinger, but a portion of the stinger remained in my foot and I couldn't get it out. I just ignored it and went on with my day. Yes, this is the bee sting I wrote about that ended up swollen for three days.

After leaving the park the three of us headed out to lunch. We found a great little place, called Barcelona Café, with spectacular food, all home made. Mmmm...

Beached boat and grape vines.

Then we went to the winery, picked up Kris, and headed to the airport in Buffalo for the flight back to New York. But first, a stop at PF Chang's for delicious lettuce wraps and soup! Good thing we ate, because our flight was delayed, and once we boarded we had to wait on board the plane for 50 minutes before takeoff - no problem, though, I had a great book and sudoku. 

Oh and we had to pass through those full body scanners. I did feel a little violated that these men who I don't know were basically able to see me naked. Glad I have a good level of self confidence with my body.

Waldameer Park & Erie, Pennsylvania

Waldameer Park, Erie, PA

After a great day at Niagara Falls we had to go to the local company picnic for one of the wineries Kris' company oversees. The picnic was held at Waldameer Park in Erie, Pennsylvania. When Kris said there would be roller coasters and water slides, I pictured something like Six Flags. No - this was more like state fair style. I didn't go on any of the rides because they looked a little bit decrepit, but there were a lot of people, young and old alike, having a blast. I think this may be the place to be in this small town... well it was bigger than my home town, but I think this town is much further away from larger cities.

I also saw more mullets at that park than anywhere else I have been. The vast majority of the people were overweight as well. I just read an article that rated Colorado as the most fit state followed closely by states such as California and Hawaii. Considering that the only states I have spent any significant time in are Cali and Hawaii (well NY now), it was a little bit of a shock to see how unhealthy parts of the US are becoming. I couldn't help but wonder how our health care system is going to deal with all of these middle aged people who are overweight, and are therefore more likely to succumb to easily preventable illnesses. And then there are the children. It is so sad seeing a child that is fat. That child is learning terrible habits at such a young age, and habits learned at a young age can be the ones most difficult to break.

Skipping rocks in Lake Erie

I swear the food and health industries are conspiring together. We get poison in our food (seriously, the Pentagon used to have aspartame listed as a biochemical warfare agent, until the food industry realized they could make a profit marketing it as a zero calorie sweetener) and we are exposed to massive amounts of antibiotics that are making us immune to nearly all antibiotics out there... and don't even get me started on the super gene that is making its way around the world and who is resistant to everyday antibiotics that are carried in your everyday hospital or all of the GMO food out there. Then there is the ease of getting our hands on all the shitty food we can eat thanks to factory farming and subsidies (high fructose corn syrup, anyone?). Well all this (and more) is slowly fucking us over. And who will benefit from an unhealthy America? That's right, the health industry. No wonder they want to keep insurance privatized - and now every American has to buy private insurance.... Welcome to corporate America.

Ok sorry for that little tirade... The good thing about Erie is all of the greet forests that surround it. We went for a drive along Lake Erie and stopped at the beach and skipped rocks. The scenery is so beautiful in this whole area and everything smells so fresh!


After our day in Erie, it was time for the nice drive back into Canada...

Relaxing on a beach at Lake Erie, PA