Fun at the chicken wing festival

We had a fun time today eating wings and watching the national chicken wing eating competition at the National Buffalo Wing Festival.

Read about the Salt Sanctuary and Maple Weekend in current issue of Longweekends Magazine

Check out my latest articles in the Fall/Winter issue of Longweekends Magazine

The Salt Sanctuary in Binghamton, NY the perfect spot for a girl's getaway:
http://www.long-weekends.com/Main/Articles/Salt_of_the_Earth_2027.aspx

Maple Weekend, which takes place in March:
http://www.long-weekends.com/Main/Articles/The_Sweet_Life_2007.aspx

Day trip to Olean and Ellicottville

 

We decided to take an end of summer day trip and to do some research for an upcoming article. We headed down to Rock City Park in Olean, which was a lot of fun. We had lunch at Sprague's Maple Farm in Portville, stopped by the Cutco Visitor's Center, then headed to Ellicottville to Holiday Valley to go on the Mountain Coaster. Dinner was at the Ellicottville Brewing Company. A fun but tiring day!

Anniversary getaway trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake

 

 

My husband and I celebrated our anniversary this past weekend by taking a trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake Ontario. We crossed over the Peace Bridge, then took a side trip to the small town of Ridgeway (part of Fort Erie) which has quite a few shops and restaurants. We then visited a few wineries. We stayed at the Prince of Wales hotel (a very nice property) and enjoyed dinner in their dining room. The next day we browsed the shops, enjoyed the annual peach festival, and saw a play at the Shaw Festival. We had dinner in Niagara Falls on the way home.

Fun day at the Erie County Fair

 

My husband, youngest son, daughter, and I spent the afternoon and evening at the Erie County Fair. It was a bit cool today, but that's ok, better than too hot. The kids enjoyed going on rides, we had a blooming onion, walked around and saw a lot of exhibits, watched the pig races, saw the tiger show, and enjoyed Chiavetta's chicken for dinner. The fair runs until Sunday. www.ecfair.org

Girls Getaway to Pennsylvania

Although this blog focuses mainly on western New York I'd like to tell you about a fun trip my daughter and I took last week when my husband and youngest son were at scout camp. We took a drive down to the outlet mall in Grove City, Pennsylvania, about a three hour trip from Buffalo. There are a lot of nice shops in this mall and there's no sales tax on shoes and clothing in Pennsylvania!

We also made a side trip to Sharon, Pennsylvania to Reyers, the world's largest shoe store. I found the perfect shoes and purse to wear to a wedding I went to this past weekend. We also stopped at Millcreeek Mall in Erie, which also has some nice shops that we don't have in Buffalo, including Charming Charlie's, which has jewelry and accessories.

We also enjoyed some restaurants not found in Buffalo, including Chick fil A, Kings, and Eat 'n Park.

Preview night at Cabela's

 

My husband and I had gotten an invitation through the Boy Scouts to go to preview night at Cabela's this evening, a new hunting, fishing camping store that is opening in Cheektowaga on Walden Avenue across from the Galleria Mall. What a huge store! If you hunt, fish, or go camping you have to check it out. I don't do any of the above, my idea of roughing it is staying at the Best Western, however, my husband and youngest son do camp with the Boy Scouts, so I can appreciate the number of items available and the prices seemed reasonable. I never saw so many fishing poles in one place in my life!

The store opens to the public this Thursday August 7th. Rumor has it that it will be a mob scene!