Guest blogging on Brainiac Getaways

I am a guest blogger on www.brainiacgetaways.com with a post about glassmaking in Corning. Check out my post along with some other interesting articles on the site. Please note that my daughter is the one making the glass flower, not the younger girl next to me when I'm making my glass pendant. The caption is incorrect and should be changed soon by Carol, the blogs creator.

Forest Lawn tour and Navy Week on the waterfront

Today my husband and I went on a trolley tour at Forest Lawn cemetery. We had picked up a brochure a few weeks ago and had always wanted to take one of our tours. Since today was clear on our calendar, we made reservations for the11:30 tour, which today happened to be the women's history tour focusing on the well known women who are "permanent residents" of the cemetery, such as Maria Love and Shirley Chisolm.

It was very interesting and informative, as the tour also mentioned some of the other notables buried in Forest Lawn, such as Millard Filmore and Rick James. WE even stopped to see the well-known Blocher memorial in the cemetery.

After the tour we headed down to the waterfront to see (from the outside) some of the ships docked at the waterfront for Navy Week. It was so nice to see so many people at the waterfront! There was quite a long line to get on board the ships that were docked there. We knew we had to be home by a certain time, so we didn't bother trying to tour the inside of the ships.

A Getaway to Ellicottville

Last week Thursday my husband and I went on an overnight getaway to Ellicottville to celebrate our anniversary. Our first stop was the Nannen Arboretum, a very picturesque spot. Then lunch at the Ellicottville Brewing Company, followed by wine tasting at the Ellicottville Winery, which has very good wines. Later that evening we had dinner at the Silver Fox, which had some great specials on the menu. After dinner we strolled down to a small park with a gazebo, which features live music on Thursdays during the summer. We stayed overnight at the Wingate hotel.

The next day we enjoyed shopping at the many stores in town. On our way back home we traveled through Colden, stopping at the Colden Country Store, and then we made a stop in East Aurora to shop at Vidler's. We had gift certificates to the Dog Bar in West Falls, so we had dinner there. Both the food and atmosphere are good here.

A Visit to Niagara Falls

Last Friday we spent the day at Niagara Falls, NY being tourists in our own backyard. Our first adventure was to go on the Cave of the Winds, something none of us has done before. This is the perfect thing to do on a warm day, as you get soaking wet! It was amazing to see the force and power of the water going over the falls...and we got souvenir sandals to keep.

After lunch at the snack bar adjacent to the Cave of the Winds, we walked around a bit and then headed over to the Maid of the Mist. My husband and I had been on it years ago, but our two youngest children had never been on it. Again, another perfect thing to do on a warm summer day, as you do get wet, despite the raincoats they provide. It is an awesome view of the falls, but I find it scary!

We walked around some more on Goat Island, and went to the Three Sisters Islands. Afterwards, we had dinner at the Top of the Falls restaurant, where the view is good and the food is tasty and reasonably priced.

Last week my daughter and I went on a one night "girls getaway" to the Traditions at the Glen in Binghamton. We decided to do this since my husband and youngest son were going to summer camp.

Our trip down was very interesting. We were driving through Elmira about the time the tornado hit last Thursday. It was raining so hard it was "like driving through a waterfall" as my daughter said. She was actually driving (she has her permit) and said she should automatically get her license after driving through that!

I had read about the Spa at Traditions and specifically the Salt Sanctuary, a man-made salt cave within the spa. Sitting in the cave for treatment is supposde to be relaxing, as well as beneficialy to your skin and breathing. It was a unique relaxing experience. We also had manicures and pedicures the next morning. www.traditionsresort.com

We also checked out some of the carousels that Binghamton is famous for, as well as did some shopiing at Oakdale Mall.

A trip to Corning

A couple weeks ago we took a mini vacation to Corning, about a 2 hour drive from Buffalo. We visited the Corning Museum of Glass, a place your really need to spend the entire day at to see and do everything. We made some glass items at the Glass Studio. (If you do so, make sure you make reservations in advance, you can purchase tickets to the museum and to do the glass workshops in advance online.  www.cmog.org

We stayed overnight at the Staybridge Suites, which are right next to the museum and spent the next day checking out the shops and restaurants on Market Street.

Buick Car Show

Yesterday was a busy day for us. In addition to going to Buffalo Night in America in the evening, we also went to the Buick car show, which was held at the Pierce Arrow Buffalo Transportation Museum. What a great museum to have in our area! www.pierce-arrow.com