It’s been way too long since I have put one of these together! Yes – we are just starting to think about what we will be doing for vacation this year – and I have yet to get this one posted! The kids are involved in more activities – and I am spending a LOT more time just carting them around!
Summer Vacation
So we finally had a proper vacation this summer – and although we didn’t do quite as much as I was hoping – we did manage to get out, do some things & have some fun!
My idea was to do a couple of loops covering a bunch of places in upstate New York. We have a post of 111 Things to Do in the Adirondacks & Upstate New York & I asked everyone in the family to go to that post and pick out 5 things/places they wanted to do/go. No guarantee we were going to get to everything – but I wanted to include at least one thing that each member of the family really wanted to do.
Yes, it was ambitious, yes, we had to stay a different place almost every night, and yes, some people did get a little cranky and tired! Here is what we did:
First Loop! The Western Loop
Day 1)
Syracuse University
- My old stomping grounds (I earned both my law degree & masters in nutrition @ Syracuse). I have brought the kids here – but it has been many years since out last visit. It was nice to just walk around the campus and show them where I was. It was also interesting to see all the changes!
- I was hoping to get a good picture of the kids at the front entrance of the university (looking up to the Lockerbie memorial & Hall of Languages) – but they were working on the big grassy area in front of that view. Second time that has happened to us in 8 years!
Destiny USA Mall
- For Dominick’s eighth birthday (four years earlier) we were supposed to come up to the mall and he wanted to drive the electric go carts. We never made it – so Dominick never “officially” turned 8! So we FINALLY did this – and both Gracie & Dominick had a lot of fun!
- The kids had some old gift cards for Build-A-Bear. They all enjoyed making their own “custom” stuffed animal.
After eating at the food court in the Destiny USA mall we headed up to Oswego and stayed there for the night. My mother attended went to college up @ Oswego – so we wanted to take a look at the place, since it was relatively on our way. And, soon the kids will have to think about college – and it’s never too early for them to start to see what colleges look like! You will see that our vacation could easily be confused with a upstate New York college tour!
Day 2)
Oswego – State University of New York @ Oswego
We started our day by touring the college. It has been some years since my mother attended – but she remembered the name of the residence hall she stayed at (Johnson Hall) – and so finding that was one of our primary objectives. Well, not surprisingly, things have not stood still at the college! It took us a lot of walking and questioning a couple of helpful folks to identify Johnson Hall – but we eventually did. It is a pretty campus – that is RIGHT ON the shores of Lake Ontario. We also visited the bookstore and picked up some logoed merchandise for Mimi (my mother).
Strong Museum of Play (Rochester)
This was one of Dominick’s picks for our trip. The construction at this place was unbelievable! It looks like they are nearly doubling the size of this museum! They are adding 90,000 square feet of space which will house state-of-the-art guest amenities and a 24,000-square-foot interactive gallery. It is slated to open in 2023. For more information on the expansion – check out the link here.
This was not cheap! We were fortunate to find parking on the street. We had allotted about 4 hours for this stop – so we only purchased admission to the museum. It cost me about $120 for the family (about $20/each)
We did have a good time here. There was really something for everyone! It was neat to show the kids some of the toys Melani and I each played with as kids. It was nostalgic for us – and interesting for the kids. There were also neat activities we could engage in. One of our favorites was the “perspective” rooms. The slanted room was surprising challenging to walk through without using the handrail or walls! The other room really distorts your sense of perspective of height. Yes – Dominick is growing a little – but he is still not taller than Melani!
Day 3)
Niagara Falls (New York side)
We have been to Niagara Falls not too long ago (2019 – right before the whole Global Pandemic thing…See our post here) But we have never really explored the New York side. Well, that is what we did this year!
I was excited – because I knew that the Maid of the Mist had replaced their 2 boats with new electric boats. Gracie & Dominick had been on these within the past year with church youth group – but we had not done it as a family. The electric boats really are an improvement on whole approaching the falls experience. It is really neat to almost magically glide towards the falls – in all their wet splendor – without the diesel smell and all the vibration of the diesel motors. The boats were very clean and we really enjoyed the entire experience.
We parked right on Goat Island (lot 3) and walked to both the Maid of the Mist and to the outlooks over the falls. After dismissing the US side of the falls Niagara Falls for so many years – I was genuinely surprised at how much more I enjoyed the US side than I had imagined. I would definitely do this again! We spent the entire day @ Niagara Falls. It was a great day of enjoying nature, the iconic falls, some hiking and a little shopping in the town.
Day 4)
Letchworth State Park
This was one of the places that I chose for our vacation this year. I am actually quite embarrassed that I have lived in upstate New York my entire life, driven out to Saint Bonaventure many times and STILL never stopped @ Letchworth State Park until this vacation! Some call it the Grand Canyon of the east. some don’t call it that. I just call it beautiful!
It was a hot and muggy day when were at Letchworth State Park. We, apparently, didn’t do enough due diligence prior to our visit – because I had expected it to be a much more challenging hike than it was. We entered at the Portageville entrance on the south westerner side of the park. It is not a very grand entrance – and we found the signage a little sparse. We drove along the road for a bit and parked in one of the first parking lots we can too – next to some steel scaffolding/tower. Ends up – it was the right place to park! After just a brief – but steep walk down some stone steps – we arrived at the spectacular Upper Falls! This was even more picturesque than I had expected! You will see pictures of the falls with both the older bridge and the new bridge. The old bridge was very square and chunky – while the new railroad bridge is a spanning arch bridge that is way more sleek & visually appealing. The bridge was redone in 2017 and you can read more about that project here.
We walked to the middle falls – and I would characterize it as just that – an enjoyable walk, or maybe even a stroll in the park. There are well developed trails and roads between the upper and middle falls. It is nothing like a firetower challenge in the Adirondacks! I would definitely stop here again – especially cognizant of the fact that it could be a quick stop – or a more lengthy stop. I was very impressed with how lush the canyon was. The only complaint I really have – is it just wasn’t particularly easy to find the kind of accommodations we were looking for a family or 6.
State University of New York @ Geneseo
As I said – kind of a theme, or at least sub-theme, of this vacation! We didn’t spend as much time @ Geneseo as we did at Oswego – but Geneseo has a nice-looking campus! I have a sister-in-law who attended here – so we felt obligated to at least check it out!
Day 5)
Dam @ Letchworth State Park
Before we left for Saint Bonaventure we took a little while to visit the museum and dam at the top of the park. It was interesting – and convenient – since our accommodations were near the top of the park. Nothing spectacular – but interesting.
Saint Bonaventure University
This is another upstate university that I attended, back in the day. This was the final stop of our first loop – before we returned home for a couple of nights and beginning our second loop. I focused on showing the kids & Melani the buildings and places that I recognized and were present when I attended Saint Bonaventure. There were quite a few new buildings!
Second Loop! The Northern Loop – 2 days later!
Day 6)
Destiny USA Mall
Yes – we actually stopped here again – since it was right on our way to the Thousand Islands area. It’s a big mall – so there were things they didn’t get to do last week that they wanted to still do.
Day 7)
Saint Lawrence & Boldt Castle
We did the Two Nations tour with USA Boat Tours to see the Saint Lawrence area from the water. It was interesting and fun – but after having just been on the electric boats @ Niagara Falls (Maid of the Mist) – the gas/diesel boats here were not as enjoyable or clean.
Boldt Castle was another pick of mine for this vacation. Again, sad to say that I have never been there before. In some ways that may not be bad – in that much of the restoration of this place has just been accomplished relatively recently. The story of Boldt Castle is a fascinating & tragic love story. This man (George Boldt) built this castle for his beloved wife – and they never even got to live there. It wasn’t even finished – because she did about half-way through the construction – and he couldn’t bear to finish it once his wife passed away. This is a self-guided tour (app on your phone) We enjoyed this. They are completing more rooms all the time. Most of the first floor is now completed. If we did this again – I would skip the yacht house.
Days 8 & 9)
Saranac Lake (Adirondacks)
We do love the Adirondacks – so if it is close – we are stopping in to do something! Gracie wanted to go ziplining and I wanted to do a Fire Tower Challenge hike. We’ve been to the Lake Placid area before – but hadn’t spent much time at nearby Saranac Lake. So that is where we picked as a stopping point.
We stayed in the Saranac Lake Hotel – which was nice – but we weren’t in the main hotel – since we wanted a suite for our family of 6. Instead – we were in what were probably dorms that had been renovated that were located in the lot adjacent to the main hotel. They were done nicely, for sure, but I think we would have preferred to be in the main hotel building. The hotel building was formerly owned by the Paul Smith’s College, and the suite we stayed in were probably the dorms for the students involved with the hospitality school.
We used the same company for the ziplining as we did for the ropes course last year – Experience Outdoors. They do a great job for a fair price! Since the smaller ones don’t want to participate in some of the adventures we take on – one of us adults usually has to stay with them. Last year I was the ground-bound adult and Melani did the ropes course (Adventure Update # 059: Sophie’s Lotion-Potion #5!). This year, she was ground-bound and I did the ziplining. The experience was both exhilarating & fun!
Days 10 & 11)
I learned in my past travels that the pace can’t always be 100% – so on this trip we tried to slow it down a little at the end and the last 2 stops were both 2 night stays.
Finding a place to stay in Inlet was not particularly easy for a family of 6. We stayed at the Mariana Motel – which was an old-style one floor, you-park-right-in-front-of-your-room motel. Inlet seems to be in high demand in August – so we were only able to get one room. The proprietors were very accommodating, and the place was clean and centrally located. Inlet is just a beautiful little town with everything you could want in a little adventure town in the Adirondacks!
Last time we passed through the Adirondacks we saw the rail bikes (Adirondack Scenic Railbike) – but couldn’t get a time slot that fit our schedule. This was another one of my picks. We had to get 2 4 person bikes to accommodate our family. This was a little more demanding and rougher riding than I expected. OK – I was riding with kids – that were sometimes carrying their share of the load, and other times they were not. This was a lot of fun and we did get some good exercise! It was nice to do something all together – because for the last few days adventures (ziplining, Firetower hike) it was just me and Gracie & Dominick.
For the rest of our time in Inlet – we just enjoyed the little village and made a 8 mile trip south to Old Forge to see the old-time Old Forge Hardware Store. It is very big with a lot of different sections. Think of this more as a DEPARTMENT store as opposed to just a hardware store. You could easily spend an hour in here, if you are so inclined. I actually preferred the ACE Hardware store back in Inlet. It is smaller – but had both items that you would expect to find in a hardware store – as well as a souvenir shop. It is right next to the Kalil’s Grocery Store – which is also a throwback to simpler times / the old days….
Cooperstown
So we didn’t get everything done that I had hoped for on this summer vacation. Things happen, kids have things to do, you get busy…. I was hoping to get over to Cooperstown as well – but couldn’t find a place for us to stay. So one day in October we made a day trip out to Cooperstown. It had been a LooOoong time since we had been out there – and I don’t think we had any kids at the time. We wanted to go to the Farmers’ Museum and just experience the town.
It was a really good day trip – on a beautiful Autumn weekend!
Sincerely,
