The End of the Trip

Each year this family from Weedsport, New York, turns one of those big rolls of hay into a Halloween decoration. They used plastic plates for the eyes and empty coffee cans for Frankenstein's bolts.

Pumpkins for sale.

The County Seat in Mayville, New York.

Driving down the road you can see Lake Chautauqua in the distance.

This lake is about 27 miles long but very narrow. It is a very deep, cold lake and the perfect place to fish for Muskies. Muskellunge are known as the fighting fish. They scare the crap out of me!!!! You should see their teeth!

I left the main highway and drove all the way to Chautauqua just to visit this store and it was closed. Bummer!!! This is one of my favorite shops.

Actually there are a number of shops all located behind the original brick house which now is a restaurant.

A tiny yarn cottage with incredible knitting supplies and yarn.

Behind each of these doors is a shop.

In season this building is a nursery carrying wonderful perennials.

Metals sculptures for the garden.

These dried hydrangeas made a wonderful rustling noise in the breeze.

Though disappointed that my favorite shops were closed, I managed to find some pumpkins, apple cider and local maple syrup at this farm stand just down the road.

When leaving Chautauqua you can catch a glimpse of Lake Erie off in the distance. The dark blue just above the trees is Erie.....at this time of year it is referred to as Lake Eerie.

I stopped at one of the local vineyards.

I lived in this area years ago and though grapes were grown here, there were no vineyards at all.

Driving through here now there is one winery after another.

Grape cover the terrain.

I noticed that the picking machines remove the individual grapes and not bunches.

Grapes are planted as far as the eye can see. I always find these rolling fields of grapes to be just awesome. I drive my kids crazy ohhing and ahhing over them.

And I found more pumpkins!!! Lake pumpkins for Halloween!

Then I drove past the Welchs plant. That steam rising from the plant smelled like Concord grapes.

Isn't this a cute idea? These people planted a tipped over barrel with Impatiens so it looks like they are spilling out of the barrel. Click for a better look.



The barrel is next to this cute little house.




This area is Westfield, New York. This statue of Abraham Lincoln and a young girl commemorates her writing a letter to Abe when he was running for president and telling him he would look better with a beard. He listened and grew a beard and was elected.

This is another piece of real estate I looked at four years ago. It is a lighthouse on Lake Erie. It is incredibly charming but it is on a hill overlooking the lake and the land between it and the water is owned by someone else. It is still on the market.

This is the end of the posts on the Fall trip. Now I have a lot of catching up to do at home and it is one week until Halloween!! Yikes...I am running out of time!!!