Western New York State - September 2009

In September, 2009, I went to Syracuse to an American Idol concert.  I planned for a week's stay and did not plan for the remainder of the trip until about 2 weeks prior.  Then I started looking at the western part of the state on the New York tourism website.  The main things that caught my attention were waterfalls and carousels.

Pratts Falls outside Syracuse was my first NY waterfall.











I then drove south to Ithaca - visited Cayuga Nature Center.

This is a structure that you can climb into to be among the treetops.

Buttermilk Falls - a lovely park with great (but strenuous) hiking trails.

View from part-way up the side of
Buttermilk Falls.

The next stop was Ithaca Falls which is almost hidden, but is right next to the Cornell campus.  I think it was my favorite waterfall on the trip because you can get so close to it. 

  

On to Robert Treman State Park which is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  There's a long walkway that follows the gorge past many waterfalls.  The tremendous amount of rock work was done by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's.  

I stayed at 2 B&B's.  One in the Watkins Glen area and the  other when I travelled west to Olean/Allegany.

Austin has guitars; Chicago and other towns have done cows; Olean has squirrels!

Next - Rock City Park in southwestern New York.

Another beautiful state park with lots of varied facilities and amenities - Letchworth.

Next - Up to Buffalo and its Botanical Gardens

And Niagara Falls........

Rapids above the American falls







Herschell Carousel Museum in North Tonawanda.

Always be sure your rental car matches your purse!

The Erie Canal Locks at Lockport.

Olcott Beach on Lake Ontario.

Right before heading back to the Syracuse airport, I stopped by one more restored carousel at the Carousel Mall in Syracuse. 

It was a fabulous trip and I'd recommend it to anyone!

If you'd like to see even more pics, let me know and I will direct you to my Kodak Gallery album.