June 19, 2016 Father’s Day
I want to wish my father, Ed Davis, a Happy Father’s Day. Love you very much.
The Moose Lodge fixed a free breakfast for all Dad’s. It was very nice. People we had met over the weekend were there and brought us new brochures of the area. After breakfast, we headed out to find the Made in America store in Elma, NY.
Mark Andol started this store in 2010. They only sell products that are 100% made in America. How cool is that? You can read the history here.
We bought a new broom. Lipman. 100% American made. They even sold Jack Daniel’s T-shirts. Must be 100% made in America. That is cool.
Then off to Buffalo.
Coca-Cola Field, Home of the Buffalo Bisons.
That is City Hall. DANG!!
We drove right into downtown.
Such pretty flowers.
So we parked and walked over to what is called “Canalside”. 21-acre park on Lake Erie in Downtown Buffalo. It was a beautiful day and crowded with people.
October 26, 1825 The Erie Canal was opened. Governor Dewitt Clinton officially opened the canal. This was 8 years after he first broke ground on the 363 mile canal. Governor Clinton boarded a packet boat, the Seneca Chief, bound for New York City. He took along 2 wooded kegs filled with water from Lake Erie. The canal opened trade from the Great Lakes to the Eastern Seaboard and Europe. On November 4, the boats reached the end of the canal, at Albany. From there, steamboats escorted the Seneca Chief down the Hudson River to the New York City Harbor. In a triumphant ceremony, Governor Clinton poured the Lake Erie water into the Atlantic, wedding the Great Lakes to the ocean.
They offer boat tours and Pirate ship adventures.
Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park. This is the USS Little Rock, a Guided Missile Cruiser. She is the sole surviving member of that fleet.
The Spirit of Buffalo.
Large waterfront area for boats. This is the Buffalo River.
Large boardwalk area.
Lots and lots of kayaks. That is Times Beach Nature Preserve across the water.
This leads to the Niagara River which leads to Niagara Falls.
Buffalo is well known for their grain business. This photo was taken in 1868.
The original Frontier Elevator was constructed in 1886. In 1903, the Washburn-Crosby Co. built a brick flour mill next door, along with nine tile storage bins. Much expansion took place in 1908-09 with a new mill and concrete elevator. By 1913 it was the fourth largest elevating and milling company in the country. After WWI the milling industry became very unstable. In 1928 James Bell of Washburn-Crosby aligned a number of smaller milling companies to merge into the new General Mills. In 1941 a new mill for cereal & packaged goods was completed. When the plant opened it introduced “Cheerioats”, the country’s first ready-to-eat oat cereal. In 1945 the name was changed to “Cheerios” to settle a trademark dispute. 
There are a number of little parks around downtown.
Very shallow pools for paddle boating.
First Niagara Center – Home of the NHL- Buffalo Sabres
The Liberty Building
Has 2 Statues of Liberty.
City Hall. Wow!
Public Art.
The 13th President 1850 -1853. The last president not to be affiliated with either the Republican or Democratic parties. He assumed the presidency after Zachary Taylor’s death.
Cool looking building.
All of these large buildings make the truck look really small. That is a large church with the clock tower in the distance.
Buffalo Harbor State Park. This place is huge.
We enjoyed Buffalo a lot more than I would have expected. It is off to Niagara Falls tomorrow. Cheers.
We can still see Lake Erie.
And vineyards everywhere.
We did not stay very long in PA. Drove by Erie, PA, but not much to take a picture of there.
Miles of vineyards. So beautiful.
This is where the Buffalo Bills play. We are heading to Orchard Park to Colton RV. They are going to look at our slide topper and let us when they can fix it. Stacy at Colton RV was so nice to us. She is probably the nicest person we have met that works for an RV Dealer. We were there for maybe a hour. And off to Hamburg we went. She even called us to let us know that she had contacted our Extended Warranty provider and they are going to take care of the repair. This was on a Friday afternoon. I am going to write a letter to her boss. Thank you Stacy.
Welcome to Hamburg, NY. Less than 20 miles south of Buffalo, NY.
Moose Lodge 992.
We have 110 power, enough to keep the refrigerator running and water. What else do you need?
Mike, the Governor of the Lodge, was so nice and got us all set up. He gave us a lot of information about the area and where everything is that we might need.
They have to have these for the winters here.
They have a bonfire every Saturday night.
First stop, Walmart. This is one of the fanciest Walmarts we have ever seen.
Friday night Fish Fry at the Moose Lodge. They have place mats with the calendar of events and advertisements.. Very clever.
They can seat a lot of people.
This is the fish dinner for $8.00. 
I had the fish sandwich. 
Erin the bartender, was super nice too. We were happy campers.
Then we won $100.00 on a pull tab. How fun is that?
Great night in Hamburg, NY.
Decided to go sightseeing today. This is a lake front park.
There once was a dance club here during 1940s. It was destroyed by a fire in 1954.
We could see the windmills in Buffalo, NY from here.
A beautiful day.
Rocky shoreline.
We took Hwy 5 south to Old Lake Shore Road. The estates along this road were amazing!
We ended up in Seneca Indian Reservation where they have very inexpensive diesel. $2.11
We had lunch at Aunt Millie’s. I had a Buffalo Chicken sandwich, which is the best I have ever had.
They are known for their pastries and pies.
We did not have any of these, but they looked good.
We went to Willow Creek Winery and had a wine tasting. There are several wineries in this area. This is Silver Creek, NY.
This is the tasting room.
This is a family owned winery. They grow all their own grapes. 
A crowd going in as we were leaving.
Stopped at Liberty Vineyard.
There are grape vines everywhere. Most are privately owned and they sell their grapes to Welch’s. 
Then to Merritt Vineyards. They advertised that they did tours, but that is not the case. We are really looking for an educational tour on wine making. Apparently, the wineries up here don’t offer tours.
The flowers are so beautiful here. 
Nice sunset.
We made it back in time for the Saturday night bonfire. Met some new people and enjoyed our evening.
And a full moon.