Summer 2022 is halfway over and we have been busier than ever! Sometimes it is important to vacation in your own backyard and we have taken the opportunity in between trips to explore our local area. We were further motivated by the visits from friends who provided us with the impetus to visit places and events that normally might not be on our radar.
Buffalo is a vibrant area that packs a wallop and we wanted to share some of our adventures. Summer fun began soon after returning from our trip out west on June 4, 2022. We have joined various groups through the various MeetUp groups which we belong to. (https://www.meetup.com/) We met with one group for “Dessert of the Month.” We joined several hiking groups, but we have we have not had an opportunity go yet this summer. We have hiked with them in the past and met some like-minded people who enjoy the outdoors and hiking. The site allows you to put in your zip code and find groups that meet your interests. We went to the “Pirates Festival” in Olcott, the “Taste of Buffalo” in downtown Buffalo, “Waldfest” in East Aurora, and a sailboat ride on Lake Erie. We also attended Meet and Greets with a MeetUp group to discuss our next long-distance travel destinations. We attended a new Season Ticket Holder orientation for the Buffalo Bills upcoming season and are planning for an eventful winter. We have multiple concerts scheduled for the summer and more events yet to come. Autumn ushers in the new season at Shea’s Buffalo Theater where our season tickets have us going to several new plays.
Pirates Festival is a small event that is nestled on the beaches of Olcott, NY, with amazing views of Lake Ontario. We wandered around the festival with our friend, Lisa, and stopped for a snack to watch the sun set. The Festival had bigger events scheduled for the following day, but we had plans to attend The Taste of Buffalo on Saturday. Saturday came quickly and we ate a light breakfast and headed to fill up on a variety of foods that abounded at the event. Dave and Kathy both agreed that the barbeque chicken taco was the best tasting item to be had, but we did try a multitude of items and everything tasted wonderful. The trip home from the Taste of Buffalo saw us make a side trip to visit the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Darwin Martin house https://martinhouse.org/, a beautiful architectural wonder that highlights his imagination.
The rest of the visit with Lisa was spent taking a sail boat ride shortly before sunset on Lake Erie and visiting Goat Island. Goat Island in Niagara Falls, NY, is a pristine park with sublime beauty that never gets old. The park is a small island on the Niagara River which provides the split between the American Falls and Horseshoe Falls. The park-like setting includes trails that allow guests to walk around and see the river and falls from unique viewpoints.
Soon after dropping Lisa off at the airport, Kathy and Dave were soon busy “orienting” to their new status as season ticket holders to the Buffalo Bills. A fun time was had running along the field, taking pictures in the locker room, and wondering how the heck a player can’t make it three feet to get a first down on third-and-one situations???????
Waldfest was the next big adventure where Kathy and Dave ate some awesome German food and met some new friends. A great time was had walking some of the trails in the area and enjoying the polka music that played on the stage. Dave enjoyed singing the Polish anthem to the surprised delight of our new friends.
Late July had us spending time with a meetup group planning our next international travel adventures. In the meantime, we look forward to our adventures as summer winds down going to Glacier National Park in Montana and Banff National Park in Canada. As we prepare for our hiking adventure in some of the most beautiful national parks in the US and Canada, we realize that, like Tampa Bay Buccaneer Leonard Fournette, we might need to enter “training camp” to lose the weight from visiting all the festivals in early summer.
