Day 5 (Aug 3) Mon

Full disclosure--I am writing this on the Friday after we got back.  Shame on me.

We left Erie at about 930, and we got home a bit after two--that included a lunch stop--so I'd say 4.5 hrs or so to get back home.  Pennsylvania's a big state, especially when you're driving diagonally across it.  

As with most of my blog finales, there aren't many pictures, just some thoughts on the trip.  So here goes:

It was a nice get away for both of us.  I'll say it again--we are both very fortunate to be able to work from home.  But after more than four months, even I get tired of it.  We aren't exactly on a strict lock down, but we don't go out (even locally) like we used to so this time away was nice.

It was also interesting to see these places from a vacation standpoint, instead of through work.  It allowed me to really look at the places at my leisure and also to explore some things I wouldn't have had time for on a work day in the field.  

I think I've seen that Erie County is getting more cases, so that may be why the mask and distancing requirements seemed to be followed more than I expected--and I think that's a good thing.  Nobody's used to these kinds of restrictions, but I feel that if we sacrifice now it will keep things from getting much worse.  

Of course, with these restrictions a lot of things were closed or had minimal services, so that was a drawback.

I am sure that things will eventually go back to something approaching normal.  I hope it is soon, but I fear it will be longer than we think.  

I usually have this first, but here is a map of the places we stopped or stayed:

Day 4 (Aug 2) Sunday

Just so you don't think everything is happy, happy, joy, joy I'll just say that the La Quinta we're staying at in Erie is a far cry from the Quality Inn in Franklin.  The Quality Inn may have been in a small town of 6500 people, but the staff there was very professional and it seemed they really cared about us having a good stay.  La Qunita, not so much.

But enough complaining.  We started today at the Burch Farms Country Market, where we got a few things: apple butter, elderberry jam, sweet potato pancake mix, plums, wine).  The drive there was enjoyable too with a lot of vineyards and farms.  

The drove back was interesting too.  I took PA 5 back towards Erie and since it paralleled Lake Erie, there were a number of turn-offs that could take you to the lakeshore.  One was to Shades Beach Park in Harborcreek Township.

Shades Beach

Windsock, Shades Beach

We were headed to the USS Niagara.  It was supposed to be right past the convention center, but try as I might, we couldn't fin it.  We did see the Bicentennial Tower.

Bicentennial Tower

Next was Presque Isle State Park.  This is a really impressive state park that has a lot of history, hiking/biking trails, and beaches.  We were dodging rain all day, but we were also lucky that it seemed to clear off a bit when we wanted to see something.

There are two monuments to Commodore Perry that I know of on Lake Erie--this one, and one in Put-in-Bay, OH (which we saw in 2007).

Perry Monument, Presque Isle State Park

The Presque Isle Lighthouse was closed for tours, but you could get photos.

Presque Isle Lighthouse

Because it was on the way to our hotel, we stopped at Romolo Chocolates again.  This time I had a mocha and Fe had a two-scoop chocolate cream ice cream cone.  The place isn't exactly cheap, but they give you your money's worth--and it was a better mocha than I've had in a while.

Tomorrow we head back home.  I know I'm getting old because I'll be glad to get back into my routine.

Day 3 (Aug 1) Erie

The day starts with me getting up early and taking a walk around Franklin, then having some of the free hotel breakfast (I try not to eat as much as I used to), and then packing up and getting ready to go.

So it was another leisurely drive to Erie County today.  We started at Wintergreen Gorge, a county trail system.  Word of advice--be careful with the GPS.  There's a cemetery nearby with the same name.

Trail through the trees

Little Black Riding Skirt

Not exactly a waterfall, but it looked nice.

A small waterfall.  Might've been more if it hadn't been so dry this summer.

Gorge Lookout

Yes, I know this part is totally atypical for what I like.  But with the world turned upside-down, I thought, "Let's see what this nature talk is all about,"  It was actually pretty nice and the trails weren't that hard.  It helped that we could drive to the trail heads and park at the Penn State Behrend parking lots to access them.  It also helped that I knew civilization wasn't that far away.

Lunch was at Arrowhead Wine Cellars.  It was a light lunch, which was just right.  The store was closed, but they had curbside / takeout service.  

It was starting to rain by now and we drove to another highlight, Romolo Chocolates.  The place was pretty crowded at 4 pm, but we needed to kill some time before dinner.  The chocolate was tempting but I managed to resist that.  They also had great coffee to which there was no resistance.

I really wanted Fe to see how great a restaurant Serafini's is--or I should say was.  It was all locked up when we got there and someone told us that it was closed.  They started in 1938 and I hope this stupid virus didn't cause them to permanently shut down.

After more wandering around we found a strip mall on 8th Street with Original Popcorn House (cha-ching), Presque Isle Wine Cellars (cha-ching), and our dinner at Colony Pub and Grille.  That place was pretty good and we didn't order big meals, so no sound effect with that one.

I hope the rain lets up.  Tomorrow we plan on going to Presque Isle State Park.

Day Two (7/31) Titusville

If the blog title didn't clue you in, this vacation isn't like our others.  We're taking it easier and not so focused on getting to the next destination.  I did do some planning, but there's plenty of time to look around and we're far more flexible than before.  I'm still getting used to it.

First, a couple of old photos at the hotel that I mentioned yesterday:

After breakfast at the hotel, we drove to the nearest Tim Hortons in Meadville.  To my disappointment, the one in Franklin is closed.  To my surprise, the door to the one we stopped at was locked--you had to use drive-through.  I'm sure they are all that way, but I asked if they sell cans of coffee that way.  They do, and since I'm sure all of them use the drive-through, we'll get a can in Erie.

We drove around Meadville a bit, but soon we headed to Titusville.  

Didn't know this was here:

Ida M Tarbell House

The Oil Creek & Titusville Railroad was next.  No train rides due to you-know-what, and the store was closed, but you could still look around some.  And the Caboose Motel was open.  It looked like an interesting place to stay.

Caboose Motel

Caboose Motel 2

OC&T RR Boxcar

Passenger Car

Fe's been workin' on the railroad.

After this, we headed to the Drake Oil Museum.  This was also officially closed--so no museum or gift shop--but you could walk around and picnic.  We saw quite a few people enjoying the place.  Unfortunately, we did not see Drake's well (!) but we did see a few other interesting things.

Oil Well--not Drake's

Small Pumps

Yo Yo Drilling Rig

The rest of the day was driving around--through Oil Creek State Park, down through Oil City (to see the current District 1-0 office), lunch, and then back to Franklin.

Still no concrete plans for dinner, since lunch was a bit late.  I hope to go to the hotel restaurant--don't worry, I won't go hungry.

Tomorrow we head for the big city of Erie.

Day One (7/30) Franklin, PA

We hit the road just past 10 am today--and arrived in Franklin a bit after 2 in the afternoon.  As I wrote in the last post, I've been here a few times for work and I was impressed from the first visit.

We checked in to my regular hotel, the Franklin Quality Inn.  I have always been fascinated by their late 70s building style, but inside it's all modern.  They have some great historical pictures of the area hanging along the walls.

After a late lunch at Benjamin's Roadhouse, we strolled up and down Liberty Street to walk off lunch, which lasted until we hit Bossa Nova Coffee Roasters.  After my large latte, I was rarin' to go!  We walked around some more to look at the architecture and sights.

A.G. Egbert

Venango County Courthouse

Houses along Elk Street

Elk Street  House built in 1879--it was for sale!

Civil War Monument, Bandstand Park

Venango County Jail

Window detail

This building was the old PennDOT District 1-0 office

Franklin Public Library, built in 1894, remodeled 1921

I've read that this church has a Tiffany stained-glass window--that would be neat to see.

St. John's Episcopal Church

Victorian house

Look at what emerged from the chrysalis!

That's all for today--now to figure out what's for dinner.  It's almost 7 and I could eat, but not Fe.  She eats like a butterfly.

The Day Before...

Picture it...Carlisle in July, 2020: hot and dry, the dead grass crunching underfoot, the news an endless parade of conquest, war, famine, and death.  What's a guy to do?  Plan a vacation to northwest Pennsylvania, of course!

Both my wife (Fe) and I have been working from home since mid-March.  We're both very lucky to be able to do this when so many others have been put out of work, but we thought it would be a good idea to get a change of scenery (though I took some convincing).  Our first thought was Delaware and the beaches, but the news about COVID-19 got worse there for a while and we changed our minds.

I had been to the Erie area for work a few times and had thought there were things Fe would enjoy.  Though I usually keep my home world and work world totally separate, I mentioned some of the sights I had seen, the meals I'd eaten, the coffee I drank....and we decided to go.

Tomorrow is the first day of the trip.  It will be a long drive, but we've got a lot of time to do it and I think this will be a far more laid-back trip than what we're used to (see previous blogs in my profile).  We'll see if I can take it.