Tuesday June 26th 2012

And it's Ho! Let’s Go to the mall (briefly) and spend some time exploring Weedsport and revisiting Penn Yan.

Where? Weedsport is a port on the Erie Canal, just west of Syracuse, NY, and Penn Yan (we've visited before) is at the head of one of the less famous Finger Lakes.

We elected to hit the I-90, stopping for a picnic lunch along the way. For all that the time is supposed to be 3¾ hours, by the time you add 15 minutes waiting to cross the border and the lunch, we were in the car for a five hour stretch. Long Enough.

We planned the next day to drive back to Penn Yan, making a short stop at the Waterloo Outlet Mall, though why I'll never know; all they sell there is high-quality cheap clothes and shoes!

Here is Weedsport in all its glory. That's the motel, shown by a little bed. The Old Erie restaurant is represented by the large brown roof, just above the capital "W"

OK, here's the Best Western motel room, trashed already with the contents of my pockets.

Same old bed. Too many pillows (for me!)

But what a great view outside. Ms B is instantly attracted to sitting in the sun.

Reading a paper ...

While I admire the scenery.

Our "back yard" is a neatly-trimmed stretch of grass (good playground for kids) and a lovely swamp. Ms B said there were snakes in there, I said there weren’t; she called me a snake-in-the-grass and went back to her newspaper.

If you read the labels, the entire area is a once-upon-a-time lake, then a swamp, and now some of it is dry enough to house a motel!

Around the corner of the motel I see a supermarket - a good place to buy some milk for my cuppa.

And having had my cuppa, another shot of the seating arrangements. We are getting ready to dine out ...

... at The Old Erie restaurant, right across the street.

I recommend it.

Ms B is out of the picture wondering how she is going to eat her dish of sautéed shrimp, ...

I tackled a steak with one mushroom, but the mushroom took up half the plate. I couldn't have finished the dish had it not been for the delicious cheese-and-something sauce. You'll have to ask them ...

Unable to finish her shrimp (it turns out because she'd seen the dessert plate), Ms B tackles something that looks distinctly un-diety. The waitress didn't bring a list of desserts, she brought a tray with a sample/slice of everything available, so we could see and choose from the real thing!

And when all was said and done, we took away some salad, shrimp-a-la-wossit, and some dessert.

This is what you look for on the north side of the main street. Or Google them.

Rain introduced day two. "Take a photo of the motel", she urged, so I wound down the window.

Here is a daylight view of the best restaurant in New York State.

If you've ever wondered, the local people pronounce it as "Skinny Atlas". I have circled (at the left) the Waterloo Outlet mall.

And 45 minutes later here we are at Waterloo Outlets mall. It looks like it's going to be a great day.

(pats pockets: Did I bring my cell phone with its 8GB of TVO podcasts?).

If you look too closely you'll get depressed, but a little less than that and you can see the density of raindrops per square anything.

By a quarter past two the rain had stopped to make way for the seasons new shipments coming in from the West along the I-90.

Hint: Don't give away your age on the day after your birthday by sitting too close to a dinosaur!

Back in Penn Yan that evening we checked in. The backyard is small, but at least we look out onto a stretch of grass.

Nothing much to report. I got thrashed at Gin Rummy, again. The next morning we headed out. "Take a photo of the motel", she urged, so I wound down the window.

We passed a gravel quarry on our way to Dansville. If I'd had time I'd have waited to watch a tree topple over the edge.

We drove the back-roads - my favorite way, and were blessed with a second day of glorious weather, no traffic, and my wonderful voice singling along to hits of the 50s, 60s and 70s.

Here we are in Dansville, and waddyaknow, it's lunchtime! Perfect timing.

They believe in literacy here. I'd like to spend a day in their new library, I would.

As usual we dive into the Sunrise, just for a coffee, you know. Until they show us the menu.

Oh Well!

Clean, friendly, popular with old fogeys and young lovers. What better place to stretch the legs under the table?

Ms B heads off to the car for something she forgot.

I walk up the street enjoying the sunshine and taking memory-shots.

I'd like to live here, I would.

There's a second-hand bookshop, but it was closed today, something had come up.

I love the signs in these red-brick towns, especially the ones that show a numbered highway going in three or four directions all at once. I usually miss the sign for the 390 highway and have to drive through town one more time ...

Bless the Dansville Women's Civic Club.

The hills backing the town remind me so much of Terrace B.C., but there they have mountains.

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