Chautauqua

I've been too busy/lazy to post on the blog about the vacation, so much of the following will be a bit
compressed.

On the 20th we spent our time looking for my great uncle Mar's house, which we failed to find after much searching. There were some beautiful pictures of the countryside, but my dad was eager to move on. One weird thing we noticed was bronze stars on many houses, and they are prevalent here in New York, as well.

I did get a picture of this beautiful house on a hill, but the picture does not do it justice.

One last trip to ligonier tavern and we were done for the day. My father got onion soup again, and I got a thai salad.

The next day was a travel day. On the way to Chautauqua, we went through Johnstown, and I got some interesting pictures.

 

Most of  these are of Cambria Steel Works, (I think that is the name,) a factory that is very old, probably before the flood, but still partially in use.

After Johnstown was the long ride to Finley Lake, near Chautauqua, to our hotel. We went through Cook Forest park and a ton of little towns like Sugar Grove (which is almost to Chautauqua.) I tried to memorise them all, but failed miserably.

I'll summarise Chautauqua so I don't make too lengthy of a post. The air was so hot, and sometimes humid, that it damaged this leg of the trip for me, sadly. The heat wave that decided to hit at the exact time we went on vacation was cruel to say the least.

I wandered the institution, my dad pointing out official monuments, while I pointed out monuments important to a child, all to Chauncey. Here I wiped out on my bike, here I played paleontologist, and here I caught crayfish and wondered at the spider cave, too scared to go in. Only, my spider cave isn't a cave at all now, it is ruined!

I did actually take some other pictures of Chautauqua, no worries. Though I missed the orchestral concert because my father wasn't in the mood to go, which was a shame.

While in Chautauqua, we ate at Whole Foods Coop in Erie, Penn. They had excellent food, though they were a bit obsessed with cheese on their menu. My dad tried some of the food, and his first attempt weirded him out, but he ended up being okay with the club sandwich, which was very good.

Those are the meatless lover's wrap, one of the quesadillas, and the reuben. Unfortunately, it appears the last picture is slightly corrupted.

When our travel day arrived, (to head out to Syracuse to visit Boonville,) we intended to stop in Buffalo at the Eights Bistro, but I wasn't hungry at the time. I hear food is very good though.

My father picked out a great hotel in Syracuse, Hotel Skyler. It's a green hotel, and very very nice. Here are some pictures of our room.

And of the hotel itself...

Places we've eaten so far that I don't have pics of: Alto Cinco and the Strong Hearts Cafe. Alto Cinco has a good vegan burrito called the Angelino, but Strong Hearts is all vegan. I've has a reuben there and their dill potato salad, along with blueberry cheesecake. By far, by far, the best vegan food I have ever had at a restaurant.

Pics to come. We've checked out Boonville, but the real touring we do today.

The Start of the Trip: Pittsburgh, Latrobe, and Ligonier

The majority of the 18th was filled with high altitude gawking out of windows for me, while Chauncey tried not to panic. We had two flights, one about 2 hours and one 1 hour, Fort Myers, to Charlotte, to Pittsburgh. My father rode first class, and Chauncey and I sat in business class, which was just fine with me, the passengers that sat next to us weren't any trouble.

For lunch we stopped at a Mexican restaurant in the Charlotte airport that had absolutely nothing vegan, my dad had tamales, and I had french fries from Burger King afterwards. I noticed something, as well. In the better paying restaurants, almost entirely white people were employed. At Burger King, all black people. You decide what point I am making.

By the time we got to Pittsburgh my nerves were shot. The retrieval of the luggage was delayed, and getting the van took forever, then, blessedly, we were off, heading towards Latrobe, where our hotel, Wingate by Windham resided.

We drove through several tunnels on the way, one under a river! I didn't get the camera out in time to take a picture of that, but perhaps the tunnel beneath the earth we drove through will suffice.  They were both fairly dark and eerie after such an exhausting day, and Pittsburgh was filled with industrialization.

I collapsed quickly at the hotel on a soft, cushy king bed.

Day 1:

I woke up at around 6 am, in a surprisingly good mood. I got some breakfast from downstairs, (they even had a waffle iron and batter so you could make your own waffles). Chauncey was still tired so I went back to bed to pass the time.

By noon we were both wondering why my dad hadn't come by, and were tired of sleeping, so I dropped by his room next door. He didn't look like he had been up long, though he insisted he had been letting us sleep. We were out the door an hour or two later.

The primary visit for the day was my father's childhood home. It is very lovely and I will include pictures shortly. When we arrived, my father was moved to tears at the sight of it. It was worth visiting for that reason alone. However, before we took a great deal of pictures, he wanted lunch.

My father had chosen the Ligonier Tavern for lunch, Chauncey and I figured there would be nothing for us to eat there, and were prepared to be disappointed. Instead, we were pleasantly surprised. We had hummus as an appetizer, with pita slices and veggies, and my dad had french onion soup. Then for lunch we had vegetable rosti, and my father had a panini reuben. I took some pictures of the food, if you are ever in ligonier, the place is definitely worth visiting.

Then it was back to my father's former home to take pictures. No one was currently at home, so we just trespassed up a storm. Apparently the former front door was now an elevator, and a former dining room window was now the front door. There was also an addition to the house and several other small changes. The largest change, however, was the trees. My father insisted that there had been no trees when he lived there, and condemned them regularly throughout the day, insisting that Ligonier needed to be cleared of these interlopers.

The deer above were in the neighbor's yard. How bold! Apparently they are safe enough here for that. Not like Florida where anything wild will be killed on sight by the first hunter to see it with a gun.

We visited several more houses from my father's youth, as well as a school, engaged in more trespassing, and then headed over to Johnstown. Johnstown is eerie looking, I don't have any photos though. I am heading back today and will update with some soon.

We also visited Laurel Mountain, and then last, an old rundown drive-in theater, where my father used to drink purple jesuses (1 part vodka, 1 part wine, in a big glass) with friends and dub over movies with obscene dialogue.

Here are a few photos from the theatre.

I'll either update today's travels tonight or tomorrow. Today is the last part of our Pennsylvania leg of the trip.