Heading West With No Destination In Mind - Part Two

20A merges into 20 West in Hamburg, New York. Route 20 closely parallels the Lake Erie shoreline, the New York Thruway and NY Route 5. In Irving, you find the Seneca Nation of New York, also known as the Seneca Nation of Indians. Irving is one of the tribe's two alternating capitals on the Cattaraugus Reservation. The Seneca Nation has several gas stations selling gas for $3.199 per gallon. Too bad we filled up about 10 miles before these stations!

We followed a portion of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail, where Routes 5 & 20W joined. The entire trail is 518 miles long and consists of a series of designated roads and highways that travel along the Saint Lawrence Seaway specifically, Lake Erie, the Niagara River, Lake Ontario, and the Saint Lawrence River. If you enjoy the water and lighthouses, it is a great trip!

In Silver Creek, is the Family Home of Howard Ehmeke. He was a famous baseball player. He pitched for Silver Creek High School and in the Major Leagues for Detroit, Boston and Philadelphia. He was on the winning team, the Philadelphia Athletics, for the 1929 World Series. On April 15, 1927, Howard Ehmke gave up the first of Babe Ruth's 60 home runs while pitching for the Philadelphia A's.

Route 20 W follows along the Chautauqua Wine Trail. I was very surprised at the number of vineyards along this route. Some of the vineyards stretch as far as the eye can see. The Chautauqua Wine Trail has twelve wineries that produce wines including vinifera, ice wines, fruit wines, and specialty wines.

Fredonia is home to State University of New York at Fredonia. It is a four-year comprehensive, public, liberal arts college, known for bachelor's degree programs in music and education. Fredonia is also where in 1821,

William Hart dug the first well specifically to produce natural gas in the United States on the banks of Canadaway Creek in Chautauqua County, New York. It was 27 feet deep, excavated with shovels by hand, and its gas pipeline was hollowed out logs sealed with tar and rags. It supplied enough natural gas for lights in two stores, two shops and a grist mill (currently the village's Fire Station) by 1825. Expanding on Hart's work, the Fredonia Gas Light Company was eventually formed in 1858, becoming the first American natural gas company. The site of the first gas well is marked by a stone monument in downtown Fredonia.

Brockton, the name was derived by combining the names "Brockway" and "Minton," two prominent local families. Brocton Arch is a historic "welcome arch" located at the intersection of Main Street. It is a freestanding steel arch bearing the community's name constructed in 1913 over a public thoroughfare. It is a rare double span, four way street arch. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. In 2012, it was taken down to be refurbished.

In Portland, you will find Brix 21 Vineyard and Winery. It is one of the newest wineries in Lake Erie Wine Country. Nestled between the vineyards and cherry orchards of Olde Chautauqua Farms and near the shoreline of Lake Erie, the winery is one of the largest in the region. Boasting a sixty foot tasting bar, a retail area and ample indoor seating area. 21 Brix Winery is the perfect location to host a private event or to just spend an afternoon sampling wines and enjoying the landscape. Every Sunday in August you can enjoy Sippin Sundays.

Why is there an elephant at Brix 21? The elephant was originally part of Molly Brown’s, which was a family fun business in Jamestown. When it closed, a gentleman living in the town purchased the elephant. A few years later, 21 Brix Winery purchased it and placed it on Route 20 to show the entrance to the farm’s U-Pick Cherry Orchard. It's a long stretch of Route 20 between Brocton and Westfield, the elephant was moved across the street, since there was no road side sign for the winery.  She was named Ella and people were told to look for the elephant. She became a mascot at the winery and has several wines named after her. Rumor has it, she sneaks into the winery after hours to help herself! She has been welcoming wine enthusiasts to the winery since 2011. Ella was painted pink in April 2012 for celebrate our release of our Pink Catawba wine, named Ellatawba. 

Westfield is the home of Grace Bedell. There is a statue of her and Abe Lincoln in Westfield. On October 15, 1860, a few weeks before Lincoln was elected President of the United States, Grace Bedell sent him a letter, urging him to grow a beard to improve his appearance. Lincoln responded in a letter on October 19, 1860, making no promises. However, within a month, he grew a full beard.

Grapes have been grown at Johnson Estate for well over a century. The winery, established in 1961, is the oldest estate winery in New York State. All of the European and American grapes used to make the estate wines are grown within 3000 feet of the winery and the grape varieties have been selected for their excellent wine-making quality and suitability for the Lake Erie microclimate. Also in Westfield, we came across my name sake, Timmerman's Fruit Stand. Timmerman is my mother's maiden name. It made me smile to think about my mother and her family history.

Ripley is one of the towns of the "Grape Belt" of Chautauqua county. Ripley's 31,110 acres are largely devoted to the grape industry, and in the village of Ripley the Randall Grape Juice Company is located, one of its most important industries. Ripley is a station on the New York Central railroad, the Lake Shore & Michigan Central also passing through the town, following the lake shore. One of the natural features of the town is Johnson's Falls, a spot of great natural beauty.

Sensory Winery and Art Gallery is a contemporary, abstract gallery that produces small-lot highly blended cult wines (only 45 cases per label) that cannot be found anywhere else. The vision for sensory winery and art gallery is to join the perception of our senses into one location. Through visual-art works; taste-and-smell wines; sound, music, and video commentary (and touch-a blend of steel, concrete, and wood in the retail facility) Sensory Winery seeks to deliver an appreciation for the arts. The wine, like the artwork, is constantly changing. 

We entered Pennsylvania and came into historic North East, the heart of grape country. Fruit growing was an early economic endeavor, and is still to this day, as this is a popular area for especially cherries and grapes. Additionally the town has a very strong industrial base with several food service and manufacturing companies providing jobs and revenue for the area. The two volunteer fire companies that serve the Borough and Township hold an annual Cherry Festival in July and an annual Wine Country Festival in September.

Through Harbor Creek and Wesleyville, into Erie. Erie has a Wegmans! Being From Rochester, New York it warms my heart to see a local business that has made it big! Wegmans has been a fixture in Rochester since 1916. It has expanded into five other states, besides New York. It still takes care of it's employees like most companies did in days gone by. Meadow Brook milk has processing facility located in Erie and the Sigsbee Reservoir, which holds 33 million gallons. The Caretaker's house at the Sigsbee Reservoir is on West 26th St, a sight common to many drivers on this busy East West thoroughfare, it has been well maintained by the Erie Waterworks, although there has not been a caretaker in residence for many years.

We entered Ohio on Route 20, and traveled on the eastern section of the Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail. If you drove the entire trail, it would take 8 hours and at least 3 or 4 days to enjoy all of the sights!

We traveled through Conneaut on 20 W. It is a town along Lake Erie at the mouth of Conneaut Creek. The creek is the number one steelhead trout stream in the country. Conneaut is located on an old Native American trail, later used by early westbound pioneers. The word conneaut comes from the Seneca language. Conneaut Township Park is a great place to stop and enjoy the trails and beach on the shores of Lake Erie.

Ashtabula County in Ohio is home to many covered bridges. We passed one on our way to our overnight stop. We were traveling south on Route 11 and the Smolen-Gulf bridge is located on State Road (County Road #25) in Plymouth. It is the longest covered bridge in the US at 613 feet. There are five foot wide covered walkway on each side of the bridge. It boasts a clearance width of 30 feet and a clearance height of 14 feet. It stands 93 feet above the Ashtabula River. The bridge supports full legal loads, including 80,000 pound tractor-trailer traffic. The life expectancy of the bridge is over 100 years. Ashtabula County holds an annual Covered Bridge Festival each October to honor the 18 covered bridges in the area. You can give your self a tour of these covered bridges by following the guide they have created. You can download this guide, by following this link. They also have a Facebook page, if you enjoy covered bridges, become a FB fan.

We followed Route 11 south to 307 west to Kenisee's Grand River Camp in Geneva, Ohio. It was a great find, for not planning and looking in the Good Sam directory for a Friday night spot! It had several full hook-up pull thru graveled sites overlooking one of their many ponds. It was only $30 for a weekend night, the Good Sam rate. We were parked next to a Good Sam Chapter from Ohio, the "Hot Seat Sams" were enjoying a weekend of camping. We walked most of the park and found many friendly campers. We are ready to relax for the night and continue our two lane adventure in the morning.