So, I’m slowly piecing together pieces of the Appalachian Trail on my hiking adventures. This report covers my most recent hiking adventure – I’ve been sorely lacking in time for fall hiking.
A year ago I hiked out here last.
My friend and neighbor hiked from the south to this spot last September. I figured I’d try and reach it from the north this time around.
And here it is a year later, two miles from Morgans Mill Road.
I headed out here early in the morning on Labor Day weekend. My kids (teenagers) were at my house so I figured I’d drive out, a bit over an hour, do a few hours hiking, and be home early afternoon. I drove my Mini which wasn’t exactly the best choice for these roads.
The area between Morgans Mill Road and Route 50 near Middleburg is a spot known as “The Roller Coaster” on the Appalachian Trail. The trail goes up and down several times – it’s a good place to train for hills, so I suspect I may be visiting it several times before next summer when I’m doing something very challenging in the Alps in theory.
Two miles in I reached the spot mentioned above so I turned around and went back to where I started, then kept going to reach a waterfall area.
Beyond the waterfalls, two miles from where I parked, there is something of a view. This spot was a decent spot to sit and rest but I didn’t stay long as I had to get home. Barely time enough to collect my thoughts.
I did, however, visit the waterfall. Not a bad spot. I’m happy I was fairly early because I passed a fairly large contingent of hikers between here and my parking spot. Also happy I wasn’t there in July when it was likely totally dry.
And my typical hiking outfit, ready to be freshened up a bit for next summer. I actually wear board shorts and tank tops that are about a decade old. They haven’t fallen apart but… well, ten years seems to be a lot.
Eight miles on that particular day.
I came home and observed Memorial Day but then I was down sick for a few days. Barely well enough for a weekend in New York City a week later – for the US Open, but more on that later.
Back in August we headed out to Annapolis for an overnight. The Boss was running a race and as is the typical case I went to cheer her on and enjoy an overnight away.
Annapolis is a beautiful old town on the water. The capital of Maryland and I believe at one point briefly the nation’s capital. I’ve actually been to Annapolis a number of times but my last visit was a decade ago. It isn’t bad for a day trip, although in the busy months it gets a bit crowded and crazy towards dinnertime and into the evening. This particular visit was no exception. We did some eating, walking around and seeing the sights, and a bit of relaxation (sitting and reading), and The Boss ran a race and I cheered her on.
Ostensibly we were there so Julia could run a race, not for a football game at the stadium but our first task on arrival was to visit the football stadium for packet pickup. They kept us away from the bowl as there was a closed practice but I found a way to sneak up into an events area to take a quick peak. I’ve never been there for football but back when I was running races I visited a couple of times for race expos.
We had planned to arrive early enough for lunch. I wanted to visit a place called The Choptank for dinner; it was booked full, solid, so we ended up at their upstairs outdoor bar for lunch instead.
As always we sought out good food such as this ceviche. I also had a crabcake – the first of third crab related meals in Annapolis. Choptank does a great job with crabcake.
We wandered past an antique shop which also had a bar with live music playing.
Past the State House, confirming it was the Capitol.
Great view from here.
When evening came we elected not to leave the Westin. It was quiet and we were able to have dinner in the hotel.
I had this amazing wedge salad with crab meat all over it.
The Boss was running the Annapolis Ten Miler so we were both up early. She had a mile jog to the stadium for the start. I had a half mile jog to cheer on the runners.
After the runners went through I was able to go past this wetland area on a shortcut to the old town area to watch the runners.
A few birds hanging out there in the water.
And here I am at mile 3 watching runners on Rowe Boulevard coming into old Annapolis.
More great views from the bridge here.
Mile five with runners heading over the bridge. I was not able to get here fast enough to cheer on the runners – I took a break from the action to visit a coffee shop. However, I did run up on the bridge here.
The bridge here is kind of a cruel joke. Uphill after mile 5, and then through the neighborhoods on the opposite side of the bridge (going up and then back down for part of it), and then at about mile 8 1/2 you come back up the bridge. Mind you, it’s August and the temperature is creeping upward at this point
But there are great views of the river and the bay from the bridge.
And then time to shower, check out of the hotel, and head to brunch.
More crab at brunch. Crab eggs Benedict. Yum. But that was enough.
Annapolis is a great town to run a race but many of the races are in the summer where even at dawn it can be hot and humid.
It seems as if adventures often begin with an unexpected disaster. In May prior to heading to Baltimore I accidentally broke a large standing growing box in the back yard and had to do an emergency transplant into the ground. Then in June prior to heading out on a camping trip with The Boss and the dog my large Aloe fell off its stand and I planted it in a new pot.
It’s doing fine.
Nonetheless, we had no excuse to dodge the camping trip. For years I vowed I would never camp. I never felt that setting up camp, cooking over campfire, cleaning dishes next to camp fire, and all of the work that was involved ever counted as true relaxation. It doesn’t really – it’s work and it tires you out. However, I came to realize that it’s the same as enjoying time in the kitchen or time at home, but with a bit more creativity involved in planning it while away. So, now we camp.
We decided to try out the concept of camping with our dog – just the two of us.
So we loaded up Meraz into the car for her longest ride since she retired from racing 5 1/2 years ago along with all of our gear and headed out to Shenandoah National Park.
Meraz was not nearly as excited by the scenic overlooks on Skyline Drive as we were and we’ve been out there dozens of times.
By. Late afternoon we were set up at Big Meadows Campground. So, let’s see. How did we pack…. We did bring a bit extra, we always do. We brought our larger tent, a six person model. We brought the dog’s large ploof bed assuming she would be happy resting on it inside or out and would otherwise stand around whining; this was accurate. I brought a camp stove and a camp grill and used both – the stove to boil water for coffee and to make rice and the grill to toast bagels. Three crates of cooking gear and food; a cooler full of food including salmon for dinner the first night and shrimp for the second night. Salad for lunch (with grilled salmon). Two sleeping bags, zipped together, plus pads. Spoiler alert – we’re planning to upgrade to thicker pads.
Meraz enjoyed the experience.
Better than we did. No pictures inside though.
One of the reasons I head to the mountains to go hiking but when I’m not alone to some degree I’m reliant on what the others want to do. In this case, though, I’m happy to say I got a decent amount of hiking in. Around Big Meadows there’s a fair amount of trails and a decent amount to see and the Appalachain Trail passes by the campground as well. We took Meraz for more walks than she does at home – normally she walks maybe a mile and a half a day but by my count she did about four miles our first day when we set up camp and then eight miles the next day.
While The Boss was doing a fairly long run on Saturday Morning Meraz and I walked two miles out to the actual Big Meadow where we had a view of the valley and cell signal to check messages.
Then we took her hiking in the woods to look at her own kind – deer. When she sees them in the neighborhood at home she acts as if we’re being invaded and growls and wants to chase them off but in the forest that isn’t her own turf she just looks.
We spent the afternoon relaxing, napping, and reading at the campground. And then I made paella over a campfire.
I’ve always wanted to do this. I’ve done it over a grill but not over a campfire.
And there was a lovely sunset from the lodge.
Two weeks later I headed out for a solo camping trip at Loft Mountain. I planned this relatively speaking on the spur of the moment. I had a three day weekend for Juneteenth with Juneteenth being on a Friday. As it was a long weekend I wanted to spend a whole day hiking. However, the weather had other plans. We had a forecast for three days of high temperatures – too hot for hiking in the afternoon, even at altitude – so I decided to get a spot at Loft Mountain, take the afternoon off work, drive out during the heat of the day and spend the night.
Since I was solo I took the “small car,” arriving around 3:30 in the afternoon to a very buggy campsite. I set up my tent as quickly as possible while dousing myself with Off and headed out on a hike.
My destination was Doyles River Falls about 2 1/2 miles walk from the campground and probably 1500 feet descent. As you can see it was relatively dry. I’m not certain if the lower falls had more water as I stopped at the upper falls. I did not carry water as I was hoping to go down and back relatively quickly but that may have been a bad mood because I felt very woozy and dehydrated on return (remember, it was fairly hot – upper 80s at the top of the mountain when I was setting up camp).
That night I lit a fire purely for ambiance.
So, here is how I will describe the two campgrounds.
Big Meadows seems to get more vacationers whereas Loft Mountain, per the ranger, gets more regulars – people from relatively close by who come to the mountain frequently. Big Meadows has more to see but Loft Mountain certainly has plenty of trails. At Big Meadows the showers and firewood are certainly in the campground but at Loft Mountain it was perhaps a mile walk to the showers (spoiler alert – I drove as I was hot and tired). Big Meadows you can buy firewood up until 8pm; at Loft Mountain you must buy it by 6pm. I actually shared half my bundle with neighbors as it was too hot to use all of it and they were hunting around in the forest looking for dry wood because they had no firewood.
Overall, I enjoyed resting in Loft Mountain better and I think I appreciate it better as an adult but I am not so certain I would take my kids there. I have reservations for the dog, my kids, and I at Big Meadows in 2 1/2 weeks.
Anyway, I slept a few hours at Loft Mountain but not much. It was easier than getting up at 5am and driving out to the mountains, but not by much. I would probably do it again.
I had originally planned to hike over these ridges by Skyline Drive but they had a lot of exposed trail. After my overheating experience I decided to do a different hike instead.
I chose to hike the Big Run Loop starting before 7am on June 20. The weather was great relatively speaking – about 74 humid degrees when I started out and perhaps about 82 when I finished a few hours later.
There were a lot of spectacular narrow trails on this loop. The reward was the solitude and the distance. Most of the trail is neither on the AT or on a genuine tributary so I saw nobody until I returned to the ridge.
Eventually you find your way back up to the ridge and follow the AT for a bit crossing Skyline Drive and passing an overlook.
As it was still early I decided to drive ten miles down the road and do another short hike.
This is where I hiked. As you can see this was not on June 20th of this year. I took this photo at the end of September two years ago during a break in a rainstorm when the whole ridge was covered by clouds and fog. This photo was taken at Blackrock Summit. Hiking to Blackrock is a short walk with a round trip of less than two miles. The day I was there in 2024 was quite peaceful with nobody else around but obviously there was nothing to see but rocks.
This time the view was spectacular.
This is in my opinion one of the best views in Shenandoah and I was happy I did it. If I had driven from home that morning I likely would not have had time or energy in the heat.
I made friends with a couple of bucks finishing out my hike.
I have a couple of good friends here in Arlington who have a timeshare out at Massanutten Resort. They’re great – but not because they have a timeshare at Massanutten. I met them about a decade ago through my friend Joe because Joe met them once every week or two for a game night. I learned about his game nights at one point and said, “You should invite me.” After some hemming and hawing, eventually I became an invitee – and a regular. So, to this day I play games with Pat and Jim.
Carcassonne is probably our most frequently played game because it only takes about 40 minutes and it doesn’t require an even number of players and we often play it adjacent to a longer game. But anyway. This isn’t about games. This is about Massanutten, and visiting the Shenandoah Valley.
I don’t think I’ve mentioned but will do so frequently now – I am a hiker. I am a hiker because I enjoy being outdoors. I grew up on a farm so it is merely natural. Whenever I can I escape the city to head west to the mountains to hike. There are other outdoor activities I don’t care much about, like hunting (I am not a hunter), fishing (I don’t have the patience to deal with fishing lines and fish hooks or cleaning fish), four wheeling and motor sports. I’m okay at camping, preferably not with a backpack, but I enjoy a walk in the woods.
So I go hiking.
I live in Arlington, Virginia, half a dozen miles from the U.S. Capitol. End result, it is not good for hiking here. For what it’s worth, I do know people who dispute this. “You can hike on the Potomac Heritage Trail” or “I like to hike in Rock Creek Park” is what I hear. To me, no, even if you find the rugged spots if you’re hiking virtually in someone’s back yard hearing the hum of the freeway and hearing planes landing at National Airport you are not hiking.
Sometimes I cheat and head to Lake Acotink Park. Okay, that’s almost-hiking. Huntley Meadows Park? Too flat and level. Not hiking, even if there are a ton of bird watchers.
A proper hike requires you to bring water and snacks and climb a mountain or head down into a valley to chase waterfalls.
Anyway, one of the reasons, other than friendship, I head to Massanutten when my friends are there is to go hiking.
But this post is not about hiking. I didn’t go hiking when I visited Pat and Jim this time around.
This time I headed out from work the day after I returned from Baltimore and stopped at the local Walmart. Let’s just say that my tech-oriented mind had not slowed down yet and the locals in Luray, Virginia, kept bumping into me with their shopping carts.
I did eventually slow down when I arrived at this cluster of timeshare duplexes. My friends always play a game when they arrive. There is a trick to getting the best spot. You always want views of the mountains, but usually you have a choice between sunset and sunrise. This time they lucked out. They were able to get both.
When they visit Massanutten usually they stay for two or three weeks. They don’t go in the middle of summer as it’s too hot and they go there to be outside. They never go in the middle of winter either for the same reason. Their goal is to go when they can golf and go see live music, and it seems as if every other winery and brewery in that part of the Shenandoah Valley has live music.
Elkton Brewing Co. is probably my favorite place to go for beer out there. It’s really low key and laid back – very small town – unlike a lot of places where they built to handle 200 or 300 or 400 people. When weather is nice they set up a band on the porch; when weather is not nice they set up a band inside. And Woodfiredco has a pizza truck in their lot for Friday nights like this.
The thing about Elkton is there’s a busy freight rail line running through town so about every sixth song has a CSX locomotive running through it. This particular Friday night was no exception.
Nonetheless the band soldiered on, acoustic guitar with tenor singer playing along in a style I like to call “winery music.” They did a stunning rendition of Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie.”
And then an hour later we were at Base Camp, a thousand feet higher and a thousand feet cooler listening to a band called Gypsy Town playing a much better rendition of Valerie. You can find both on my instagram – robnorwood is my handle there.
I actually enjoy the vibe better at Elkton Brewery, even with the trains going past. The beer is better too. Base Camp has a much more extensive menu (Elkton Brewery only has the pizza truck) but the funny thing is you can never find something you like at Base Camp and when it’s busy the service is excruciatingly painful.
But there are always deer in the evening. And sometimes raccoons.
So, the thing about heading out to Massanutten for the weekend is my friends keep a pretty serious schedule when they are out of town. I try to not exhaust myself on the weekend; if I go for a morning hike or a run or something, then an afternoon at a winery or two for live music followed by an evening at Elkton or Cave Creek, it gets to be a bit much. And this time I had been out of town for a few days before so I paced myself. Saturday morning I went for a walk and then we had a leisurely breakfast playing games before heading to Lavender Farm.
I know Lavender Farm has an official name but this is how we know it. They have llamas, or alpacas I cannot tell, and a small petting zoo, and they also grow a lot of lavender. Some of it they put in wine.
One time I had a wine tasting here, but never again. They have a handful of good white wines (in Virginia you can never go wrong with Viognier) and one good red wine (Cabernet Franc I think, same rule applies). And they have some decent beer.
But we came here to see Shane Click.
This isn’t Shane. This is me. Shane gives out these sexy glasses at his gig and encourages people to wear them. When you tip him he pauses in his singing to say, “Thanks you sexy beast!”
Shane knows what songs to play regardless of whether you request something but it’s more fun if you make a request. For me he played, “God is Great, Beer is Good, Rob is Crazy.”
Eventually the show ended and as I had been away for parts of five days at that point I drove the two hours home to Arlington for the night.
Another successful visit to the Shenandoah Valley.
On returning from vacation I worked, and rested, for a few days and then I scurried off to Baltimore. It seems I go yearly now for a conference. Sometimes the conference is in May, sometimes it is in June, this year it was June 2 through 4.
So what can I say. When I first moved to Virginia, 30 years ago this week, Baltimore was for me a day trip destination. I traveled up there several times with friends to go to concerts, explore the Inner Harbor, see the Fourth of July fireworks, or to, well, visit friends. And I saw several baseball games there before baseball returned to Washington the year of my 33rd birthday. Eventually it waned in importance until for two years I dated a native Baltimorean during what we will call my “early divorcee” period. To a large degree I know Baltimore. And the Inner Harbor isn’t it.
Baltimore has its own hometown brands such as Under Armour, seen above from Fells Point along the water on an early morning run. There’s also a big Domino’s Sugar warehouse with a big light up sign. For years it was a finance capital as well.
All these tall buildings in the center are what was the financial center of Baltimore.
But now this is it – over there across the water.
When I’m in Baltimore I still try to get out a bit. Sometimes in the company of others –
This example, to The Choptank in the historic Broadway Market building in Fells Point.
But sometimes alone, as was the case last year when I escaped for dinner at a rooftop bar by myself. I didn’t find photo evidence of that this time though.
This year the first night I had dinner at Be More Thai the first night with my boss. I thought he wanted to talk about work and long range planning, or perhaps what happens when he decides to go and become a farmer. Instead, he just wanted a quiet meal. As you can see I had the very large rockfish. He had vegetarian fried rice. Now a month later he’s the one who has had a heart attack and not me of course. He’s fine now, don’t worry, none of us thought he was the type that would scare us this way!
My second day in Baltimore this year was LONG. But first, Coffee.
I visited Ceremony Coffee in the historic Cross Street Market. I knew they roasted good beans; they were the coffee served at my coffee shop of choice in my previous job, before Covid and before I became disillusioned and left. After coffee I took a 45 minute stroll along the water front. And then spent 7 hours on the convention floor. And then a series of happy hours.
Our first was at Blackwell & Hitch sponsored by one of our business partners.
This was followed by casino night and old fashioneds. Then when casino night ended, we decided to storm the pirate ship, as I put it. My former company was sponsoring an event on a tall ship. I believe it was the Pride of Baltimore (II, if you’re keeping track), but to be honest I really wasn’t paying attention.
Coincidentally the same ship sailed to New York to take part in today’s Tall Ship Parade for the 250th Anniversary of Independence. Anyway, our group had a good time on the ship. I actually saw my old boss and had a pretty detailed conversation on the benefits of graduate education in business.
Anyway, eventually they kicked us off the ship (threw us into the harbor so to speak), so we left for a pub (if you’re keeping track, we left the conference at 4pm and it was now 10pm). I have photos from the pub but I’m not sharing.
My Oura ring tells me I walked back to the hotel after midnight.
June 4 (Day 3 if you’re keeping track) started bright and early. And I found another coffee shop.
This was cool because it was a barber shop in a cafe.
See the barber pole? Anyway, I won a 10% discount off my next drink there by choosing the correct color.
That was Baltimore for this time around. Again, I’ve spent a fair amount of time there. I’ve run 5k races, 10k races, and I ran from Towson straight down the spine of Charles Street in the Charles Street 12 mile race. I’ve been in a mosh pit in the football stadium as The Offspring were on stage. I’ve been to art museums; I’ve cheered as the Orioles won. And, most importantly, I’ve had someone call me “Hon.”
Buffalo was an interesting choice for a marathon as it meant I would be in close proximity, relatively speaking, to much of my family, so I should make an effort to visit, but on the other hand often it’s impractical to visit my family. We saw my father on the last day of our travels for lunch and then we saw my mother, briefly, as she was working. In fact, she returned home from Florida the day before we saw her. But first, we woke up in Aurora.
We started the day in Aurora with the Coffee and Croissants cruise – a rescheduling from the day before. This enabled us to sip coffee and enjoy croissants from a pontoon boat. To be fair, we both had coffee before and we actually, well, one of us, went running and then more walking, before boarding the boat at 9am. Then we packed up most of our stuff and headed to the docks.
It was a beautiful late spring day looking the length of Cayuga Lake. The sun was bright and warm with the water cooling – the air temperature was in the mid-70s but water temperature was perhaps 58 or 60 at the shoreline and I think he said 48 in the center of the lake. Definitely moderating and I think only two of us plus the captain, out of seven, were wearing shorts.
On checkout we went to the Grill at the Laurel in Watkins Glen to meet my father for lunch. Dad won a gift certificate at a car show sometime last fall so we let him take us there for his birthday (Mom would not go with him for some reason…. She is suspicious of the place, so I figured we’d better go lest he use it simply on takeout instead). It’s always good seeing my father but it actually takes several hours to have a conversation. And saying goodbye takes forever. We were standing and talking to him, as he moves slowly walking around this earth, and then we said goodbye and he got into the car. By the time I walked around and got into the driver’s seat to drive away he had pulled away and down the road – basically disappeared. At 85 years old, walking isn’t his forte, but put him behind a lawn mower, a tractor, or a piece of machinery, and he’s as good as anybody you know.
This was the final posting of this travelogue. Five hours home from there, with a stop to visit Mom, and pick up Meraz who had been at her doggy vacation spot.
Next up – My conference in Baltimore, camping at Big Meadows, and likely a handful of other adventures.
On Tuesday May 26 we woke up in our room at the Inns of Aurora. This would likely be the penultimate day of our rest and relaxation this time around – the one day where we “sat around and did nothing.” We did, however, do something.
I started the day with a hike through the woods and fields above Aurora while mostly conversing with my father on the telephone. As it had rained several days prior it was pretty muddy, but it was a beautiful, still late-spring morning along Cayuga Lake.
The walk took me past a few of the Inn’s many properties including an old renovated farmhouse and the spa. After my walk we were scheduled to go on a coffee and croissants cruise on the lake but the boat captain called in sick. Not sure, but it’s possible he was just out too late the night before. Anyway, this activity was postponed until the next day.
The Inn recently changed their breakfast service. Instead of having breakfast available in the main restaurant they now have breakfast as counter-serve, coffee shop style, in the general store. And yes, they now have a general store that serves as basically a takeout place as well as a small gift shop. In addition they serve coffee, tea, juice, and breakfast snacks (artisanal breakfast bars) in each building within The Inn. Not sure if this is a decent substitute for those who want a hearty breakfast but likely it is what they have done to reliably provide breakfast in a place and time where it may be hard to entice restaurant workers for a sporadic meal service.
After breakfast we returned to the spa to enjoy their outdoor thermal suite. This was truly a blessing – the day was beautiful for lounging outdoors. We intermittently dipped into three different hot pools (99 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit) and I intermittently dipped into one cold pool (about 54 degrees Fahrenheit). It took me more than 90 minutes of plunging, sitting and reading, and relaxing to fully immerse myself in the cold. It was invigorating.
The hydro pools at the spa are not the best value. They come complimentary with spa services, but as we had our spa service the day before they charged us for a 90 minute pass instead.
This “forced downtime” actually forced us to have some downtime. We spent much of the afternoon reading on the porch. I was able to finish a few chapters of The Three Body Problem for the first time in a couple of months. And then for more “forced downtime” we took a ride to Long Point Winery.
There were three British cars at Long Point including mine (not shown above). This Austin Healy is pretty amazing and very well kept.
Long Point actually purchases most of their grapes from what I can tell, and most of their grapes are purchased from out of state. Usually I’m horrified by this – and in this case to a degree I am still horrified a little. However, they do a decent job especially with the Cabernet Franc they grow – it has a great finish and decants well. Their Zinfandel (California grapes) is also well made and a lot deeper expression than many California Zins. For this reason I decided they’re actually a mediocre vineyard with some amazing winemakers – and in a beautiful setting as well.
After the winery adventure, The Boss piloted The Beast to the Village of Skaneateles where we would meet my uncle and significant other for dinner.
Skaneateles sits on the north end of Skaneateles Lake which is maintained in a pristine fashion to serve as the water supply for the City of Syracuse. The only reason I have really spent any time in Skaneateles is because my mother, and thus my uncle, grew up there. My uncle moved there before he can remember (I believe he was less than a year old) with my mother’s family when my grandfather’s company moved from New Jersey. Now, Skaneateles is a combination between upscale bedroom community for Syracuse and resort community surrounded by farmland.
We had dinner at a pizza and Italian place in the village before heading back to the municipal parking lot.
Where we parked had a view of this house. My uncle said, “You know that’s the house where we grew up, right?” Yes, this is what my mother refers to as the State Street House.
As the light faded, The Boss piloted us safely back to Aurora, two lakes over, past farms and fields that remind me of growing up on a farm in that part of New York. And thus everything became complete.
So, dear reader, I owe you some updates. There have been some decent adventures since we last met! I still owe the three remaining days of our WNY / Finger Lakes adventure. Then we returned home and the following week (this most recent week) I went off to Baltimore for a conference (I’ll likely cover that in a single post). Finally, this recent Friday and Saturday I spent with my friends in their timeshare out in the Shenandoah Valley. But one more – we’re planning a camping trip with the dog in two weeks. This shall be an adventure as the dog has never camped before! But for now, we will start with the Martin House.
May 25 started just as many late-spring days in Buffalo – with clouds and gloom. Well, the gloom continued. It didn’t rain though; it was generally pleasant. We had breakfast at SPoT Coffee again with better service than the two prior days (did I mention how much I enjoy their espresso grind?) and then we checked out and went for a tour at The Martin House.
The Darwin D. Martin House in Buffalo, New York, is a world-class architectural masterpiece designed by Frank Lloyd Wright between 1903 and 1905. It’s widely considered to be the best (well, in my opinion one of the best) examples of his prairie house era. Martin was a successful executive, the chief financial officer, I believe, of a large company headquartered in Buffalo at the time and very much appreciated by his employers. He eventually was in charge of building a new corporate headquarters, also designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, but as a lead up to this he commissioned his own house. Before building his own house he had other homes built on the same plot of land. The gardener’s house above, for instance, was commissioned, as was his sister’s house:
And here is the view of the Martin house from his sister’s house – probably the only place where you can take a photograph inside at the Martin House. You can see from the above there are large beds of peonies that are likely blooming now, two weeks later, but at the time they were just green. Frank Lloyd Wright designed the windows used throughout.
Including these on the main house. Again, you can take photographs from the outside but not inside. Below this line of windows there are glass windows allowing light in to the basement level as well.
Upon entry to the main house you have a view towards where I am standing in this perspective. The entry has a door to the steps on the street as well as a door back in this direction to the walkway to the conservatory. The entry itself is fairly compact for the era with an archway to the left on entering (to the right from here) into a receiving room and then to the right (to the left from here) into a formal family area. If you have ever been in a Wright House it follows his philosophy of “compress and release.” The doorway and movement between rooms is compressed and then the room spreads out away from you and higher than you – the release as it is, capturing you into the space.
The view through the entry and down the covered corridor to the conservatory yields this – intended to impress.
What I enjoyed the most in all of this space was the Steinway covered with white oak; most are black but his wife had one covered with white oak. It returned to the house many years ago and is played by volunteers for maintenance.
While we were at the Martin house we started getting text messages from the Inns of Aurora where we were checking in later that day – 140 miles away! Seems they accidentally did not change our spa appointment to the next day. Therefore, we did not dillydally. We moved on, but first stopping at the Walden Galleria to verify that Western New York is not entirely populated by Dead Malls. I had to buy some sponge candy and a pair of swim trunks! And lunch of course (which sucked – mall food court food).
At the Inns we checked into the Zabriskie House, our home away from home for two nights. We definitely could have stayed longer. We enjoyed a couple’s massage at the spa here this evening (more on that later – we returned to the spa for their outdoor thermal spa experience the next day). We would both rate their massage experience as superb, probably the best compared to other resorts where we’ve enjoyed the massage experience (Woodloch Resort for instance, and Wildflower Farms in Gardiner New York). Not that there was anything wrong at the other places… we both realized that some of the reason why we enjoyed this experience better may be because we both had a male masseuse! Bigger hands with pressure more spread out.
We had dinner at the 1833 Kitchen and Bar which is part of the Inns. It was their third night open for outdoor dining for the season.
There are a ton of wines on the list I would have enjoyed traveling but the slow service allowed me to get as far as two only. We did enjoy some good food like this tuna crudo –
And some really good lamb as well (along with salmon, without the lardons please for her). Pro tip – some members of the guest services staff will do nearly anything for you, including the guy who checked us in who said he was “like a dog with a frisbee” and would answer any question. He told us how to get down to the waterfront in the morning for instance:
“Absolutely! No bother at all! You’re throwing a frisbee at a dog! I love this stuff! You will kindly find your way to the right side of The Rowland House following the grass down to the dock just behind the house. The Rowland House is marked with a large R on your map and just across Main St. from your location at Zabriskie House.”
But our true reward for the journey was sunset over Cayuga Lake.
And now finally the main reason we went on a road trip. There was a marathon for somebody to run! Fortunately, when we woke up early Sunday morning it was fairly dry. I say fairly because it did rain a bit during the marathon.
Buffalo Marathon starts at 6:30 in the morning near city hall. The route the race takes consists of three different “loops” each re-converging on downtown Buffalo. This made it easy for me as a spectator.
The first loop came up Delaware Avenue in front of The Westin where we were staying. This made it easy for me – I crawled out of bed just as Julia was leaving to head to the start line. By the time I arrived downstairs it was ten minutes before start time. I was able to cross the street and find a spot to cheer and so when she went by I yelled “Hey Julia!” She heard me even though I was on the opposite side of the street.
The race headed north for three miles, looped through a neighborhood, and then came back south – in front of the hotel again. This gave me the opportunity to attempt to get coffee. Unfortunately, everybody else and their brother decided to line up in front of SPoT coffee as well yet SPoT was not budging on their 7am opening time. As the day before had not gone well with a 5k running outside the front door once I realized it would only be the two employees who hadn’t been in the best of spirits the day before – AND they were NOT planning to open the doors until at least 7:15 – I abandoned and went back to the hotel room and made Hotel Room Coffee. Ugh.
My next cheering spot was about five blocks away from here. Once the course returned to City Hall it took a turn to the northwest and looped around one of the west side neighborhoods and went out along a waterfront park. I missed catching Julia here as I had taken another trip to the hotel room but I did catch her again when she returned. Then I relocated two miles further along the course – a decent half mile jog to get there – where I caught her returning from the waterfront where we ran Saturday morning.
She came running over to me at that point. “My phone is dead,” she told me.
“What???”
“My phone is dead,” and she held it out.
Then she started running away because I was not getting it.
Somehow in that five second window of time I realized she wanted me to charge her phone. And meet her further along the course. I did my mental calculations where I realized that even though the train wasn’t running and likely buses were not either that this was a town where I could easily get my car out of the garage and drive completely around the race course without running into traffic impediment and meet her…. Well, I was at mile 11 and I knew where to find her at mile 17.
“Hey, wait!” She gave me her phone.
So, I ran the mile back to the hotel. I figured that I needed to get to the hotel in about ten minutes, spend no less than ten minutes inside (charging the phone), spend about 15-20 minutes driving and parking, and then be in place to hand it back to her at I think it was 9:15am.
I was correct on my calculation. However, I went into the hotel and put the phone on the charger for five minutes, found my charged battery pack, hooked the phone up to THAT, and went down to the garage. Without my car keys! Back inside again.
Then I had to get out of the garage down a closed street which meant I had to drive on the sidewalk.
Here is our hero through the trees in Delaware Park just past Mile 17 at 9:19am! She was thankful – I managed to charge the phone to nearly 50% in an hour. Neither of us knows why it went dead.
Less than half a mile up the park roadway there was another junction point where the race course comes together. Next to the bluegrass band tent above there was a park refreshment stand which had coffee so I was able to replenish. Here it did start drizzling a bit but it wasn’t too miserable. After Julia passed here (Mile 21 at that point) I jogged back to my car (another mile…) and drove back towards the hotel.
I actually managed to catch her twice more, an all time record for me. On the drive back I came upon a traffic circle which was closed on one side for the marathon so I jumped out of the car here and cheered her and a number of the others on (they all looked familiar at this point as I had seen them all seven times thus far). And then when I parked at the hotel (back over that sidewalk again) I hopped outside just as she and the others were coming down Delaware Avenue.
She finished the race and we went back to The SPoT for coffee. Fortunately a third person had come in. Lunch was two pizzas from Frankie Primo’s +39 as takeout.
Naps were had all around and then Julia woke me up saying, “I feel like going for a walk. Do you feel like going for a walk?” Who goes walking after running 26.2 miles? Nobody I know.
The weather was beautiful by Buffalo standards for the end of May. It was dry and warm. As you can see the streets were reopened as well.
We made our way out to the seaport park hoping to eat outside at the marina tiki bar. Unfortunately they did not have their outdoor area open so we abandoned and walked back towards the hotel instead, ending up at Big Ditch Brewery.
When I was still a serious runner if I were traveling to run a race, especially a longer distance, I would wake up at a reasonable time the day before, have a relaxing breakfast with coffee, and then maybe wander off to the race expo. I might do some light activity for the afternoon, perhaps visiting a museum or do some mild sight seeing, but otherwise I would not exert myself or spend too much time on my feet. And there was always an Italian dinner, maybe pasta, in the evening. Since I’m no longer running the routine for me is different, and the person I travel with, The Boss, has her own routine.
We wake up the day before the race and she does a shakeout run. This is one of the few times I’m permitted to run with her so I dress to run as well. We take different approaches to this. She wakes up, has coffee, relaxes and does a crossword and Wordle or something similar, has a snack, and then heads out. I wake up, get ready, and head out. Not much waiting.
Our run on this particular day took us down to Buffalo’s outer harbor where we ran along the waterfront a bit. As you can tell the weather wasn’t perfect.
We saw the old lighthouse.
We saw Canada off in the distance. In fact, when I ran a speed test from the hotel in Buffalo it told me I had been assigned from an IP address pool in St. Catherines, Ontario.
There were these hardy fools out in the weather getting their exercise in. By this point the drizzle began.
It rained a bit harder after a while. We ended up making our way back to the neighborhood around the hotel where we had coffee at a place called SPoT. This appears to be a local chain of coffee shops where they were utterly unprepared for additional foot traffic for marathon weekend. The espresso was amazing though (I’ll note now their espresso beans make a good latte or espresso but not necessarily good coffee – I brought a bag home). As there were no other craft places nearby we ended up going there more than once.
After a shower we headed out to the expo. Buffalo Marathon has a great race expo especially in relation to the size of the race. It isn’t a huge race, although it isn’t a small race either. It seems to suit the size of the city without overwhelming it.
Even though the weather had turned into crap by this point we did do a bit of sightseeing along the way. Buffalo does have a range of architecture.
Check out this mural for instance.
We eventually made our way to Streetlight Brasserie for brunch. This place has been open for a few years and seems to be using its space wisely. They get a decent “diner crowd” for brunch and midday meals in addition to evenings for more upscale dinner. They have oysters (currently PEI oysters) and other seafood dishes. But they also have two long bars and frequent live music. We happened past it the next day, Sunday, as well hoping to duck in for a bite to eat but they had a band playing that seemed to have brought in about a hundred or so patrons younger than us all of whom were standing around drinking rather than sitting and relaxing so we ended up going elsewhere for that visit.
While we were in the Brasserie the weather took a turn for the worse and my umbrellas (borrowed from Reston Town Center) went inside out on the walk back to the hotel. So, I had no choice but to take a much needed nap, as The Boss did as well, but I did notice the Pierce Arrow Museum (aka the Buffalo Transportation Museum) on the map about thirty minutes walk away. When I woke I took a stroll down to visit it.
The Pierce Arrow Museum is partially dedicated to the history of Pierce bicycle and motorcar company as well as its subsequent mergers, but also dedicated to other transportation from the era of its heyday such as this Templar automobile. There were period outfits on display, relics from the company founding, numerous old bicycles and motorcycles, and other oddities in one room.
In a second room there were more modern classics and antiques.
When I saw my father a few days later I showed him photos of this Chevy 409. He had a similar model sixty years ago himself.
The Widow Maker was an interesting find. I remember when I was young a lot of people at the time were horrified at the dangers of motorcycles (they still are, just in a different way) and I suspect this is one of the reasons why – companies like Kawasaki learned how to produce more powerful motorcycles which appealed to people who had spent the 1960s buying muscle cars.
In one corner of the museum there were a handful of absolutely beautiful cars from a hundred years ago that had been converted and modernized along the way such as this 1932 Pierce Arrow with a big block Chevy engine and modern tires, wheels, brakes, and power steering and so forth.
I think this Eldorado was the star of the show, though. A 1957 model, exceedingly rare, and the most expensive vehicle, by far, that Cadillac produced during a pretty significant period.
There is one thing I did not notice immediately until I saw a couple of other museum patrons nosing around the back of the structure above. This area was roped off and at first I just figured the installation was to break up the space a bit until I noticed, in the roped off area, light up signs pointing to “Men’s Restroom.”
If you cannot guess what it is.
When the museum closed I spent some time wandering around the Allentown neighborhood trying, unsuccessfully, to find some deli items. Instead, I successfully found a Tim Horton’s. For dinner we went to Frankie Primo’s +39, with +39 being the country code to dial for Italy.
I enjoyed Frankie’s Maiale Sugo dish – slow roasted pork butt with thick noodles. And at the end of the meal they serve complimentary limoncello.
Again, an early night for us. The race would begin at 6:30am on Sunday.
