Leah, Chuck and Matt crossed into Pennsylvainia yesterday after a nice stay in Hudson Ohio. They rode along lake Erie for a day and camped on the beach at Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio where they met Tom and Carly Kalish (picture attached), then after crossing the PA border they peddled another 50 lake view miles or so, and hit the outskirts of Erie PA and once again camped on the beach. The Eastern ambience is quite obvious at this point as shown by the white clapboard houses and covered bridges. Matt decided to forge on ahead and so he did, but when Leah and Chuck arrived at the campsite near Erie who did they run into but Matt who had to take a detour into Erie to buy some tires (he got a couple of flats) so Matts back with the crew today. Leah said that they also ran into a young man who had the same problem and Chuck stayed up late helping him patch a tire so he could go into Erie and buy a couple of new ones.
In no time they they slipped across the New York border, still on the lake, and in in grape country. Apparently they stopped and chatted with a guy who was harvesting grapes on a huge grape harvesting machine, and they spent over an hour riding around on the machine and stuffing themselves with fresh fruit. That slowed em down a little as they only put in 45 miles today. Leah said they'll continue along the lake a while longer until they get to Canada and they'll cross into Canada for a short stint then back across the border into the interior of the Empire State.
It's a great time to be touring the east what with the changing leaves and the cool days. Leah says they might check out Niagra falls. Perhaps go over in a barrel if the opportunity allows. No... enough adventure for one day!
Stevie Roman
2 comments:
Sept 27th PM & Sept 28 AM
The team made it to Geneva and Geneva-on-the-Lake Ohio. They passed thru the middle of one of the best and finest "festivals" in Ohio...The Geneva Grape Jamboree where stomping, drinking,and eating the Concord Grape which made the area around famous (you know Welch's Grape Juice??-they used to have a plant in Geneva) anyway the Eastern Ohio Concord crop (and western NY) is plentiful this year--(not all news from America is bad right now)
They met up with my nineteen year old daughter and I (Carly and Tom Kalish) at the Geneva State Park where we tented together for a night just across the road from the shore of Lake Erie. Carly and I were both extremely pleased to meet them and they graced us with their stories and experiences well into the night alongside the hard burning fire we made from sun-dried driftwood that was collected from the beach by the beach at the mouth of Wheeler Creek. I was particularly keen on their trip (although I came up in my daughters car) as I abandoned driving cars just a bit over a year ago and have taken to mostly cycling as my main and prefered means of travel. Carly and I have been discussing bike trips and getting the first hand talk from folks on the move was exciting for us.
We made it a point to break camp early on a cool and somewhat overcast morning which was partly accentuated with a intermittent drizzle of rain and drove ahead and reserved the "Big Table" at Mary's Kitchen in Geneva on the Lake". The team had met the owner there the evening before and they were eagerly awaited, talked about beforehand, and ushered in with all the hospitality and cheer that a nice small home-cooking place that set just off the main strip of "Ohio's oldest Resort Town" could muster.
They came in oddly saying pancakes--pannn-caakkkes, need paaan-caakes"
like it was the Mantra-of-the-Road. More stories were excitingly shared and around 9:30am they were last seen headed east on Lake Road riding amongst the mostly closed for the season kitchy shops, pinball, game and pool gallerys, and eclectic cottages and bars that make Geneva-on-the-Lake one of the oddest and most unexpected treasures along a coastal shore anywhere.
So they were headed east on The North Coast of America when last sighted by us--
We were figuring and recommended they try to get to Erie Pennsylvania, which sets on the small extension that PA was granted for their port on the lake.
Presque Isle was the assembly and launch point of the fleet built and commanded by Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry which in a key battle on a mid-September Day during the War of 1812 secured the American West from further British expansionist ideas thenceforth
they had tasted Concord Grapes that Carly and I picked from the vines at my parents old place which we picked before coming up and we broke open and shared a "Birthday Bread" she had picked up at "The Jam-Boree" as it was my 54th on the 27th--
and I could not have imagined it being much better a night to share with a nicer group of people.
all good karma and a great night and morning of the next first day of the rest of my (our) lives.
Pass my good wishes, safe journey, god's speed, and happy trails on to them.-tom
Geneva Grape Jamboree
Ohio's many small town festivals are part of what gives the state it's character. When the festival is in the heart of Ohio's Lake Erie wine country and celebrates the grape, well then it becomes a must-see.
History:
Geneva-on-the-Lake calls itself "Ohio's First Summer Resort." The fun started in 1869 when the first carnival park, "Sturgeon Point" was built. In the early 1900s, Midwest inventors and businessmen, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, and Harvey Firestone, chose the spot to spend camping weekends. Gradually, tents gave way to cabins and cottages, but the site still retains its humble, accessible appeal. Geneva-on-the-Lake's central attraction is "the Strip", a section of State Route 531 which is lined with parks and restaurants, and has been a tourist attraction for decades.
Located on Ohio's northeastern shoreline in Geneva On The Lake, Ohio and Geneva State Park reflects the character and charisma of Lake Erie. The shimmering expanse of the lake lures vacationers who enjoy fishing and boating. Swimmers rejoice in the beautiful sand beach while nature enthusiasts retreat to the park's freshwater marshes and estuaries associated with the lake.
Nature of the ParkGeneva State Park exhibits graphic evidence of the dynamic effects Lake Erie has on our changing landscape. The lake has been a dominant force shaping Ohio's natural and cultural development for thousands of years.
The lake's beginning can be traced to the glacial era of Ohio's geologic history when the state was covered by ice over a mile thick. During the Pleistocene (Ice Age), continental glaciers advanced and receded from Ohio at least four times. The scouring action of this ice sheet created the Lake Erie Basin which slowly filled as the ice melted northward to Canada. Initially, the newly formed lake drained to the southwest into the Mississippi River. When the glacier retreated from near present-day Buffalo, New York, a new outlet was exposed via the Niagara River. A flood of water escaped, draining the shallow western basin and much of the central basin. Twelve-thousand years ago, this outlet was 100 feet lower than it is today due to the great weight of the mile-thick ice depressing the land surface. The rebounding of this bedrock is reflected in the present lake level.
Geneva offers the visitor a natural beach, several areas of freshwater marsh and beautiful mature woodlots. The middle and western beach areas contain plants that are rare in Ohio but characteristic of the Atlantic coast. Sea rocket, seaside spurge, beach pea and silverweed can be found on the Geneva beaches. Marshes located at the mouth of Cowles Creek, No Name Creek and Wheeler Creek contain swamp smartweed, leafy sedge and submerged aquatic vegetation.
Thanks, Tom for fleshing out the details of this part of the trip.
Stevie Roman
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