After having too much fun in Warren, Ohio with our best buds, we headed up the road to Lake Erie for some “chill out” time. We stayed at the Lake Erie State Park in New York, and as soon as we settled in there was the realization that we did not like this place much. The problem started with a persistent terrible smell that we initially thought came from some trash that had been left near our site (which park employees never picked up).
We walked to their little beach and the smell was terrible there as well. The cause became apparent – stagnant water near the shore in 90+ degree heat. We hope this condition does not exist elsewhere around the lake, but it pretty much spoiled our stay here. This is obviously not the fault of the park, but beware if you plan to stay here during the summer months.
We had only one special thing to do on this stop – meet retired educators John and Pam of Oh the Places they go. We had been following their travels, and when we learned of their stop just down the road at Erie, PA we wanted to make sure we could meet them halfway from where we were in NY. It’s always exciting to meet new friends, especially RV full-timers and bloggers, for the exchange of adventures and information. Although this was our first meeting, we got to know each other very quickly. Before we knew it three hours had gone by! Be sure to check out their blog site for the interesting places and excellent hiking ideas they share. These are great easy-going folks, and we enjoyed their company and hope to rendezvous again this coming fall or winter.
And check it out, we even met at a very appropriate place – Plummer’s Tavern, “Where friends meet.”
We weren’t really eager to go back home to that horrendous stench, so why not do some wine tasting while we’re out and about? This area around Lake Erie is wine country, so we delayed our trip home by visiting two wineries – Noble Winery and Johnson’s Estate.
The spectacular sunsets at Lake Erie somewhat made up for the stench at this place.
Lowes Travels 
It was great fun finally meeting after following each for so long:) Glad you got to check out the two wineries the server mentioned. It sounds like more fun than your smelly home.
Beautiful sunset. We’ve always said that we’ve seen the most beautiful sunsets on Lake Erie. We never did get down to see one this trip. Seems we were always busy at sunset.
Hope went well at Niagara Falls!
This sunsets are magnificent! So glad you met Pam and John….
It’s a shame they can’t do something about the smelly water! What a bummer.
Safe travels!
Wow, those ARE amazing sunsets. I can’t believe the lake is “stinky.” Yikes!
I grew up in Erie, PA and enjoyed going to the beaches of Presque Isle State Park. My dad loved taking us to Niagara Falls and Chautaqua. Another favorite spot was Letchworth State Park in New York. You should look for it.
Oh thank you for the tip on Letchworth State Park just saw this today our last day here in Grand Island. Maybe next time around.
A bit more wine may have helped you to sleep through the horrible smell! Great pictures.
-Nick
Gorgeous sunsets … that last one reminds me of one I took a while back. Always great to meet new friends … following each other´s blogs makes the first meeting easier than meeting total strangers.
Stunning sunset photos! Shame about the stench.
How fabulous to be able to meet up with John and Pam. We hope to meet all four of you someday. Looking forward to a possible meet-up this winter in FL. Love your header photo. 🙂
Now my sun pictures can go in the corner and hide. I connected with placestheygo just recently.