Spring and summer in the Western New York area offers a wealth of family friendly activities and best of all, many are low cost or free.
Higher gas prices and inflation have caused increased prices everywhere. But do not despair for there is much to see and do within an easy drive. More than ever, we all need fun and travel during the 2022 summer season.
Here are some long-time and new favorites — most involve the water since our lakes, rivers, and canals are some of our best loved warm weather attractions.
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Presque Isle State Park is about 100 miles south of Buffalo in Erie, Pennsylvania and is one of the region’s best parks for beach lovers, with 11 beaches along seven miles of Lake Erie. Park admission and parking are free.
Each of the beaches has its own character and attractions. There are some that allow leashed dogs and there are handicap accessible beaches with ramps to the water’s edge and beach wheelchairs. Kayaks are available for rent or you can launch your own.
One of the park’s best secrets are the free boat tours. Run by park volunteers, Pontoon Boat Tours leave from a dock adjacent to the kayak rentals near Misery Bay. There is no pre-registration for the 50-minute tours and sign-ups start 30 minutes prior to the tour times, so make sure to arrive early as they fill up quickly. They operate four times daily from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
Reader’s Digest recently named the 3,200-acre park one of the “15 Best Affordable Beach Destinations in America.” Presque Isle, the most visited park in Pennsylvania, is a peninsula that juts out into Lake Erie from the city of Erie.
There are also regular tours aboard the 110-passenger Motor Vessel Lady Kate that offers 14-mile 90-minute cruises onto the open waters of Lake Erie.
The best place to begin your tour of the park is at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center just outside the park boundaries. The 65,000 square foot, green-designed facility that opened in 2006 encourages visitors to experience the unique history and ever-changing diverse ecosystems of Presque Isle, a National Natural Landmark.
The orientation theater provides a multimedia experience that takes visitors through 12,000 years of history, year-round activities, and the many spectacular sunsets of Presque Isle. The 75-foot, glass-enclosed observation tower affords spectacular views of Lake Erie.
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Chautauqua Institution, 75 miles from Buffalo, is free on Sundays during the nine-week summer season in keeping with its religious origins. A Sunday visit provides a perfect opportunity to experience the special Chautauqua world and decide if you might want to return for a longer visit.
A National Historic Landmark, it is one of the region’s greatest treasures and will be celebrating its 150th season next year.
“There is no place like it. No resort, no spa. Not anywhere else in the country, or anywhere in the world,” explained historian and author David McCullough.
There are several small beaches along Chautauqua Lake on the grounds of the institution that are perfect for children. Canoes, kayaks, and sailboats are available for rent.
There are casual and more formal dining choices. Take a few minutes to sit and rock in the rocking chairs on the spacious porch of the iconic Athenaeum Hotel, completed in 1881. Thomas Edison’s father-in-law was one of the founders of the institution and Edison did the early electrical wiring in the hotel. He had a regular corner table in the dining room where he took his meals and would often leave by a window to avoid autograph hounds.
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Niagara Falls attracts people from all over the world and, as travel has resumed, international visitors will be gazing at the mighty falls from every possible angle this summer. Lucky area residents do not have far to drive to experience one of the natural wonders of the world.
Niagara Falls State Park, a National Historic Landmark, was the country’s first state park and was created to allow everyone to enjoy expansive views of the mighty cataracts. Before the park’s opening in 1885, ugly fences required visitors to pay to see the falls through peepholes.
Today, the views and the park are free to all and it has recently undergone a multi-year $75 million upgrade and it is ready to welcome the world.
There have been improvements to viewing areas at Luna Island, Prospect Point, Lower Grove, Three Sisters Island, North Shoreline Trail, Luna Bridge and Terrapin Point.
There is a new interactive Cave of the Winds pavilion which highlights the history of Niagara Falls. For hardy visitors, the Cave of the Winds walkways are open year-round.
Last October construction began on a new $46 million visitor center that is set to open in the spring of 2023. The new center will have expanded space for peak-time visitors, areas for ticketing, interpretation, dining, and retail. In addition, the center will have museum space, including an immersive experience and exhibits.
A highlight of a visit to Niagara Falls during the spring through fall season is a ride on the Maid of the Mist boats — a ride like no other in the world. Today’s boats are all electric and were placed in service in October, 2020.
President Theodore Roosevelt called the ride “the only way fully to realize the Grandeur of the Great Falls of Niagara.”
It is hard to imagine a more intense experience of the power of the falls than this ride into their base. Anyone from babies in strollers to people in wheelchairs and power chairs can experience this truly breathtaking boat trip. Everyone receives plastic raincoats to take home as a souvenir.
As darkness falls lights of many hues magically transform the cataract. The lights change during the evening and when there is a special holiday or commemoration. There are also frequent nightly fireworks during the summer.
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Buffalo’s Canalside has become a popular family destination and there are some must see attractions that combine history and special experiences for young and old.
The Queen City Bike Ferry begins service Memorial Day and continues until Labor Day transporting people, dogs, and bikes across the river to the Outer Harbor and back. It is the best short ride anywhere and costs $1 each way. For canine passengers, the captain has a supply of Milkbone biscuits that are made a short distance from the ferry landing.
Be sure to stop in the Longshed Building just over the small bridge and next to the Naval Park. Everyone is invited to come in and learn about and get up close views of the monumental building project volunteers with the Buffalo Maritime Center have undertaken to commemorate the bicentennial of the Erie Canal.
The group is building a traditionally built, full-sized reproduction of the Seneca Chief, a canal boat that transported Gov. DeWitt Clinton and other dignitaries for the opening ceremonies that started in Buffalo in October 26, 1825 and continued along the canal ending in New York harbor where water from Lake Erie was mixed with waters from the Atlantic Ocean, called the “Wedding of the Waters.”
The finished boat will be 73 feet long and weigh more than 20 tons and completion is scheduled for the fall of 2023. Once it is completed, it will travel along the canal acting as a host to educational exhibits and as an exhibit itself.
Children are invited to take a turn at a hand powered drill or take a plane to the solid white oak that makes up the keel of the boat. Be sure to go upstairs for a prime view of the construction progress. There are also exhibits and videos about the canal’s history.
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Just a short walk down the boardwalk is the Buffalo Heritage Carousel that opened with a grand celebration last Memorial Day weekend. This vintage park-style menagerie carousel was custom designed and manufactured in 1924 by Spillman Engineering in North Tonawanda for Domenick DeAngelis of Massachusetts.
He operated it until 1954 and then it was owned by his family until it was acquired by Buffalo Heritage Carousel and returned to Buffalo. Once back in North Tonawanda, a few streets away from where it was first built, it was fully restored over five years and hundreds of hours of painstaking labor.
This stunning historic carousel is solar powered and housed in a specially designed roundhouse. A ride costs just $1 and the young and young at heart are delighted to ride this rare carousel at the terminus of the Erie Canal.
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Is there any sweeter aroma than the intensely fragrant lilac? Rochester boasts the largest lilac collection in the United States and the Rochester Lilac Festival is the largest free festival of its kind in North America. The 124th edition will be celebrated May 6-8, 12-15, and 19-22 from 10:30am to 8:30pm.
The festival and lilacs are in the 150-acre Highland Park, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was the dream of George Ellwanger and Patrick Barry, two leading Rochester citizens and prominent nurserymen who gave the community part of their nursery’s land and enlisted the help of landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted to develop the park.
The first lilacs were planted in 1890 and there are now more than 500 varieties on 1,200 plants. Don’t miss the spectacular hand-planted pansy beds with 10,000 plants in a floral carpet design. Each year there is a new design and a must see for visitors. The tulip garden provides a kaleidoscope of brilliant color. There is also a grove of 700 varieties of rhododendrons and azaleas.
The Kids Zone is a family favorite and offers a zipline, bounce houses, rides, and midway games. The Lilac Parade begins at 10:30am on May 7 and features more than 2,500 participants, including 20 marching bands, dancers, costumed characters, and mini cars. Live music is back for this year’s festival and a wide range of free bands and musical entertainment will be playing on Free Center Stage.
Travel Tip of the Month: For Presque Isle State Park go to visiterie.com or call 814-833-7424. For Chautauqua Institution visit chq.org or call 800-836-ARTS.
For Niagara Falls State Park, visit niagarafallsstatepark.com or call 716-278-1794. Visit the Buffalo Maritime Center at buffalomaritimecenter.org or call 716-881-0111. Visit the Buffalo Carousel at buffaloheritagecarousel.org or call 716-493-2110. For the Rochester Lilac Festival go to visitrochester.com or call 800-677-7282.
Deborah Williams is a veteran travel writer who lives in Holland, NY. Her work has appeared in national and international publications and she is the recipient of the Society of American Travel Writers’ Lowell Thomas Gold Travel Writing Award.