So I came up to see my friend Tree and her baby, Bryanna, after work (I didn't get up here until 2AM)...I picked up a outfit for her daugther in Punxy on groundhogs day for half off that I wanted to give to her...Yay.  I make it up there with wonderful weather...in Pittsburgh there wasn't any snow...and in Erie there was some but not alot and the sky was clear.

But anyways, the next morning I went to go to target and some shops on Peach Street...you know they are such quality.  I went outside and stepped in the snow...figuring my feet would go into it about 3 inches like the night before...nope...I sunk in up above my KNEES!!!!  I went to my car and went into reverse...I couldn't move.  Well, I could but only about a foot or two...then my tires just spun and spun.  So, I went forward and tried to back up again...I got a little farther this time but spun and spun again!  After a couple more times of doing this I went back in and told Tree about the issue...well, let's just say, she had to go to work in 4 hours...so we did what any self respecting Erie native would do...we picked up our shovels and started to dig outselves out of the parking lot...well, we had to shovel the whole parking lot to get out.

  In the process we called the landlord to complain about snow not being plowed out and that the snow plower actually plowed in the parking lot...what did he think...no one had to go to work.  So when we're half way done with the shoveling a plow truck came and we waved him down...he said that he was there to help out a car who needed dug out...he said he couldn't help us out...So I called the landlord this time and she said that there was a truck there.  I said that we see him and we talked to him but he said he was there for a stuck car...she then proceeded to tell me (quite rudely) that our cars are our responsibility not theirs.  I then stated that i agree they should be but we have a whole parking lot that needs plowed so we can get our car out...so Tree then went up and asked the guy to help out...he plowed half of it so the tenants could go to work...needless to say I could not go to my shopping experience to my quality shops on Peach and since the child care was shut that day and I couldn't get out because of all the snow I baby sat for one more day!!!

I know I shouldn't have gotten rid of that shovel I used to keep in my car in college...I'll have to remember to bring it next time I come up.

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So my friend Seth, from New York City, left last month to go embark on being a lighting artist for the Musical Aida, and Elton John and Tim Rice piece.  I told him that I'd come up to Erie or where ever was closest to see the show and take him out.  The best day for me to go was when it was in Erie... of all places.  I was surprised that it wasn't in any larger cities... but oh well, it was a 2 hour drive and the seats at the Warner Theater for good ones are a lot better than what I get in Pittsburgh Theaters for the same seats!

So I finished up with work, took a change of clothes and speed my way up to Erie... because my friend Ronnie, who is Seths roomie in NYC, went to college for me and always told him about these chicken fingers and fries and how good they were... so I had to go stop there and wait the 20 minutes for the food to get made.  I just hope that it lasts throughout the musical.  I get up to the theater and since I worked all day, drove 2 hours and stopped 20 minutes for food I had to pee... so I stopped off at the bathroom... which was really crowded and the only one in the Warner Theater! But it was wierd because while I was in line I saw an old friend Mary Beth... who I think is following me when I go up to Erie.  I saw her at outback, John's Pizzeria, the mall, now here... so every time.  It's strange. 

But I get out of the restroom just in time to get seated and watch the show.  It was good... the stage setting was all done in Light and not much props which was awesome.  I'm a sucker for nice pretty colors! 

The show was over and I waited in the lobby for Seth for like an hour and a half for him to finish cleaning up.  I then get a text telling me to meet him out back... which is good because that's where my car is and his food is... good thing it's cold outside!  Well, I give Seth the fingers and fries and he tests one out... amazed at how well the food tastes!  I ask him what he wants to do and he said there's a bar down the road called Molly Brannigans that he wants to go to... Oh man... he asked if that was a problem and I told him we just have to walk slow because my feet are killing me!  This is the one thing I was excited about; the fact I got to wear my new shoes... they matched perfectly with my outfit... but after standing around for an hour and a half my feet were killing me!  They are the most uncomfortable shoes ever!

But we head over to the bar and Seth orders and asks what I want... I asked what he got and he told me a Schmidwicks--- he loves Irish Beers.  I told him I'd have one too.  We caught up on his life without his girlfriend, his life on the road, how he liked the play and what I was up to.  We finished our first round and he got us another.  We didn't stay that long and let me just tell you darker beers go down differently than the light crap I was used to drinking... Which it's sad that I figured that out then.  Because I was fine at the bar and on the initial drive to the other part of Erie to crash at my friend Tree's house.  Because when I got there I felt buzzed and I probably shouldn't have been driving. 

By the way, I talked to Seth later in the week and he told me  that he ate the fingers and fries the next morning for breakfast and they were absolutely delicious cold for breakfast... he's never had wings that were!

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When I went to college I only knew of the clubby type bars, which they weren't that awesome and mostly boring. I never knew about Molly Brannigans. It's a nice spacious bar/restaurant... though I didn't eat there. Their furniture is all hand crafted in Ireland to give it that authentic touch! The staff is friendly and it's a good place to just kick back, relax and enjoy your time with your friends! There are a couple Molly Brannigans in Pennsylvania (in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Scranton) and there's also one in Cleveland, Mesa and Vegas! Stop by one and enjoy a cozy atmosphere!

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So we get back down to Pittsburgh around 7ish at night and Theresa's daughter, Bryanna, wants some ice cream.  So we stop at Bruster's Ice cream on Peach Street, right off of I-90.  Once there I realized why I didn't go to Bruster's, because they didn't have chocolate ice cream--only turtle and I don't like nuts too much.  So I take forever to order and try lot's of sample... I almost couldn't eat the ice cream I ordered which ended up being a sunday with cake batter (my favorite Turkey Hill ice cream is party cake so I thought it might be similar) and I got lot's of toppings on it!  Since I was so picky that brought up a funny story that Kristi just had to share with Tree of when we were in college. 

See there's a TGI Fridays directly across the parking lot from Brusters... well, at Friday's the waiter asked if we wanted dessert... I said no because they only have vanilla ice cream and vanilla cake (this was before they got the delicious chocolate cake and cinnabon cake they have now).  He told me, just like everyone else does, to put chocolate syrup on vanilla ice cream to make it taste like chocolate.  I told him that was rediculous and if he wanted me to have dessert so much then he should go over to Brusters to get me ice cream there (good thing he didn't because they don't have chocolate---of course I seem to remember them having it at one time)...

As you can tell by the title we got a flavor called purple dinosaur (which is really vanilla with purple food coloring) for Bryanna... they are free with the purchase of adult ice cream!  And poor Tree has to get Bryanna cleaned up because of the purple coloring... I think that her clothes are stained for life... but atleast she's a 2 year old and will grow out of it fast!

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    Erie is the largest city near to my town so I figured I'd post a blog to show off a little of what it has. From Wikipedia:

Erie is a major industrial city on the shore of Lake Erie in the northwestern corner of the state of Pennsylvania. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city with a population of 104,000. Erie's Metropolitan Area consists of 281,000 residents. The city is the seat of government for Erie County.

Erie is in proximity to Cleveland, Ohio; Buffalo, New York; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Once teeming with heavy industry, Erie's heavy manufacturing sector now consists mainly of plastics and locomotive building. Known for its lake effect snow, Erie is in the heart of the rust belt and has begun to focus on tourism as a driving force in its economy. More than four million people each year visit Presque Isle State Park, for water recreation, and a new casino named for the state park is growing in popularity.

Erie is known as the Flagship City because of the presence of Oliver Hazard Perry's flagship Niagara. Erie has also been called the Gem City because of the sparkling lake.

Erie is also home to some smaller amusement parks like Waldameer (http://www.waldameer.com/) and an indoor water park called Splash Lagoon(www.splashlagoon.com), the Presque Isle Downs Casino and Racetrack (http://www.pidowns.com/) and the Tom Ridge Environmental Center (www.trecpi.org). And You can find more on www.visiteriepa.com. :)

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All of us wanted to see Lake Erie, so we checked out and took the short ride back down to the place we ate dinner the night before.  The day was crystal clear and the lake was beautiful.  Actually, it looked more like an ocean than a lake.    Lake Erie is one of the smaller of the Great Lakes, but it is still a vast and impressive body of water.  We strolled around the harbor area, enjoying the warm sun and cool breeze. 

Unfortunately, one of the drawbacks of cramming so much to see into a structured time-frame is not enough time for leisurely sight seeing.  We knew we had to cover miles today and that Niagara Falls was within our reach.  We would be riding right along the shoreline as we made our way into New York State.  How could a place called "Manhattan" be on the same planet with this beautiful countryside much less the same State??  Grape vinyards were plentiful and we could actually smell the vermenting grapes as they were being made into wine.  

We were certainly blessed with a beautiful day and every one of us were enjoying the ride.  The warm sun on our back and the cool breeze in our face.  There is absolutely no other way to travel.  So much is missed inside of an automobile or an airplane. 

Historical Dunkirk Lighthouse was one of our planned stops.   Somebody didn't do their homework.  Could it be me??  The lighthouse is closed on Sundays!  Oh, well.  We did stop and stretch our legs.  Fortunately, the fence was situated so that we were able to get some good pictures through the bars, but we got to save our price of admission on this particular day.

The historical town of Fredonia was just a thirty minute drive from Dunkirk, so we decided to take a look-see.  The White Inn was serving lunch, so we took a seat on the large covered front porch and enjoyed their good food and hospitality.   

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One of my favorite places to go to dinner when I head up to Erie is Aoyama hibachi steak house. I've been to a couple other hibachi restaurants in western PA and dispite my dislike for Erie I find this to be the best Hibachi Steak house I've been to! The ambiance is very nice with an oriental flare and they actually have a water wall fall in the dinning area...the restaurant used to be a Chi Chi's until it went out of business...and they turned it into a steak house. But the staff is really nice and the hibachi chef's are the best around. they are very entertaining with how they interact with the crowd. As they cook they are constantly talking to the customers (us) and keeping us involved with what they were doing. If they notice you not paying attention or enjoying the entertainment they get you involved by flipping shrimp pieces into your mouths as you try and catch it and your friends laugh. They also do the onion volcano the best around! This was my friends baby's favorite aspect of dinner! She was totally mesmarized! The food is absolutely amazing too. the ginger glaze is delicious and the steak, chicken, salmon and shrimp are all recommended. The steak is cooked perfectly that it melts in your mouth. The chicken is very moist and you will savor each bite. And the shrimp and it's shrimp sauce is absolutely amazing! Another aspect I like about Aoyama in Erie is that the menu about $5 cheaper than all the hibachi resaurants in Pittsburgh for the same thing! since it's not letting me put in directions... if anybody is interested in going it's behind Mill Creek Mall on Peach Street!

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Where I ate Subway.

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Hi, Just a quick note at this time to let you know we left DE Monday and are on the road to MI.  We have been weaving our way up to Lake Erie thru the rain storms for the past 3 days.  We have not encountered any flooding of the roadways but have seen very high river levels.  More later.

Con

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Hi, Just a quick note at this time to let you know we left DE Monday and are on the road to MI.  We have been weaving our way up to Lake Erie thru the rain storms for the past 3 days.  We have not encountered any flooding of the roadways but have seen very high river levels.  More later.

Con

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