09/28 to 10/03 Hickory Ridge Campground

Hickory Ridge Campground

September 28 to October 03

Yup, straight as the crow flies.

Our small group of four (Me, Jack, Dan/Melanie and Tony/Doreen) were clumped together occupying sites 5 (Jack), 6 (Charlie), 7 (Dan/Mel) and 8 (Tony/Doreen). As I've been here just last June, I'll refer interested readers to reminisce the 3-part blog which included my trip to Niagara Falls and the beginning of my 9-state trek to complete my US map. I traveled with Dan/Melanie as far as North Dakota. That link is HERE. My focus will be our 4-night stay this year.

Our first night dining was in Spencerville, at McColley's Irish Pub. A good menu, extensive tap selections and our most pleasant server, Arabella made for an enjoyable evening.

Their attention to detail becomes quite apparent upon entering this dark pub with its maze of corridors  that bring you to cozy side booths and rooms.  

Opened in 2013, the pub was founded by Matt Brooks. He had been running a building business and decided to convert part of an old creamery in Spencerport into this Irish pub. “McColley” is the maiden name of Matt Brooks’s mother.

We chose the 'quiet room', the "Guinness-branded dart room" past the front dining area.  L. to R: Kathy, Ray, Tony, Doreen and Jack.

MCCOLLEY'S SHEPHERD PIE “COTTAGE PIE”: Beef cooked low and slow with Guinness, onions, carrots, sweet corn and peas. Topped with our colcannon (cabbage and mashed potatoes) and served with a side of vegetables. A bit too much ground beef for me but it was tasty. It didn't make it into my top 3 best Cottage Pies. Shepard's Pie is made with lamb.

My side was, yes, roasted Brussel sprouts. That's it for 2025.

Fortunately, with Ray/Kathy so close, they invited us for dinner the next night. Mel/Dan and Jack got the tour and Kathy once again provided. That night, it was home made pizza and homemade ice cream. 

From the canal looking west toward the house.

The perfect host/hostess, everything as usual, from scratch.

Cheese

Meat (and I missed the veggie pizza.) Something for everybody.

Home made ice cream.

With perfect autumn weather, we traveled 37 miles to Locksport, NY for the Erie Canal Sightseeing Cruise. It was a crisp chilly day but sitting top deck, the sun provided warmth for the 90-minute tour narrated by Captain Rogers. Thank you, Jack for the Blooey Marys. This was my third voyage with Ray and Kathy, second through Locks 34 and 35. Details of the canal and the trip are HERE for the interested.

Our tour boat approaches with school children with Captain Rodgers at the wheel.

Lock 34 filling with water (pumped) that will bring us up 25', through Lock 35 for another 25' and then on our way before turning around and repeating the process to "step down" (gravity) to the level for the return trip home. The "slime line" gives the perspective of how high we will rise at the rate of 5 million gallons of water in a 5-10 minute span of time.

Read about the famous "Upside Down Bridge" over the Erie Canal.

On our tour, we traveled just a few miles of the 363 miles. As you viewed both sides of the 40' wide canal, you learn that over 80% of the original canal was excavated by hand — using shovels, pickaxes, and wheelbarrows by immigrant laborers, mostly Irish and German. In that 363 miles boats travel about 568 feet uphill from the Hudson River to Lake Erie — roughly the height of a 50-story building. That engineering feat in the mid 1800's was amazing. The beginnings of the canal was in Rome, New York, the geographic center of New York State. Crews began digging there with half digging eastward toward the Hudson, the other half digging west toward Lake Erie. It cost about $7 million to build but paid for itself within 10 years through toll revenues. This year marks the 200th anniversary of its existence.

And for our last supper together in Holley, we dined at Cappalletti's, an upscale Italian restaurant inside the Chateau at Heritage Square, a 55+ complex serving breakfast, lunch and dinner and open to the public. 

L to R: Dan, Tony, Jack, Ray, Kathy, Doreen, Mel.

I enjoyed the homemade cannelloni filled with spinach and house-made ricotta, topped with red sauce and sharp parmesan cheese. I took home their home made potato gnocchi with red sauce for future meals.

And just like that, another week slips by but not unnoticed. With our group, there's always something to do, somewhere to go and something to eat along with time taken to relax around the campfire and its warmth. We will pack up and take off for a  ±5-hour trip to Lake George, my last get-together for the Summer Season. I hope to see your there.

The world feels smaller now, not because I’ve seen so much of it, but because I feel at home in more of it.