Where Went The Beautiful Morning? (Evangola State Park Hike)

7:40

5:15 PM

 Both Evie and I are up at 6:30 for some reason, still dark outside and when I went out to  check for the paper, it was wet from rain and warmer than I expected, 48º.  Rain is forecast on and off for the day, the temperatures getting in to the 50's.   A good day to make a stew,  let it cook all afternoon in the oven, and watch football, read, or take a nap.  Maybe walk the CI if we can find a break from the rain but that's about it for physical activity.

Since yesterday was so beautiful, we decided to take an excursion to the Evangola State Park, exactly 48 miles from our home, an easy ride, closer than I thought.  We got off at the Silver Creek exit and, unfortunately, stopped at the Largest Country Western Store on the East Coast, bought too much stuff we liked but did not need.  The only thing we passed up, a large sign that said WHOA, I wanted.  If you raised horses, this was the store for you as they had just about everything a cowboy or rider might need.  I have become a Carhartt aficionado (made in Pakistan), picked up a nice heavy flannel shirt and Evie bought a heavy zippered, hooded sweat shirt, stylish but warm.  We be cool.

Enjoying The Great Day

Angola Shale Cliff

Evangola State Park Beach

We spent a couple of hours walking  the Evangola State Park, though we could not find an actual trail.  It is an amazing place, much larger than I thought, over 700 acres abutting Lake Erie. There are two entrances, one to the camping area, one to the park.  We went first to the camping area, parked near the Nature Center, an educational center for students I suppose, then walked the perimeter of the park along the edge Lake Erie.  Most if not all is fenced off, to keep people from climbing or falling off the cliffs, the Angola shale, though people obviously have disregarded the fences in some areas, and bent it down.  People! We were amazed at the Pavilions for visitors, the facilities for campers, especially the beach with a huge pavilion, like something on Coney Island, with a large break wall to protect it from Lake Erie. We eventually were able to get down to the water, at the far eastern end of the park and walk along a vast sandy and rock strewn beach, one of the nicest I have seen on Lake Erie, reminding me of the beaches on Presque Isle, PA.  There are obviously trails around the park, though we did not find them, and there were maps for snowmobiles, so it obviously has cleared paths.  Winter attracts many to see the ice volcanoes which seem part of this section of Lake Erie.  We definitely will be back in the winter to cross country ski, to see the ice volcanoes, and the summer, just to see how busy the beach and other areas become on a warm July day.  We only wish trails were marked more clearly.

Dunkirk Harbor from Demetri's Greek Restaurant

Dunkirk Power Station Dominates The Harbor

From Evangola, we took Old Lake Shore Road west to Dunkirk, which was interesting and fun, stopping at the Dunkirk harbor for lunch at a Greek Restaurant called Demetri's.  It's a large place, two floors, overlooking the harbor with an outdoor patio for the warm months.  Mostly empty, we were able to get a booth with a view, ordered a pita platter with three dips and lentil soup, more than enough. It would be fun to come here both in the winter, in late afternoon to enjoy the view, the setting sun, cosy and warm inside, or in the summer, to sit out on the patio to watch the sun set over the Power Station, the most prominent building on west edge of the Harbor.  After lunch, we continued along the lake road and stopped at Lake Erie State Park, another large park we have never visited, not as big as Evangola, but also set on the shores of Lake Erie, three quarters of mile of it.  A couple of large structures dominate the park, making us think it must have been an estate at one time but we could not find any information about it on Google.  There is also camping here, and it has a great beach as well. We then continued on to Westfield, then headed home, stopping at Tops to pick up a few things.

Lake Erie State Park Beach

We didn't get home till about 3:30 and it was already starting to get dark, probably because it was clouding up.  But it was warm enough for a water skier, who seemed to be enjoying the late afternoon on the lake.  Around 4:30, Evie prepped our pork schnitzel dinner, and we were able to enjoy a glass of wine and some hummus and watch the sunset, the full moon rise over Long Point, an amazingly globe, like a huge orange watermelon.  We devoured the pork schnitzel, rice, and kale and spinach mix.  The schnitzel reminded both of us of our lives in Istanbul because this was one of our favorite dinners, a nice, thin breaded cutlet with a slab of butter and lemon.  Yum.  We watched a mediocre movie called Promised Land, about the evil natural gas companies attempts to buy fracking rights from the local, needy farmers.  It had a high powered cast, Matt Damon, John Grasinski, and Frances Mc Dormand but was predictable and uninteresting, both the story and the characters.  I was happy to get back to my book.

Water Skiing Madness

It looks like a good day...Evie's in the kitchen early, making a banana cream pie for later and she pulled some scallops (much better than a stew) out of the freezer for dinner.  WHOA!