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| Welcome To Griffis Sculpture Park |
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| 7:15 |
It's another foggy morning and I cannot see beyond our dock, Long Point hidden by gray nothingness. It makes me want to get out on the water and kayk in the grayness but I am too comfortable inside, a lazy guy.
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| Spectacular Kayak Morning |
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| Sitting Ducks |
We started yesterday we another paddle on the lake, a beautiful morning, lots of puffy clouds, blue skies and waters, so different from Tuesday's grays. We paddled along Long Point Bay, rousting the ducks from the lakes edge as we went by, though a number of brave ones could have cared less that we were there. We were out for an hour before coming home. We were going to get some things done inside but put those plans on hold because it was so warm and sunny out. Evie quickly got on her suit, gathered up her book and IPad and went out on the dock. Unfortunately, our dock guys texted to say they wanted to bring in our dock. We talked with them, tried to convince them to wait another week because the weather was so nice but they seemed adamant. So I spent an hour getting the dock and yard ready for our dock, just busy work, nothing too strenuous. They, fortunately, were not able to get to our dock yesterday afternoon, so we will keep it in till mid week. Evie's happy.
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| Colors Of Fall |
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| Overview From Griffis Park |
Lunch was the same as the day before, meat loaf sandwiches and soup, what else, and we took it easy, Evie enjoying the dock until 1:30 when we both came in and showered because we were driving to the Ellicottville area, leaving at 2:30 with the McClures.
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| Gift Shop? |
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| Entrance To Woods/Parklands |
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| Evie and Me |
The highlight of yesterday was our hiking of the 425 acre Griffis Sculpture Park, the first part of its kind in the US, founded in 1966 by scultptor Larry Griffis. He placed 15 of his 25 foot steel and welded sculptures to begin it but it now has works by over a hundred artists. The many sculptures are cast in bronze, aluminum, welded steel and wood and are arranged in twelve groups based on theme, like over sized insects, animals and nudes, both male and female. The park also has ten miles of trails. It has valleys, woods, lakes and open spaces, all festooned with scultpures. In fact, when walking in the woods, we had to look closely or we might have missed a scultpure.
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| Grove Of Amazons |
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| Amazon Posing |
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| Amazon Reclining |
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| Amazon Standing |
We were awed by the grounds, the size, the serendipty of the various artifacts and wondered why it had taken us so long to visit this park. We vowed to go back every year, about this time, but bring a lunch or dinner because its such a beautiful site, one that demands many visits. And during this time of the year, it has a dozen nights where much of the park is lit up by Night Lights and visitors walk the park at night, trails illuminated by special lighting.
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| Wooden Wall |
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| Bathers |
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| Bather Poised |
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| Praying Mantis |
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| Meadows |
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| Griffis Park Live |
It took us just over an hour to get to the park from our house, an easy and beautiful drive through the Allegehy hills and valleys, the trees, a kaleiscope of colors, golds, reds, yellows and bronze, as beautiful as any of the forests in the East. It made me wonder why all the leaf peepers go East when we have this area.
After our visit, we drove to Ellicottville, about 20 minutes away and walked the streets, checking out restaurants before settling on The Gin Mill, what looked like one of the older bars/restaurants in town. It was a good choice, great burgers and fries, lots of beers on tap, a window seat and an increasingly crowded dining room. Their special burger, the Gin Mill, was exceptional, with bacon and onion rings. We would definitely go back. We head back to the lake around 6:45, and the ride was spectacular, the setting sun, the colors, the hills and valleys. By the time we crossed the bridge, the sun had set and darkness enveloped the lake, only the lights of Bemus twinkling.
We watched the first episode of Homeland, some baseball, before going up to bed, the end of another great day.
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