Western New York; July 2010
Now this is about as far as you can get from Manhattan and still be in New York! You could call it the opposite of Sex and the City.
After my trip to New York City in June I visited a little-known part of New York State – the Cassadaga Lakes area of Chautauqua County in western New York near the Pennsylvania border. I flew into Buffalo, popped over to see Niagara Falls, and then drove a rental car south-west along Lake Erie. I’ll tell you more about my actual destination another time but in the mean time, I wanted to share this photo from the town of Stockton.
In one of those twists of travel fate, I only actually drove through this town because I had programmed the GPS navigation system incorrectly. It should have taken just over an hour from Buffalo with a straight run along the freeway and then 20 minutes or so on the country roads. Unbeknownst to me, the rental car company’s GPS unit was set to avoid tollways, so for the privilege of saving $1.25, I took a massive three-hour detour through Allegany State Park and past the Cattaraugus Reservation (which I noticed because of the roadside billboard inviting me to gamble in the casino run by the native American tribe). I’m sure I passed through the tiny town of Ellicottville twice!
I noticed this road sign as I approached Stockton in what was to be the final half hour of my journey. Just past the town I did, in fact, pass a family in a Amish buggy. A few days later, I also saw an Amish man in a buggy passing by Cassadaga Lake – apparently they like to come to the lake to fish, though I hear it’s a full day’s outing in a buggy from where most of the community live.
I had no idea I would be seeing Amish on this trip so it felt like serendipity. Since I had never been to this part of the world before, the Amish community was something I had only ever heard about. I hope I don’t sound like a voyeur but I have to admit I got a little thrill out of actually seeing them in real life! While I know their way of life is threatened by many things, I love the fact that such distinctive sub-cultures still exist in today’s world of mass culture and globalisation. I didn’t take a photo since I thought it would be disrespectful (and I was driving anyway) but I did make sure to get one of the sign.
I enjoy unique road signs from around the world. In Australia, road signs warning about kangaroos are plentiful and here in the United States the equivalent is deer. If you get a kick out of unusual road signs as well, check out this previous post where I have photos of a fairy penguin sign from Tasmania and a polar bear sign from Spitsbergen in the high Arctic. (Note the penguin sign is in the regular format, while the polar bear one is more of a danger warning sign).
This is my contribution to Photo Friday, a weekly blogging event run by Debbie of DeliciousBaby. Please check out her lovely photo of Paris’ Notre Dame by night and all the other contributions this week. Or visit my previous Photo Friday posts.
I guess there’s an upside to an extra 3 hours driving then, apart from the $1.25 saving, in getting off the beaten path
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Cool! I’ve been to Chautauqua County…but it has been a long time. I love exploring by road and getting off the beaten path. You get the best surprises too.
soultravelers3´s last [type] ..Camping Europe With Kids Free Kids Clubs
Scott actually has a start-up screen-printing company where they print signs from around the world (that we’ve been collecting via our travels for five years now) onto posters and T-shirts! I’ll give you more info as it takes off since you like that sort of thing =)
I love this sign, though. Funny, I discovered a completely Amish town just an hour from where I grew up–in, of all places, Tennessee–while I was writing my most recent book. I’ve never even been in an Amish community either, so to think there was one so close by to me for so many years…
Camels & Chocolate´s last [type] ..Borneo- Chasing Paradise
That is slightly voyeur haha! it reminds me of a rumour that they were going to put cows in london zoo, because kids in london dont get to see cows! (i think this was only a jokey rumour but all the same)
Haha, too funny! Didn’t know those signs existed.
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