My lighthouse plans for this past weekend were to visit Dunkirk, Buffalo and Fort Niagara.

Saturday started off with a big "dud"...I drove 2 hours to Dunkirk only to find it wasn't open. They advertise hours as 10 - 2 everyday except Wed and Sun. When I called their number, I was told it was closed because of a wedding. I wasn't even able to get pictures because there is a large fence surrounding the grounds that was locked off.
LESSON LEARNED 1: Don't believe published hours of operation...call ahead before driving a long way and make sure.

So I had lunch at the Burger King in Dunkirk and shuffled off to Buffalo. I used the Roberts and Jones Eastern Great Lakes Lighthouses as my direction guide and ended up at a marina across a canal from the lighthouse. I was close enough to get good pictures but on my way out I took a look at Penrose "Guide to 100 Eastern Great Lakes Lighthouses" and found they gave directions to the Coast Guard station which had an open walkway all the way up to the lighthouse. So I drove over and got even better pictures of the brick lighthouse plus the bottle light next to it. The tower was not open to climb last weekend.
LESSON LEARNED 2: Use multiple guides...sometimes the directions are different.

I then drove to catch a glimpse of the South Buffalo Lighthouse which I could see from a distance. The Penrose guide again gave great directions.

I then drove up to Fort Niagara which is actually a very interesting looking structure...almost medieval inappearance. The grounds surrounding it were quite nice and the leaves on some of the trees were actually beginning to turn yellow. While walking around, I had a big suprise in the form of a small white lighthouse with a red light that I could see across the Niagara river in Canada. According to the Penrose book, it was one of the Niagara River Range Lights in Niagara-On-The-Lake Ontario. My family is coming up this weekend and we will be spending the weekend in Niagara Falls Ontario so I will have to drive up and try to get a closer look then.

Now...this may not be lighthouse related, but the biggest surprise of the weekend was a gem by the name of Letchworth State Park. It was recommended by a few people I am working with so I decided to drive down there. I figured I'd drive down, see a waterall, and drive back in an hour...WRONG! I spent about 6 hours there. The road through the park reminded me alot of Skyline Drive with spectacular views of the Genesee river and gorge with parking turnabouts, picnic areas and hiking trails...plus 3 dramatic, beautiful waterfalls! Keep this park in mind if you are ever in the western New York area.

Doc John