I Stop and Smell the Grapes

Vineyards along Lake Erie.

It’s another crisp, cool morning as I head out onto SR 5. I cycle by a montage of businesses and houses. All is quiet as I go by St. Benedict Monastery. Vineyards surround me on both sides and fill the air with the scent of Concord grapes. I wish I had “click and sniff” technology on my blog so I could share the fragrance. A produce stand grabs my attention with its sign for “goat milk fudge”.

I climb a hill and at the top see Lake Erie in the distance. It has turned into a blustery day with gray clouds ahead. A vineyard warehouse stacked with crates waits for harvest time. At mile 15, I arrive in New York our twelfth and final state. Western New York is where I grew up and went to college. It is where I have family, friends and fond memories.

The first New York town I enter is Ripley. I am riding on US 5 or Bicycle Road 517. I pass by Sparkling Ponds Winery, and then a golf course where people are teed off, and puttering around. I pass a Bills flag and realize we are in Buffalo Bill’s football country. I’m once again cycling by vineyards on my right and left and smelling what could only be described as Welch’s grape jelly.  

I arrive in Barcelona Harbor in Westfield and photograph the Barcelona Light House. A red, white and blue derelict boat sits in the harbor waiting for my next shot. Westfield is the Grape Juice Capital of the World. After Dr. Charles Welch popularized the consumption of pasteurized grape juice from concord grapes, in 1897 he built the world’s first large grape juice plant in Westfield, NY.

When I arrive in Dunkirk, I pass by a country club. There I see a beautiful, immaculately trimmed Weeping Willow tree standing in one of the fairways. They must have used a gigantic bowl. Overall, it’s been a grape day!

God Bless,

Kathy  

Psalm 106:1

Kathy is welcomed to New York.

Vineyards bordered on the sides by goldenrod.

A derelict boat in Barcelona Harbor.

Vineyards along New York SR 5.

An immaculately trimmed Weeping Willow tree.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 12th, 2010 at 8:33 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.