Road Trip... (Buffalo, Tonawanda, Kenmore: houses, neighborhood, to live in)

[mycrows]

Originally Posted by truemuck

1. The fastest is taking 81 up to the Thruway

Not sure about that, I actually think 390 to 20a to 400 is quicker because it's just so much shorter. But it's close.

2. The route taking 20A is definitely the more scenic of the 2.

Agreed, I hate the thruway.

3. Geneseo and Warsaw are very quaint little towns

Yeah. Except with that route he wouldn't really go through Geneseo unless he went out of the way. Quicker to go directly from Mt Morris to Leicester (or bypass Leicester with County Rt 64--showing my livingston county roots here).

4. Pretty flat and boring, you wouldn't be missing much

Actually 20a is VERY hilly. Up and down the whole way between Mt Morris and Wales. I haven't been down that road in awhile but I used to enjoy it a lot (provided the weather is good).

[cjma79]

Originally Posted by mycrows

Yeah. Except with that route he wouldn't really go through Geneseo unless he went out of the way.

No I wont see Geneseo. I got off before.

Quicker to go directly from Mt Morris to Leicester (or bypass Leicester with County Rt 64--showing my livingston county roots here).

I see the Rt you are talking about, Perry Rd. If I do take that one I wont even see Leicester.

Actually 20a is VERY hilly. Up and down the whole way between Mt Morris and Wales. I haven't been down that road in awhile but I used to enjoy it a lot (provided the weather is good).

Great

Any body knows where to eat in any of these places:
Leicester, Mt. Morris, Sucker Brook, Warsaw, Persons Corners, Harris Corners, Wales Hollow, East Aurora, East Elma, VarysBurg, Halls Corner?

[mycrows]

Originally Posted by cjma79

I see the Rt you are talking about, Perry Rd. If I do take that one I wont even see Leicester.

Yeah, I know, you'll probably want to see Leicester. To me, though, it's basically just a four corners with a gas station, a park and some small business. Up the road a bit to the east of Leicester, however, is Cuylerville which used to be an important Seneca Indian settlement (named Little Beard's Town). I think Mary Jemison lived there at one point (is Mary Jemison well-known outside of WNY?) so that might be a place to drive through.

Speaking of Mary Jemison, you should definitely try to stop at Letchworth State Park nearby Mt Morris. She was buried there and there's lots of information about her, a statue, her cabin, etc. You can enter the park right off Rt 36 in Mt Morris. They also have 3 waterfalls and an amazing gorge with a massive railroad bridge over it. Great view from up there. These kind of gorges are common in Livingston county, there's another striking one in Stony Brook State Park in Dansville and several that I know of on private property in the area.

Great

Any body knows where to eat in any of these places:
Leicester, Mt. Morris, Sucker Brook, Warsaw, Persons Corners, Harris Corners, Wales Hollow, East Aurora, East Elma, VarysBurg, Halls Corner?

Honestly I don't want to dismiss the whole area but if you're looking for a nice place to eat you might be better off going through Syracuse/Rochester, etc. If anyone else has input about this they should definitely post it. But here's what I think about restaurants in the area:

Jim's Diner is Wayland is all right. Geneseo and Warsaw each have a pretty good pizza place. Mama Mia's in Geneseo is surprisingly good and probably better than any Buffalo pizza place for NY Style. But, being from New York, they probably aren't going to impress you much. Geneseo also has a place called the Omega grill that is all right.

Piffard has the "Yard of Ale" which is considered very upscale in the area but isn't really all that great, and you probably won't want to drive very far after you order the Yard of Yuengling.

Dansville has the Gaslight Grill which is also considered very upscale by locals but is awful. Alternatively in Dansville there's the Java Jungle, which is a pretty decent small cafe/diner. If you want to soak in the local flavor go to the Truck Stop (Buckhorn restaurant) off the second Dansville 390 exit or the Big Sky (over behind the big factory) but the food is nothing to write home about in either place.

You'll see in the village of Mt Morris (if you go through there) right off Rt 36/Main St a big sign advertising "Famous Tripe." If you're more adventurous than me, maybe you'll want to try that one out. There's also a little diner on the south side of Mt Morris that looks like it's pretty good. Brian's USA Diner on the north side of Mt Morris (you can't miss it) is not worth a visit in my opinion.

Other than that you've got pretty slim pickings until the Buffalo area. Varysburg has a diner (called Durfee's I think) which I've never eaten at and a biker bar/restaurant/hotel thing that I also don't know anything about. East Aurora has a GREAT restaurant called Tantalus. But if you're already in EA you might as well go into Buffalo to eat, I think. There are a lot of great choices in the city.

[coldwynn]

Originally Posted by mycrows

Speaking of Mary Jemison, you should definitely try to stop at Letchworth State Park nearby Mt Morris. She was buried there and there's lots of information about her, a statue, her cabin, etc. You can enter the park right off Rt 36 in Mt Morris. They also have 3 waterfalls and an amazing gorge with a massive railroad bridge over it. Great view from up there.

If you can make it to Letchworth State Park - and you really should make an effort to make it part of your trip - then maybe the Glen Iris Inn is a good place for an upscale lunch.

Glen Iris Inn

It's a bit pricey, but it would make for a nice place to shake of the dust of the trip. And the big waterfall is right there.

[Krisps]

Yep, Letchworth is a must see.

If you take I86 to 390, consider taking rt. 21 up through Naples and along the southern part of Canandaigua lake, beautiful area, lots of vineyards. You could then hop on 20A from 64. On 20A, you'll pass right by the only 2 undeveloped finger lakes, Hemlock and Canadice.

I also second Tom Wahls in Avon for a burger and root beer.

[coldwynn]

If you are going by Canandaigua, their main street has some nice choices of eating places - I like:

Simply Crepes: Home

[BuffaloTransplant]

Originally Posted by cjma79

Hi everybody,
I am driving to Buffalo from NYC.
From what I can see and from what maps.google.com tells me, it gives me 2 ways to get their.

Both of tell me to take I-80, I-380 then I-81, but then in Binghamton it changes.
One way it is keep going North on I-81 untill Syracuse then take I-90 all the way to Buffalo.
The other way is in Binghamton change to I-86, I-390 take exit Geneseo Rd/ Geneseo Mount Morris Rd to take US-20A

What do you people think,
Question.
1. The fastest?
2. Best for Road Trip
3. Is there anything to see on US-20A?
4. Is there anything to see on I-90 or is like I-95 from Florida to NY, nothing to see?
5. What other way besides these two options would you advise for a roadtrip?

We do this often, but not from the Jesey side where you will start. We get on 17 and go to Elmira and up the west side of the lake to Geneva to Rt. 20. Alternately, you could do the Mt. Morris to 20A route. They are both scenic. I hate the Thruway ( I-90)... you could die from boredom.


Try Mapquest. Start at Staten Island and end at Rt. 20 and Transit Rd. It will bring you up thru the Geneseo area. Letchworth is fabulous, but at this time of year, very wet. Personally, I like going to Geneva and up; to get that, just use the add a place and go from Staten Island to Geneva and Geneva to Buffalo.

[UpstaterInBklyn]

Because I'm from Buffalo and live in NYC, I've done the Buffalo-NYC drive many times going back to visit family.

Even though the mapping sites and lots of people say to take the I-80/I-380/I-81 route, I've found just going via the NYS Thruway all the way to be the fastest route, but only slightly so. I prefer it because it is the flattest. Any other route is 100% hills, and my 4-cylinder Hyundai Santa Fe struggles up the steep hills. I also appreciate the fact that there is a service area every 30 minutes, which really helps because we usually have our dog in the car on these trips.

However, the Thruway route is exceptionally boring, especially past Albany in I-90 so if you are looking for a more interesting or scenic drive, then the southern route is better for that.

I've also taken the Route 17 route through the Catskills and the hills are pretty, but there is still a section where it is a regular road an you have to drive through a few towns. That will slow you down a bit. If you want a nice scenic drive for the early part of your trip, take the Palisades Pkwy up through Bear Mountain State Park, then exit at Route 6 and head west across the park to Harriman, then you'll be on Route 17. We missed our exit from the Palisades to the Thruway once and were treated with this scenic route

[cjma79]

Ok, thanks everyone just to let u know I am already here(Buffalo).
So now I am a planning the return trip.

[cjma79]

Hey., I have a question.
I was walking around Children's Hospital around Bryant st, Hodge Ave, Delaware ave, just around the hospital, the question is, is it safe? Is it a safe area? I mean I saw some really big houses but at the same time I did feel that safe.