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it's about a 7 1/2 hour drive back to nyc so i wanted to take a break or two along the way. maybe even stay overnight somewhere but i have no idea what's along the way. we're a family of 6 and i have 4 teenage boys. wife likes outlet malls (we're ok with that also), and me and boys like sports, amusement parks, and eating. national park/landmark type places are good also. before niagara we're going to philly, hershey park, penn state, and possibly rnr hall of fame. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. mahalo.
Well...if you are taking the Thruway...you'll be going through Rochester (Eastview Mall, Red Wings AAA baseball), then Syracuse (Carousel Center, AAA Chiefs baseball, Dinosaur BBQ), then Chittenango (Chittenango Falls), next Verona (Turning Stone Casino), then Utica (nothing much), followed by Albany (Crossgates Mall), followed by a long ride down the Hudson Valley to New Paltz (awesome college town, Mohonk Mountain House), then Newburgh (Orange County Choppers, Hudson Valley Renegades A baseball, 59 miles N NYC), followed by Monroe/Woodbury (huge outlet known as Woodbury Common), then you can either enter New Jersey (quicker to NYC, cheaper gas, the marvel that is Route 17, and the Garden State Plaza) or you can stay in New York and go through Rockland/Westchester Counties (Palisades Mall, huge)...and by that point you'd be just a few minutes outside of NYC.
Along with the great suggestions above, there's the Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, Sylvan Beach and its amusement park just north of Canastota, the Waterloo outlet mall, Carousel Center in Syracuse, the Herkimer Diamond Mines, Fort Stanwix and Fort Rickey Game Farm in Rome, Darien Lake Amusement Park between Buffalo and Rochester(near Batavia, which has Muckdogs Baseball(Class A)), the Harriet Tubman and Seward Homes/Doubleday's Baseball(Class A) in Auburn, the Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, Seabreeze Amusement Park, Charlotte Beach and Rattlers professional lacrosse in Rochester and Utica has some good eateries(especially Italian fare). That is pretty much a bunch of places along the Thruway in Upstate NY, but I'm not sure which way you are going. There should be some sort of Festival going on in many of the cities up here as well. So, that may be something else to consider.
wow. that's some great info and a lot of alternatives to look into. thanks so much. btw, i googled Thruway (didn't know what that was) and found their site. seems like a round about way and will add about an hour to get to nyc but it looks like the more direct route will be activity challenged. mahalo!
Shopping at anyplace Upstate when your on your way to the city is a waste of time.
The area between Buffalo and Utica is basically fly over country. Starting in Utica the Thruway is actually kinda pretty.
Nice water park in Old Forge. Get off in Utica and take SR 12. Nice drive, takes about an hour. Called Water Safari.
Same area but South of the Thruway, also about an hour drive, is the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Also a crapload of other things to do in that area. If time permited you could take US 20 from Cooperstown to Albany. US 20 is the longest road in America and the parts over that way are very beautiful.
Shopping at anyplace Upstate when your on your way to the city is a waste of time.
The area between Buffalo and Utica is basically fly over country. Starting in Utica the Thruway is actually kinda pretty.
Nice water park in Old Forge. Get off in Utica and take SR 12. Nice drive, takes about an hour. Called Water Safari.
Same area but South of the Thruway, also about an hour drive, is the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Also a crapload of other things to do in that area. If time permited you could take US 20 from Cooperstown to Albany. US 20 is the longest road in America and the parts over that way are very beautiful.
This doesn't make any sense whatsoever and I gave plenty of examples within that area. So, did Dreamshot. Oswego may be another place to look into with Fort Ontario there. Great sunsets over Lake Ontario too.
This isn't a peeing for distance contest. I stated I don't like that area and told what I consider some good choices in Eastern NY.
He'll make his own choices independent of us.
Fair enough, but to say Fly over country doesn't make sense given that the part of Upstate questioned has more people and offerings that fits what the OP is looking for. It wasn't about any kind of contest and many of the things he is looking for aren't too far from the Thruway. You can give suggestions without putting another area, place or thing down.
So could Dreamshot but my doing it bothered you. Curious thing that.
OP, I am sorry. We get this way sometimes. Basic information can still be gleaned from the chaff.
Dreamshot just gave information without being negative or making it about something else that could hijack the thread. That is the difference.
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