Homeward Bound – Tryg Travels

We left Graniteville, VT, spent 3 nights in upstate New York, then started to travel along the southern end of the Great Lakes, with stops in Erie, PA, Michigan City, IN, and Milton, WI.

Having spent nowhere near enough time in Vermont, we continued the journey home with promises to return. We spent two nights near Cooperstown, NY, home of baseball’s Hall of Fame. We then connected with our ultimate route home, Interstate 90, with a side trip stop in Conesus Lake, NY. After a quick overnight in Erie Pennsylvania, we spent two nights near the Indiana Dunes National Park.

Doubleday Field, Cooperstown, NY – Built to honor Abner Doubleday the ball park has been in use since the 1920’s, and hosted the baseball Hall of Fame game for over 60 years.

Hyde Hall, near Springfield Center, NY – Built from 1817 to 1834, Hyde Hall was commissioned by a wealthy English landowner who inherited his fortune (and thousands of acres in New York state) from his grandfather, who held several government positions for the Crown during the colonial era

Hyde Hall, near Springfield Center, NY – The elegant formal dining room of Hyde Hall. Our tour guide had some great information about the unique vapor chandeliers and the haunted painting of Jenny. Also an example of how far Julie and I were willing to go to avoid the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Hyde Hall Bridge, Glimmerglass State Park, East Springfield, NY – Built in 1825, this bridge is thought to be one the oldest surviving wooden covered bridge in America.

Cardiff Giant, Cooperstown, NY – Now on display at a living farm museum in Cooperstown, this monolith was a spectacular hoax in its time. Another great find from Atlas Obscura… https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cardiff-giant

Middle Falls, Letchworth State Park, NY – The middle of 3 large falls on the Genessee River near Rochester New York.

Upper Falls, Letchworth State Park, NY – The upper falls lie below a railway suspension bridge spanning the Portage Canyon

Dune Succession Trail, Indiana Dunes National Park, IN – Within a mile, this trail shows the stages of dune development, from the sandy beach to the forest that has risen from the sand.

West Beach, Indiana Dunes National Park, IN

Indiana Dunes State Park, IN – Indiana Dunes State Park challenges you to the 3 Dune Challenge… climb the three tallest sand dunes in the park: Mt. Tom (192 ft), Mt. Holden (184 ft) and Mt. Jackson (176 ft). It was a pretty good workout to climb up sand. Coming down each dune was fun though… your heels dig and slide into the sand.

The Bronze Fonz, Milwaukee, WI – Located on the Milwaukee river walk, the life size statue honors the hit television show “Happy Days”.

Pabst Mansion, MIlwaukee, WI – The grand mansion was built in 1892 for the founder of the Pabst Brewing company, Captain Fredrick Pabst. It was constructed with all the latest technology, including 10 bathrooms and a central heating system with 16 thermostats! Luckily the mansion was saved from destruction in the 1970’s and is now a museum.

Old Pabst Brewery, Milwaukee, WI – We thought it only appropriate to have a PBR in Milwaukee, so we stopped in at the Best Place in the Historic Pabst Brewery. Pabst is no longer brewed here, the company contracts its beer production through other breweries now. While enjoying a pint, we found out there was a brewery tour. This included a PBR. The tour taught us that Pabst was a great boss who took care of his employees with good pay and benefits. In fact, a key line in the union contract included beer breaks until the 1980s! After the tour ended in the bar, we had a final PBR. Best tour!

Our two nights in Milton, WI to visit Milwaukee marked the last of our planned “tourist” visits. With many, if not most, of the northern RV parks closed for the season, we doubled our daily driving mileage to “shorten” our trip home.