Romance in the Buffalo area (aside from Niagara Falls)?

July 1, 2008 10:59 AM

I'm looking for things for a couple to do up in the Buffalo / Youngstown NY / Niagara area for a few days in July (early July. Like later this week.) Ideally looking for romantic-type stuff (that doesn't involve Niagara Falls, already done that one a few times now). We're into camping and hiking and general outdoors stuff. We'll have a car. Any (fancy?) veggie/vegan-friendly restaurants in the area?

I've seen this thread, and this one. But definitely looking for any additional comments/suggestions, especially for something romantic.

Sub question -- anything romantic to do to pass the time of a long car ride?

Please help. Please.

posted by inigo2 to travel & transportation (8 comments total)

From my experience, a good thing to do in the car is have the passenger read to the driver. Nothing too heavy: books, or plays, that the passenger knows well that the driver hasn't experienced -- from their childhood/teenage years maybe. Things that involve voice-acting may work hysterically well, especially with some creativity. (I once used hats in addition to voices.)

More cute than romantic, but fun.
posted by knile at 11:16 AM on July 1

The Griffis Sculpture Park is about 45 minutes south of Buffalo, and is a large outdoor area populated with hundreds of over-sized sculptures by the artist Larry Griffis.

The Shaw Festival stages performances of plays by G.B. Shaw and his contemporaries. The company has an outstanding reputation. Some friends of mine saw their production of "An inspector calls" this year and said that it was fantastic. The festival is located in Niagara on the Lake, which is actually quite a ways away from Niagara Falls, and is right up on the shore of Lake Ontario. It is also a romantic place as it is a very pretty historic town with lots of bed and breakfasts and high-end restaurants. Shaw Festival - July
posted by Maxwell_Smart at 11:47 AM on July 1

2nding the Shaw festival/Niagara on the Lake!
posted by cestmoi15 at 12:01 PM on July 1

Oh hey! You'll be in my neck of the woods!

I don't recall if Lewiston (next town over from Youngstown) has any vegan restaurants but it is a cute little town. Bill Rapaport's WNY restaurant list has a few veg options. I recommend Amy's Place (diner-esque), the awesome Falafel Bar, and equally awesome Saigon Cafe.

Niagara-on-the-Lake (across the lake from Youngstown) is quite cute if you're into the shoppy thing.

Niagara County (NY) has the Niagara Wine Trail. One of the wineries, Niagara Landing, is literally across the road from us, so if you'd like to visit a horse barn, you're more than welcome to; just drop me an email (in my profile). If you come on the weekend, the glider club will likely be going up from the runway that's partly on our property. I'll probably be working on putting up a fence or building jumps next week. My gf and I would be happy to make you dinner, some of it directly from our garden.

If you're into hiking, the Niagara Gorge has some great trails. A couple start at Artpark (in Lewiston), some others start along the Robert Moses Pkwy. If you're willing to drive about 45 minutes south, there's the Eternal Flame Falls in Shale Creek Park. Pretty easy to find and easy to get to.

And, if you go that far, you might as well visit the Elmwood Ave area of Buffalo. And Shakespeare in Delaware Park is free and fun. King Lear is up right now.

I can keep going ... there are so many cool things to do and see in the Buffalo/Niagara region as a couple.

Oh, one more: the Tom Tower Farm Market is right near Youngstown (about 2 miles from center of town). Awesome, and inexpensive, fresh veggies and fruits.

And, of course, there's Old Fort Niagara.
posted by jdfan at 12:13 PM on July 1 [1 favorite]

Just re-read your thing and noticed that you're into hikes. Here are a few I recommend (in addition to Shale Creek above):
- Royalton Ravine - easy, fun, and has a cool suspension bridge.
- Devil's Hole - beautiful, powerful water
- Artpark - they have free concerts on Tues night (I think) and there are some trails that go along the top of the gorge and along the bottom of the gorge. Both are fun and reasonably easy. Unfortunately, they're not shown on the map I linked to :)

Smoke Creek in Orchard Park is a beautiful hike along the creekbed and a fantastic place to find fossils. A few years back we found a bunch of really nice trilobytes and other fossils along the creek.
posted by jdfan at 12:22 PM on July 1

You might take in a concert at Chautauqua.
posted by acorncup at 9:28 PM on July 1

Letchworth State Park is relatively close to Buffalo. Waterfalls, balloon rides, and the biggest canyon in the eastern US.
posted by Chuckles McLaughy du Haha, the depressed clown at 6:57 AM on July 2

I like to play the alphabet game in the car (or while trying to fall asleep.) Think of a topic: colors, jazz musicians, cities, -ologies, whatever, and then take turns going through the alphabet. (Albert Ayler, Bird, Charlie Christian, etc.) You could pick a sexy topic for more romantic fun.

Seconding Shakespeare in the Park. A visit to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery is nice, too. They are side by side.

Ming Teh, a Chinese restaurant in Fort Erie (Canada), has truly celestial vegetarian options.
posted by Riverine at 3:02 PM on July 3