Our home for three nights in North East PA was the Holiday Inn Express & Suites. We would have preferred a 2-night stay, but it was Labor Day weekend and we really didn’t want to be on the road on Labor Day, so we opted for the extra day. We are glad we did.
This is a very clean hotel with a beautiful indoor pool with water slides which young children would love (and about 100 of them were loving it when we arrived). There is also a second, smaller pool for people who would like to avoid the pandemonium of the big pool.
Overall, a very nice hotel. The bed was comfortable, the bathroom was large, the cable TV had about 50 channels and there was a one-cup Keurig coffeemaker in the room. The WiFi was adequate.
We met up the night we arrived with Jimmy and Michelle, two long-term friends of Ooma’s. They are much younger (they refer to Kate as “grandmother”). They gave us a tour of Erie PA and environs, including Presque Isle State Park, a lovely park on a peninsula jutting out into Lake Erie. I got some nice sunset photos before we stopped for a hot dog dinner at Sara’s, a seasonal Erie favorite outdoor dining spot. We were also impressed by the 20-or-so houseboats that anchor there. It looks like a very cool place to hang out in the summer.
On Saturday we were on our own. Ooma cooled her heels most of the day but I went out to sample some local wines. We had no idea, before we arrived, that North East PA is a major grape-growing and wine-producing region. I went first to Driftwood Wine Cellars, tasted 4 red wines (2 local, 2 imported from Chile) and purchased a bottle of Black Widow(er), a smoky, full-bodied wine that will be excellent with cheese. Then I crossed the street to Yori Wine Cellars to taste 4 more reds. They, too, had a very interesting smoky one, but I opted for the Chambourcin which will be a fine dinner wine. I was very impressed with the quality of wines produced in this area.
For dinner we walked about 70 feet to the New Harvest Restaurant and Pub. It didn’t look very appealing, but it was convenient. We weren’t impressed when we walked in, either – your basic low-rent pub. The server started off by apologizing that the kitchen was behind and it would be at least 30 minutes to get our entree. But we ordered drinks – excellent – and then ordered dinner – broiled walleye for me (a first!) and liver and onions for Ooma. They were delivered in about 15 minutes and they were both excellent. So our first impressions were wrong – this is a very fine dining establishment.
On Monday (a dreary, cool Labor Day) we met up with Jimmy and Michelle again. We thought we were going for drinks and appetizers at the Skunk and Goat Tavern, but it was closed. And so were the next 10 places we called. We finally landed at the U Pick 6 Public House. Then we drove to the Longhorn Steakhouse for dinner. Jimmy and Michelle had celebrated their 5th anniversary on Sunday (Ooma had been at their wedding) so we treated them to dinner. Ooma and I shared a ribeye steak. Delicious.
We had the desk clerk take a commemorative photo before we parted company. They are a lovely couple who helped make it a very good weekend.
