Feel free to share your thoughts, comments and concerns on any Erie topic you like on our ongoing series of weekly open thread posts. Last week’s open thread had discussions related to public transportation and parking, as well as the quality of Erie area media websites.
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Your banner at the top says “ErieBlogs.com – We love spring in Erie” which is a very commendable sentiment but what about summer ? It’s pretty nice too :-) :-)
You’re right on. It’s been on my To-Do list for ages and you’ve motivated me to get it done. Thanks!
Looking for graduates of Strong Vincent High School class of 1989. For more info please visit
http://www.strongvincent1989.com/
We were in Erie over the weekend & had dinner at the Longhorn last night. We overheard a father & son from Pittsburgh asking directions to the tower from the zoo (they got bad directions IMO, telling them to head back out to 79). From what I overheard, they’d spent that day at the beach and Splash Lagoon. But there are so many cool, smaller things to do that aren’t so obvious.
I was wondering: if Erieites could plan a 1-day or 2-day itinerary for out-of-towners, what would they consider a “must-see/do?” I thought maybe some of the Erie Bloggers might want to write it up. I was going to mention it in my blog but I need to write about some other things first.
@ Eden – I was thinking something along the same lines a couple of months ago but placing the “guides” on the Everything Erie Wiki. We could easily create guides tailored to specific interests. For example guides to places of historical significance, nature exploration, or as you suggested, a “must see Erie” tour.
It’s a great idea and with collaboration from so many people, I’m sure we could come up with an exhaustive and varied list.
Over the 4th of July weekend, this Erie native decided to play tourist at home due to gas prices….I think the Tom Ridge Center is a must-do for all out-of-towners. Personally, I have seen all but 1 of their movies on the Big Green Screen and it is amazing how neat that place is. The locals I have talked to that haven’t gone, well they seem to be the ones with some sort of a stigma against Tom Ridge the person–but we as tax payers, who foot the bill for that place, should really see how nicely our money was spent.
Another place I went to was The Erie Art Museum. The annex location a couple of doors down, had a very interesting locally made drift wood sculptures, that was really cool to check out. The artist really had an eye for what he gathered and made with the drift wood.
Then I also went to The Erie Zoo that weekend… if you don’t stay too long in the main entrance building cause of the stench and aim for the outdoors, it really is quite a nice zoo & one we should all be proud of to have in our community…the new tiger exhibit is super nice.
The Linesville Spillway is also a great place & we need to all get down there b4 the end of the year if they no longer will allow us to feed the fish bread come Jan 1st. I took my friend from NV there and she went bonkers–never saw anything like that in her entire life.
Even tho times are tough with the high prices every where–we really should be proud to live in Erie cause we really do have a lot to do here. Like how many do you know that we have not only the Gudgeonville Covered Bridge out in Girard, but a 2nd covered bridge exists down in Waterford called the Kissing Bridge? I didn’t know that until a few yrs ago & tracked it down with the help of a Waterford native.
My vote for must see would be: Presque Isle (duh), Waldameer’s new Ravine Flyer (double duh), Plymouth Tavern, Brig Niagara, Mercyhurst College campus, BrewErie, Bayfront Convention Center/Bicentennial Tower, Mighty Fine Donuts, Erie Seawolves games (even when they lose).. and many more that I’m sure will come to mind the moment I hit “post”. Now if you’e talking food, I could go on forever with that.
Must see in Erie~ Erie’s bayfront from Presque Isle’s trails and beaches to the walk along the bluffs and Liberty Park and beyond which would include the Brig Niagara and Blasco Library, Also, the remaining century homes along West 6th up to West 10th.
A Seawolves,Otters,BayRats,Illusion,Bayhawks,etc game whichever is in season.
Gannon University and Mercyhurst College campuses.
The Warner Theatre. The Erie Playhouse. Family First Sports Park. The Erie Zoo. The grapevineyards and wineries of NorthEast,PA.Historic Waterford,PA.
The Experience Erie Childrens Museum if you have little ones.
Any of the parks on a nice summer day especially Frontier Park.
I’m sure there are many more to add but I’ve gotta take a walk in the sunshine with my puppy. Enjoy.
We had a similar thread on GlobalErie back in April. Check it out for more ideas:
http://www.globalerie.com/blog/2008/04/10/36-hours-in-erie/
Thanks for the additional info Peter. So far I’m seeing a lot of great ideas for ‘must see’ Erie.
Why does Summer only refer to July & August ?
May, June and September are all fine weather months!
It seems that the only reason that we schedule everything in those two months is because of kids in school. What about those of us without kids?
We could go out every night of the year (trickle down 365!) So many community activities are packed into those 8 weeks — we should spread some of them out !!!
Kudos to the people at the Greek Orthodox church for reseeding the parking lot after this years event. But you may want to consider raking out the ruts or rolling the area. Just seeding the area is not going to prevent some kidding or older person next year walking thru there and twisting an ankle or worse falling down and breaking something
Our son is coming to Erie for college oreintation and we, the parents, have sessions, too. We have a 16 yr. old foreign exchange student with us who speaks limited English. He will need to keep himself occupied for 2 half days. What do you suggest?
GUMom – That’s tough. If you wanted to stay in the area near Gannon, you could point him to the Erie Art Museum to spend some time. Within walking distance of Gannon is also the Erie Maritime Museum and Blasco Library. You could also point him towards the Gannon Library, where they will most likely have some public computer terminals where he could burn off a few hours online. EMTA service runs from downtown to the Millcreek Mall and Tinseltown – he could shop around a little, maybe catch a movie or two.
GUMom: Depending on what he likes, there’s the zoo (not downtown near Gannon, but easy enough to get to for you to drop him off/pick him up) or, as Mike said, the Maritime Museum and Bicentennial Tower. Also, he could catch the Water Taxi from the dock and go over to Presque Isle, where he could either just walk around a bit or rent a bike.
Erie sounds like it has a lot to do in the summer. I wish we had more time there. This will only be our second trip. Thanks for the responses.
no Starbucks closings in Erie
I saw that Wizo – its good news for employees of those stores will be spared the cuts. We had posted a while back about rumors of the stores closing but its good to see final locations (http://www.erieblogs.com/archives/2008/07/erie_pa_news_an_1032.php)