Morning came and off we went to our next destination near Syracuse NY. Our next campground would be at Oneida Shores Park in Brewerton NY. We arrived a bit before 2:00 pm but the office didn’t open until 2:00 so we walked around this nice little county park on the shore of Oneida Lake.
We planned to only spend two nights so our first day found us stocking up on groceries but our second day turned out to be a great day as we did more than we had planned. We had originally planned to visit Syracuse and the University of Syracuse on our only full day however as I was looking for things to do I noticed that the New York State Fair was going on in Syracuse as well.
After talking with Sharon we both realized that neither of us had ever been to a state fair so we decided to go to our very first one in New York! To top it off they had a discount on tickets our only day we could go so we purchased two $3.00 tickets so along with $5.00 for parking which made it a fairly inexpensive event to attend.
Going to the state fair had me a bit apprehensive about the crowds and the noise but once we parked and hopped on the shuttle bus to the fair I noticed a sense of excitement bringing me back to my childhood. Once we exited the bus and got our tickets we entered the fair only to be greeted by bright colors, hawking vendors and children riding all sorts of exhilarating rides.
We took in the sights, had several samples of some awesome NY cheese, tasted a lot of beers and wines offered from the various breweries and wineries around the state of New York and marveled at the everything-fried offerings throughout the fair. While we didn’t participate in any rides we were totally entertained by the various forms of live music and the likes of Bandaloni the One-Man Band. We also loved the magnificence of the flying hawks, owl and eagles at the birds of prey program showcasing birds saved by the state’s bird rescue program.
We both walked and walked until our feet grew tired thereby deciding to forgo the evening entertainment. Since it was still daylight we drove over to the University of Syracuse. After talking with a gate guard we got a free parking spot to walk over to see the Carrier Dome where the University plays basketball. They have a national Championship trophy there we wanted to see. Unfortunately there was a freshman convocation event in the dome so we were not allowed to see the trophy but were invited in to see the dome and had a nice look at the facility.
To finish the day we drove through the scenic downtown Armory Square, took a quick auto tour then stopped at the nearby Middle Ages Brewing Company for a nice craft beer. The beer was great and fairly inexpensive but there was no seating so we had one beer and purchased a growler fill before heading home to rest our weary feet…
NOTE: We are currently in Ogdensburg, NY an our nest stop is in West Chazy NY and then on to Graniteville Vermont through the Labor Day weekend.
