We spent four days in Rochester. It was a whirlwind trip.

One day we hosted a gathering at Seabreeze, one of our favorite little local amusement parks. It was a hot day so the water rides were great for all the kids. It was great that they all had fun together. By the end of the day, after being there 12 hours, my kids were sunburned (despite using sunscreen several times during the day), tired and overwhelmed by the people, heat and lights. They had fun but they were done.

The Jack Rabbit, pictured above, was built in 1920 and at the time it opened it was the fastest roller coaster. Now it is the second oldest in the United States. We generally end our evenings with a ride on it.

The family got to see friends, spend time painting banks at Color Me Mine, shop at Wegman’s (the Holy Grail of grocery stores) and have lots of fun. Spending time back on the east coast made me really miss family and friends. On the way back to Michigan I talked about moving. Not now, but someday, back to the east coast.

We left town a day early to visit friends from Pennsylvania. On our way we stopped at Letchworth State Park for a picnic.  We stopped above the Mount Morris Dam on our way in the park. As you can see by the tree growth in and around the dam the water levels have remained low. This dam is deep in the gorge and is to protect Rochester if the area should flood again.

As you can see the far side of the dam has trees and grass growing. Many years ago I remember water in this area.

I also forced my children to sit in the big chair and have their picture taken.

We headed to the Lower Falls for a picnic. We brought a variety of subs from Dibella’s. The Italian is my favorite. I don’t know what it is but the subs seem so much better in New York than in Michigan. I am not sure if it is the bread, the mayonnaise or something else but we miss good subs.

We also had chips and soda for our picnic. Then came my favorite part. The chocolate cake from Wegman’s. This was the one thing I was waiting for all trip. I LOVE this cake. It is a traditional Hershey’s cake with chocolate fudge like frosting. It is amazing!

We ended the trip with a visit to the Upper and Lower Falls. Though they were lovely, as usual, the water level was way down so the falls were not as impressive as usual. The drought has hit the area hard. We went over several bridges on our way back to the highway that usually have roaring water underneath that were nothing more than a puddle. It was sad and I hope the areas that need rain get some soon.

We are winding down our vacation posts. There is only one for tomorrow. It was an amazing trip and thank you for following along.