Day 2: on the road to Buffalo

Oriskany

Today we got a late start out of Albany and had to make a few changes to our itinerary, since Corning Glass closed at 5 today and we wouldn’t be able to make it in time.  So we decided to take the strait shot from Albany to Buffalo (90W) and to come up with something to do today en route.  After passing up both the Howe Caverns and the Remington Firearms Museum for various reasons, we made an impulse decision to take the exit for the Oriskany National Battlefield, where “one of the bloodiest battles of the American Revolution” was fought.  This site was pretty interesting and definitely visually impressive, with rolling hills and lots of mosquitoes.  

After wandering around the Oriskany site and seeing all there was too see there, a less-than-knowledgeable park ranger struck up a conversation with us, and although she couldn’t intelligibly answer a single question about the site, she did recommend that we visit nearby Fort Stanwix in Rome, NY.  Fort Stanwix was actually a very cool reconstruction of a fort that was abandoned by the British after the French and Indian War and used decisively by American forces during the American Revolution.  

Fort Stanwix

Inside the Fort

We were able to walk all around the fort and see the imposing fortifications and cannons protruding out of small peepholes.  We also went inside the fort and saw all types of artifacts in the reconstructed living quarters of the original Ft. Stanwix, the most impressive of which was an actual hearth from the mid-18^th century fort that was attacked by the British in 1777.  Since we were the only ones in the Fort, the friendly Park Ranger gave us a personal guided tour, which was very interesting and informative.

 After Fort Stanwix we stopped at a Walgreen’s down the street from the fort for some supplies, and we decided to ask a Walgreen’s customer who had a decidedly “local” look about him if he had any recommendations for a good local dinner spot.  After thinking for no more than 5 seconds he told us to go to Eddie’s Paramount Diner, which he told us had good, reasonably priced food despite not being the cleanest establishment in town.

This was the whole place

We found Eddie’s easily and ordered what the waitress told us was their most popular dish, the “Fish Fry,” as well as some of their famous chili (see picture below), which proved to be both delicious AND delightful.

They weren't lying

 After Eddie’s we hit the road, headed west to Buffalo to spend the night with our friend Karl and to hit some Canadian casinos.

Also, if anyone is interested here are some links to more information about Oriskany and Fort Stanwick:

Oriskany: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_oriskany

Fort Stanwick: http://www.nps.gov/fost/historyculture/fort-stanwix-in-the-american-revolution.htm