Lake Erie Seaway Trail Center

New York State Parks Region offers a variety of birding and general nature programs free or at nominal cost. You can find upcoming programs here.

Buffalo: This Place Matters Video showcases just how awesome the Buffalo-Niagara region is to visit.

Buffalo Weather  Experience Center comes to LESTC this Thursday 2/19! (7PM) (FREE)

PRESENTS

THIRD THURSDAYS SPEAKERS SERIES

FEBRUARY 19 7:00PM

“”

Find out about the plans and current progress for Buffalo-Niagara’s , slated for development on ’s revitalized waterfront. The Weather Experience Center will celebrate not only our region’s four seasons of spectacular weather including its reputation for lake effect weather, but also the power and wonder of other weather phenomena, such as hurricanes and tornadoes. The free presentation will be at the , Thursday, February 19 at 7PM.

The Seaway Trail is a 514-mile scenic byway following the Lake Erie and shorelines. The Trail is a popular travel route for historians and fans of maritime history that enjoy visiting the many historic lighthouses in the coastal communities of the . The is an independent visitors center along the Seaway Trail byway and a community resource operated by local volunteers.

Upcoming programs in the series include:

Thurs., 3/19/09             History and Development of the Woodlawn Beach Cottage Company presented by New York State Parks

Thurs., 4/16/09             Chautauqua Wine Trail

Thurs., 5/21/09             Buffalo Canalside presented by

                                    Development Corporation

Information on the is at www.lakeerieseawaytrail.com.

By popular demand, here's your chance to get some LESTC-imprinted merchandise for your very own. Be the first on your block to sport some spiffy swag from your favorite Lake Erie Visitor's Center.

Lake Erie Seaway Trail Center has opened its own storefront at CafePress.com to make available to you a wide array of LESTC gear to make your life complete. Much of the merchandise features the LESTC logo. We've also put Hamburg on the map, plus the New York State Route 5 sign is on a few choice products.

There is a wide variety of apparel from T-shirts to hoodies, hats, mugs, buttons, magnets, license plate holders, note cards, framed prints, and more. Much more. Don't take our word for it, head over to CafePress to see what's "in store" for you. Click for a quick trip over to check it out.

If you haven't submitted our coupon found here at MerchantCircle for our free drawing September 10th, you still have a chance! If you have not yet filled out a coupon and dropped it in the box at the Lake Erie Seaway Trail Center, you can still submit electronically!

You don't need a coupon in this last week: Just send an email to lakeerie@verizon.net with your name, address, and an email or phone number or both and you are, as they say, "in".

You'll be in the drawing for a Seaway Trail-themed prize. Thanks for your participation and Good Journey to you!

We did a four-hour volunteer shift at the Center Sunday and had a great time. Mostly relaxing, visitors came and went here and there. We met a fellow around 11 o'clock who was bicycling all summer from California to Maine. He had everything from a tent to mini-gas stove, all his clothes - everything - in two smallish saddlebags on the back of his bike. He said he was going to do another 50 miles before calling it a day. Thought the Regional Transportation Council's Buffalo-Niagara bike map was a great resource as he picked it up.

On another front, it must have been international kayak day and no one told us. Kayakers were already in the water just off the center's beach when we arrived at 10 AM and by the time we turned the Center over to the next volunteers at 1:45, there were 4 separate launchings of kayaks from people pulling up and parking at the Center. It was a great day for kayaking or anything else to do with the lake! We saw a neighbor with his German shepherd doing the old throw the stick into the lake and the dog retrieves it thing. That was one happy dog. We also had the gentleman from Welland, Ontario stop in for local Hamburg maps and asking where to get a hamburger, because if you going to have a hamburger, you need to have one in Hamburg at some point before you die!

On another topic: the weather station was installed last week and a data center is inside the building displaying all the weather readings. The internet service to the building is going live; we'll integrate the weather station live feed into www.lakeerieseawaytrail.com over the next 2 weeks or so. We are also adding a webcam that'll be accessible through the official web site. We'll also be activating the wi-fi hotspot for free internet access for folks. Stay tuned.

C'mon, admit it. You've been hankering for some LESTC-imprinted merchandise for longer than you'd care to admit in public. Well, now here's your chance. LESTC has opened its own storefront at CafePress.com to make available to you a wide array of LESTC gear to make your life complete. Much of the merchandise features the LESTC logo. There's also some products with a USA map with Hamburg noted on it, plus the New York State Route 5 sign.

There is a wide variety of apparel from T-shirts to hoodies, hats, mugs, buttons, magnets, license plate holders, note cards, framed prints, and more. Much more. Don't take our word for it, head over to CafePress to see what's "in store" for you. Click for a quick trip over to check it out.

This wasn't the first time, but again I've seen out-state-plates on campers spending the night in the parking lot at the Seaway Trail Center. I've seen families at dusk on more than one occasion, catching the sunset, kids splashing in the waves, then bunking down in the camper overnight. It's like the Wal-Mart parking every once in a while.... Pennsylvania plates by the way. Buffalo, the Falls, other stops along this stretch of the Seaway Trail are great one-tank (or close) trips for our southern neighbors.

Today we spent the afternoon with the installer who was putting in the long-awaited weather station onto the roof of the Seaway Trail Center. One thing we have in abundance on the lake shore is weather! It'll be great to see the data coming in. There's a monitoring station inside the building to see all the weather info. Over the next couple of weeks, we'll get the live weather feed - and a webcam of the lake - onto www.lakeerieseawaytrail.com. What was really interesting was to see the people coming and going at the Center over a couple of hours: several folks and couples from the neighborhood walking their dogs onto the beach coming in through the tunnel on the south side of the property, walking the beach north, and going up the concrete stairs at the north side of the building. There was also the fellow fishing from the concrete pier for a couple of hours and some folks sunbathing on the beach. A couple of ladies were leaning over the railing on the wooden observation platform up at the building level, pointing out places they knew over in Canada.

Coming back near dusk, there was a family with small kids unloading a Fisher-Price Power Wheels car (that really threw us at first!) which was driven along the paved walking path in the picnic area along Route 5. Back down at the beach, a teenage couple was going through the sand, evidently looking for washed up fossils. (we found a few, too). A couple of kids were wading at the edge of the lake. Then there was a first for us: SCUBA divers wrapping up a dive offshore and coming back onto the shore. That was definitely a new one. There had to be 20-30 people scattered along the beach area in little groups waiting for the sunset and then slowly dispersing as it got dark. Just another day at the Seaway Trail Center in Hamburg. Maybe we'll see you sometime at 4964 Old Lakeshore Road!