Cody’s blog

Sampson State Park
6096 Route 96A
Romulus, NY 14541

(315) 585-6392

June 9 – 14, 2024

We arrived at Sampson State Park at around 1 PM on Sunday. This time, it was only Davey and I, as my cat Mister had passed about a week before. I was sad to lose him, but he was very sick and I couldn’t bear to see him suffering any longer. Traveling with only one cat, and one who was in good health, was much easier and less stressful, however. Davey didn’t like being in the travel carrier and complained off and on during the drive, but didn’t get sick or overly stressed out. He just yelled until he got tired of it, then fell asleep.

My brother and his wife had arrived earlier with their trailer, but new arrivals weren’t allowed to check in before 1 PM, so they left their trailer in the parking lot (I parked beside it) and went for a walk while they waited. They returned as I was finishing checking in, so we both got to our campsites at the same time. Our campsites were right next to each other, with a shared electric hookup between the sites. The park’s website had warned that the electric hookup could be 50′ from the site, so I’d bought a 30A extension cord, which was needed to reach the hookup!

We spent the rest of the day hanging out and settling into our sites.

Monday was a day for visiting wineries and breweries along Seneca Lake. Our first stop was the Three Brothers Wineries & Estates, which included the War Horse Brewery, where we we did some shopping and tasting.

J&J shared a beer and cider flight, while I had a craft soda flight, which included four delicious sodas: Black cherry, root beer, orange cream, and lemon-lime, plus grapefruit hop water. The hop water was unusual but interestingly flavored, unsweetened with hints of pine. I bought a 4-pack to take home.

Next stop was Ventosa Vineyards, where we had lunch at the café. I had a delicious veggie wrap.

Our last stop of the day was the Muranda Cheese Company, where we had a cheese tasting. I bought several kinds of delicious cheese and a “honey flight” with four small jars of honey.

Since we’d gone north of the campground on Monday, on Tuesday we went south. Our first stop was Stoltzfus Family Farm for some grocery shopping. I picked up some bread and crystallized ginger.

Then we stopped at Boundary Breaks Vineyard. J&J had a wine tasting while I had a bowl of olives. They were a bit overpriced but I felt like I should get something. They were good olives, though.

Next stop was Idol Ridge Winery. They had a nice gift shop with lots of fun stuff, including some fudge which I bought to nibble on while J&J tasted wine.

One more winery! We stopped at Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars, where I decided to have some wine for a change. I had a pour of sparkling wine while J&J had a tasting.

Our final stop of the day was the Scale House Brewery for dinner. I had a margherita pizza, which was rather scant on the fresh basil so it was more of a cheese pizza, but very tasty nonetheless. I took a couple of slices home for lunch the next day.

On Wednesday, we spent the day visiting the Sampson Military Museum, located on the Park grounds. It was a Naval training base during World War II and an Air Force base during the Korean War. The exhibits, which included artillery, uniforms, sample meals and supplies, furniture and photographs, were all donated by veterans who trained there. My sister-in-law’s father trained there, and she brought copies of his discharge papers to be added to the binders of documents.

Outside were pieces of artillery, boats, a small plane, and a memorial wall. Very interesting and informative place.

Thursday was a lovely warm day, so we packed a lunch and ate at the beach. I bought a pair of surf shoes at the boat shop and tried them out in the water at the shore. A lady who was sunbathing went into the water briefly. Pretty cold, she said.

Friday we packed up and hit the road for home. Got home a little after noon. Wonderful trip!