WANDERING WITH MIKE
	Erie, PA May-14-2009 My technical starting point and location of current residence. Not much here! Erie is a failed former industrial town on an endless downward spiral of rust and decay. On the plus side, we have a nice peninsula named Presque Isle. This is the big tourist destination (other than the casino) on which the city places all its hopes for its survival. Course, I'm being a bit harsh here; while we have not much good here, we don't have much bad either. You're safe in most of Erie and the roads aren't terribly laid out (just terribly maintained). What else... well, it's close to a few cities that actually matter: Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland are all fairly nearby. Oh, and the cops are all friendly. View Larger Map Erie county is actually a pretty nice area though. Lots of forests and farms, middle-of-nowhere places where you can relax. At this point I'm supposed to say what I did while I visited, but that's a little rough when you've lived in the place for a while. Things I have done in Erie and surrounding suburbs: grown up, moved out, moved back, worked, gone camping, broken into a state park to watch a meteor shower, seen a few concerts, been arrested, wrecked cars, fallen in love. Today I went to Presque Isle to take some pictures of the nicer side of Erie (note: I've read/heard that only the Pacific coast has better American sunsets). UPDATE: Went to the casino before I left to try to get some extra cash. Result: SUCCESS. I walked away with one more dollar than I previously had. Also went for a little walk around the city to gather pictures. Wikipedian tidbits: • Erie is the Pennsylvania's fourth largest city. • To wrest control of Lake Erie from the British during the War of 1812, President James Madison ordered the construction of a naval fleet in Erie. • Erie is known as the Flagship City because of the presence of Oliver Hazard Perry's flagship Niagara. • Presque Isle State Park has 7 miles (11 km) of public beaches, wetlands, and fishing sites, drawing over four million visitors a year. • As of 2007, Erie is 13th on the list of snowiest places in the United States, averaging 88 inches (220 cm). • Famous people from Erie: Bob Sanders (NFL), Billy Blanks (Taebo), Tom Ridge (Homeland Insecurity), Chris Vrenna (NIN) Oh! Almost forgot, Erie is the home of Smith's hot dogs, which are the best and only good hot dogs in the world. Miles traveled so far: ~31 Current heading: Pittsburgh, West Virgina, Ohio, Buffalo, Toronto Comments Pictures P.S. -- I didn't want this thing to sound like an encyclopedia but it's hard to chronicle just a day in your home town. I can change just give me a chance. First | Previous | Next | Last
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	Past locations: [Aug-10-2009] - Virginia Beach, VA [Aug-03-2009] - Washington, DC [Jun-29-2009] - Terror [Jun-27-2009] - New England, Part II [Jun-23-2009] - Travel Cooking with Mike: Road Ramen [Jun-19-2009] - New England, Part I [Jun-12-2009] - New York City, Part II [Jun-09-2009] - New Jersey / New York City, Part I [Jun-07-2009] - mini-update: New England [Jun-02-2009] - Philly vs. Invaders / Random Writings [May-27-2009] - Pittsburgh / West Virginia / Ohio [May-22-2009] - Renovo, PA [May-14-2009] - Erie, PA [May-13-2009] - wan • der • ing

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