We left after work on Friday and arrived in the late evening at our hotel, Genesee Falls Inn, in Portageville (near the southern entrance to the park). We took 17 from 84 and it was a quiet, nice drive through the outer edges of the Catskills. Dinner at Yiasou Cafe in Liberty was terrific!

It was nice to stay close to the park so we could arrive early and have the trails mostly to ourselves. We entered through the Portageville entrance and parked at the trailhead for the Gorge Trail. The trail is seven miles long and we hiked about three miles to hit the main highlights; Upper Falls, Middle Falls, Inspiration Point, and Lower Falls. This was a one way hike and Steve ran back to the car to pick us up at the end. It was a lovely walk through the forest and seeing the falls and overlooks.

After our hike we went to the "Catch a Fish" event in the park. We stopped by Trout Pond where Norah checked out a fishing rod and got a cup of worms. There were a lot of people fishing on the small pond and I wasn't sure how successful she'd be, but she caught three fish. She was excited! We were also pleasantly surprised to find they had a free picnic lunch and some other activities. Norah ran up and down the tubing hill and played on the playground while I tried my hand at the atlatl (an old Indian spear thrower).

Steve went for a long trail run and Norah and I stopped by the Letchworth Museum and the Glen Iris Inn. The museum was small, but informative. We especially liked the mastodon skull. We didn't see much of the inn, but what we saw looked nice. We hung around awhile to watch a small wedding taking place outside.

We met Steve back at the hotel and drove twenty minutes to Perry for dinner. We ate at The Hole in the Wall restaurant and it was a great meal. I got to have the famous western NY sandwich beef on weck. Very tasty! Afterwards we stopped at the Charcoal Corral for ice cream and the bouncy house and slides. They also had a drive in theater, putt putt golf, and an arcade. Definitely a happening place on a Saturday evening!

We went back to Letchworth after dinner for the hot air balloon festival. When we arrived the balloons were inflated, but did not launch due to unfavorable weather conditions. I've seen pictures of the balloons over the gorge and it's a neat sight. On our way out of the park we stopped at Middle Falls for some pictures. We would also get some evening pictures at Upper Falls the next night when we stopped after our day trip to Niagara Falls. It was a short trip in Letchworth, but we enjoyed our time there. Beautiful park!