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If you're ever looking for somewhere to go on a Saturday or Sunday, this page describes a nice little 3-4 hour excursion that's well worth it. The travel time each way is about one hour and 15 minutes from Williamsville. You'll be heading north, and will end up about halfway between Lockport and Rochester.
Take Transit Road north to Lockport. Keep following the 78 signs as you zig and zag up and down the escarpment. When you get to Route 104, make a right. Follow it to Route 98; along the way, look closely at the houses that sparsely populate this section of road. Some of them are made of cobblestones, the stones for which were collected over periods of several years, often by the children of the farmers as they cleared the fields. The stone masons, travellers who originally came to help build the Erie Canal, would actually live with the families for several years while the houses were being built! The homes are quite beautiful, and are undergoing restoration now that they've been declared national historical artifacts.
Around the point where Route 104 intersects with Route 98, you'll be in the town of Childs, New York, and you'll see a cobblestone church that's a centerpiece for this kind of art, and which currently serves as a cobblestone museum.
Go a bit further, past route 387, and on the left, at the address 16131 West Ridge Road, you'll find Ridge Road Station.
Note the gatework around the driveway as you enter. This is one of the neatest stores I've ever been in. If you love Christmas ornaments and decorations, they have some of the most beautiful things you could imagine. If you enjoy model railroads, they have tons of "G" gauge trains and accessories, and a huge layout that will astound you. If you like toys, or if your kids like toys, they have just about every cool toy you could think of, plus a big play area where you can let them have fun while you visit the other parts of the store. They also have tons of hobby materials, including kites, Pinewood Derby, model cars/planes/trains, and crafts.
When you're done, and it'll probably take a couple of hours, head back on 104. At the intersection of 98 is a very nice restaurant, Tillman's Historic Village Inn, which is a fine place to enjoy dinner. For more information, click here.
Tillman's is closely associated with the Cobblestone restoration effort; the placemats they use give quite a bit of information about the area. For a larger version (242 KB), click here.
After dinner, they have a nice little gift shop next door with all kinds
of quaint items for sale. After that, it's probably time to head home and
take a well-deserved nap .
We did this in late November, and it really helped get us in the Christmas spirit. We also came home with a whole bunch of fun stuff. If you try it, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
