My 2016 Adventure Bucket List

As anyone who even occasionally reads this blog knows, I love a good adventure…..even if just an impromptu local quickie!!! I am always looking for cool and quirky things to see and do in and around Western NY – things I can do in a few hours, a day trip, or even an over-nighter here and there! So, to keep stuff I find or hear of somewhat organized, I have my every changing “Adventure Bucket List”. This is different than my “Bucket List”, which is where I put the big things I want to eventually do when I have time and money to make it happen. The “Adventure Bucket List” are things that are fun, inexpensive visits to see cool stuff!

So, how do I find all these neat places to visit? I jot them down when I see a friend post on FB that they went somewhere I might like to go, I come across articles that catch my interest, and I get lots of great leads from two local bloggers I follow: Chris at “Exploring Upstate” and Tom at “Tom The Backroads Traveller“. And, sometimes I just stumble upon them while I’m out and about and either take the time to stop or make note to go back to check it out!

Anyway, here is my updated list……since it began in 2011 when I moved back home and it was meant to be a way to explore and reacquaint myself with the area surrounding my home town, it has evolved a lot – many things have been checked off, some dropped because I just changed my mind, tons were added, and some just stick on the list until I get the chance to get to them! For right now – in this snapshot in time – this is what I want to try to do in 2016 and beyond!!!

In no particular order:

• Visit Lily Dale, NY – this is a quirky town famous (or should I say infamous) for their psychics and love of the paranormal
• Visit Chittenango, NY – I stopped to see the Chittenango Falls on my way to Cooperstown a couple years ago, but didn’t know then that the town is someplace cool to visit! It is the birth place of the creator of The Wizard of Oz and the town really embraces that theme with all things OZ!
• Explore Buffalo more – I keep finding all kinds of wonderful things that Buffalo has to offer. One thing in particular that interests me is the Buffalo Erie Botanical Gardens. But, that’s just one thing – there’s more!
• Utica Club Brewery – I used to love going there when I was younger! I believe it is now called the Saranac Brewery, but it looks like it hasn’t changed much.
• Old Fort Niagara
• Niagara On The Lake
• Seabreeze
• Fairport Canal Cruise – I did the Lockport cruise, now to do the section that starts in Fairport
• Genesee River Boat Cruise – there is an old fashioned river boat that tours the Genesee River – sounds like a nice day trip
• Lighthouses – I’d like to visit all, or most, of the lighthouses along the Lake Ontario shore line – definitely not something I can do on a day trip
• Niagara Wine Trail – I hope at some point, some year, to take a bus tour that visits all the wineries along the trail
• Day with Tom – Blogger friend, Tom The Backroads Traveller, came out to spend the day with me and I took him around to all my favorite places in and around Albion. He has offered to do the same for me in Rochester to check out some of his favorite places to photograph – I really need to take him up on that!
• Adirondacks
• 1000 Islands 

I’m sure there are others that I’ve forgotten to make note of when I heard of them – they will come to me at some point and get added. This also doesn’t include things that will come up and I’ll jump on when I hear of them! But, it is a start and a good guideline. Probably won’t get to all of them this year, but they’ll get done – eventually! 🙂

Now – for some of the things on my big Bucket List – not sure if/when I’ll get to them, but sure would like to, if time and money allow!

• Alaskan Cruise – I’ve wanted to do this since I was in high school! It was something we talked about as a honeymoon when I got married, but it didn’t happen. So……drum roll…..it is GOING to happen in 2016!!! YAY!!! I have a friend who wanted to go and asked me to go with her…..it is all booked and planned for June 2016!
• Trip to Washington, DC
• Trip to Graceland
• Trip to NYC – I’ve been to NYC many times, but not in many years….would love to do one thing I never have done before – go between Thanksgiving and Christmas to see the Rocketts and go Christmas shopping (and, of course, take in a show or two)
• Tour the US – NY to CA – by train
• Trip to Tuscany
• Mediterranean Cruise
• Trip to Ireland and England and maybe more of Europe

Lofty goals, I know……hoping for the chance to at least do some of them before I can’t do any of them anymore!!!

Happy Traveling and may the Adventures keep coming!!!