Travelling in Erie area

[verno]

I'm hoping some of the good folks here can help me out. My lovely wife and I visited the other side of your state on our way to MD in the spring. It was absolutely beautiful! You folks will get a chuckle out of this but as we were walking into the Hamburg PA Cabela's my wife see's the gun check and comments "Wow it's really different down here, there's beer in the convenience store, motorcyclists without helmets and gun checks!" I said to her, it's a shame that adults being treated like adults is such a pleasant surprise. Beautiful countryside around there by the way too.
Sooooo we are heading back to your great state. This time we are headed to Erie/Grove City area to do some shopping the first weekend in December.
I found Presqu isle gun shop on this forum. Are there any other gun shops/Hunting shops in the area where a Canuck can head to check out all the different guns that we have a hard time getting up here? Any ranges that will rent out guns to test out? Since we are heading there for shopping, do your wives have any secrets to shopping in the area. I can't help but feeling that driving to a big outlet mall with all the other sheeple isn't going to be as great as everyone says it is.

[Truckman]

Oshawa Generals fan? Erie Otters fan here!!! Stay in Canada!

I guess it depends on what kind of shopping you are planning. Right in the area of interstates 79 & 90 we have the Millcreek Mall, with all the Mall related stores and restaurants, including Dicks (waste of time) and Gander Mountain (much better). Erie Sports http://www.eriesportstore.com/ store is also in that area. Go south on route 99, and find Bob's gun shop http://www.lethalweaponstraining.com/, down 99 just a little south of McKean is Keystone Armory http://www.davidsonsinc.com/consumer...aler_id=670788, and a little further down to Edinboro is Edinboro Outdoors http://www.edinborooutdoors.com/. All good gun shops.
If you're heading down to Grove City, a really great place is Mauers trading post http://www.maurerstradingpost.net/. just south of Franklin on route 8. Franklin is actually a nice little town to visit. Stay on route 8 a little south of interstate 80 to Harrisville, and find Gun world http://www.gunworldinc.com/
with a really nice restaurant next door.
Anther way to find things to do/see in the area; http://www.visitpa.com/regions/penns...t-lakes-region
Any other questions?
Almost forgot, Valley Gun works, in town of North East Pa http://www.valleygunworks.com/

[jkm]

Not far from the Grove City Outlets. Indoor range, etc. http://elitefirearmspa.com/

[verno]

Thanks for the replies fella's, looks like I have some reading to do!
Truckman, I can see the Gens rink from the end of my street. I try to cheer for them because I love watching the kids play, but I find the O a hard league to stay interested in. The good kids are moving up so quick. A couple years ago we JT and DelZotto here, but they don't stick around for long. Go from a powerhouse to basement in a season.

[Truckman]

Thanks for the replies fella's, looks like I have some reading to do!
Truckman, I can see the Gens rink from the end of my street. I try to cheer for them because I love watching the kids play, but I find the O a hard league to stay interested in. The good kids are moving up so quick. A couple years ago we JT and DelZotto here, but they don't stick around for long. Go from a powerhouse to basement in a season.

I like watching too, and then watching NHL games and saying, "Hey, he played in Erie!" Ryan O'Reilly, and Brad Boyes, among others.

Go from a powerhouse to basement in a season.

We went the other way this season.
I don't know how much time you have, but if you take a trip up through the Allegheny National forest on the way back home, it's got some really nice scenery.
If the time and weather cooperates, I'll let you shoot my scary, black, "assault" rifle.

[TaePo]

I don't know how much time you have, but if you take a trip up through the Allegheny National forest on the way back home, it's got some really nice scenery.

I used to like to go to the Kinzua Bridge and then the Kinzua Dam.

The bridge collapsed so you can't walk across anymore (nor do the Titusville trains cross it anymore of course). I don't know how much is still left but it is a nice park and valley in the Allegheny National Forest. A good spot to have a picnic.

The dam is nice, too. If you are lucky and arrive after a big thaw or rain, you will catch the dam with the floodgates wide open. You can walk the top of the dam and look down on the flow and then go below near the base real close to tons of water shooting out hundreds of feet (if wide open). To me, it is as good as Niagara Falls.

[MT1]

There are a lot of great gun shops in the Erie area. I highly recommend the following:

Edinboro Outdoors
211 Mill St
Edinboro
(814) 734-4927

The Keystone Armory
11091 Pennsylvania 99
Edinboro
(814) 734-2750


Edinboro outdoors is small but has good prices. The Keystone Armory is much bigger and also has good prices. If you only have time for one of them go to Keystone.

[Truckman]

I used to like to go to the Kinzua Bridge and then the Kinzua Dam.

The bridge collapsed so you can't walk across anymore (nor do the Titusville trains cross it anymore of course). I don't know how much is still left but it is a nice park and valley in the Allegheny National Forest. A good spot to have a picnic.

The dam is nice, too. If you are lucky and arrive after a big thaw or rain, you will catch the dam with the floodgates wide open. You can walk the top of the dam and look down on the flow and then go below near the base real close to tons of water shooting out hundreds of feet (if wide open). To me, it is as good as Niagara Falls.

Been a while since you've been there?
The bridge now has an observation platform on the still standing part, you can look down and see the rest of it on the ground. Part of it has a glass floor. http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...psd324ab48.jpg
You haven't been able to walk across the dam for many years. Terrorists you know! You can only get to the edge and look down to see the carp. You still can go to the lower parking area and see the outflow.
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps11e035fe.jpg
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps4ebe7512.jpg

[TaePo]

Been a while since you've been there?
The bridge now has an observation platform on the still standing part, you can look down and see the rest of it on the ground. Part of it has a glass floor. http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...psd324ab48.jpg
You haven't been able to walk across the dam for many years. Terrorists you know! You can only get to the edge and look down to see the carp. You still can go to the lower parking area and see the outflow.
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps11e035fe.jpg
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps4ebe7512.jpg

I never actually crossed the whole dam, but was able to go far enough to look down on the first outlet from straight above it. I hope one can still do that. (?)

Last I saw the bridge it was still standing, but I recall seeing renderings of a platform with glass that they hoped to build someday. I guess they finally did! I used to ride my motorcycle in a big loop there but haven't done so in quite awhile! Since you can't walk across anymore, it has lost some of its allure to me as I always did that. Once I walked back across the valley. While doing so, someone on the bridge yelled down, "Bet this looks really high from there!" "Not nearly as high as it looks from up there!", I yelled back.

[Truckman]

I never actually crossed the whole dam, but was able to go far enough to look down on the first outlet from straight above it. I hope one can still do that. (?)

Nope! Can get to about the edge of the water, not quite out onto the the dam itself. I remember as a kid going all the way across, but that's been 40 years or so.
You can see in this pic the gate that stops pedestrians.
http://www.theallegheny.com/Kinzua_Dam
I couldn't find the actual date they stopped it, I believe it was in the mid seventies.