Island Fin Poke, Longwood *PA/NY/MD Travel Notes

I tried this new (one month) poke place on 434 in between 436 and I-4 (a strip mall with a Publix) on Wednesday at lunch. They let you put three scoops of fish/chicken in the bowl. I mixed tuna/salmon/octopus to see as much as possible. They were fresh. Better than most places. Then again, most of these places start out conscientious and then "stretch" the shelf life of the product. Rice was also ok. It cost $12. Hawaiian theme. Yet none of these places knows what a true Hawaiin poke is. You would think someone would google it. They serve them in paper bowls. Phew. I was worried that those billions of third world miscreants (and if you don't believe me actually travel to one and see how environmentally concerned they are) were going to spoil the environment. We got you Mother Earth. No need to exert yourself going here. I'm sure there are one or two in your neighborhood. perhaps one in your house?

*Travel Notes - PA/NY/MD: I got off 95 before Fredricksburg VA because of an accident (two that day and one in GA coming back). Was going to anyway. Just a few exits farther north. Had to take a parallel road (1 to 17W and 66 to Winchester WV and north on 505 (I think) to 68W (I think) through Upper MD to Morgantown (nice lake before town). Then north to Friendship Hill NHS (some early Treasurer). Slept at at Hopwood Motel in Uniontown/Hopwood PA for $65 (rack rate). Went east the next day to Fort Necessity (Washington lost to French there before the Revolution). Then north to Fallingwaters (a Frank Lloyd Wright home). Then through some nice white water rafting areas and east and north to Johnstown Flood NHS (dam break). Then north and east to Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS (had to go over mountains here. Canals no good). Then north and east to College Station (Penn State). Then north and east to Williamsport (Little League World Series stadiums). Then north to Mansfield. Cute college town. Slept at Hampton Inn for $166 (rack rate). The Nascar race race in Watkins Glen purportedly raised the pricing even this far away. Plus in was a Saturday. Ate and had beer at Yorkholo Brewing Co. Had a pulled turkey with barbeque and honey mustard sauces combined. Drove to west and north to Canisteo NY (Cider Creek Hard Cider). Couldn't find it. North to try and find Wild Brute Winery in Arkport. Didn't find that either. It was raining very hard. Went east to Hammondsport NY and finally found something. Finger Lakes Beer Co. Then tried to find Steuben City Brewing. Found a retail bar for Cider Creek. Had some and a horrible chicken Caesar salad. And some Steuben and other NY beer.  South tip of Keuka Lake. Drove up about a mile and turned into first winery I saw. Turned out to be good. Domaine LeSeurre and Weis Vineyards. Prices at LeSeurre were too high. Tasted an ok Pinot Noir. Bought a bottle of Gruner Veltliner at Weis because it was more reasonable. They had a great patio over looking the lake. Had just opened. North and east through Finger Lakes to Seneca Falls (home of Tom Coughlin) and to the Women's Rights NHP. North to Oswego (on Lake Ontario). Slept at the Evergreen Motel for $84. North to 1000 Islands. Really 1864. First stop was Henderson Harbor and a light house. Next to Sackett's Harbor and a War of 1812 fort and cute town. Had a Route 3 (RB with Munster) at Sandwich Bar. There were a few nicer options as well. Then to Watertown. They have river rafting from there that didn't fit in the schedule. North and west to Cape Vincent and the Tibbetts Point Light House at the beginning of the St Lawrence River from Lake Ontario. Then east to Clayton. Bought mozzarella whips (thin pipes), a snack mix of sesame sticks with everything bagel spice (they had many flavors you see on bagels) and corn chips with chia seed baked in and Adirondack sodas at River Rat Cheese . They also sold cheese cut into shapes (and colored) like cookies. Plus alot of snacks. Maybe the cutest town. Slept at Westwind Motel for $93. Next door was St Lawrence Spirits. They claim many awards. Tried a few. Nice deck over the river too. Have a high end restaurant and boutique hotel too (Chateau). Next east on to Alexandria Bay for the Uncle Sam's Boat Tour. That day they just opened up the US plus Canada tour. It was $37. Included Boldt Castle. An island castle by an ex Waldorf Astoria honcho. Had a seafood sub and fries that were called sour cream fries but really just sour cream dusted fries at Jwreck Subs. Made me think why no one has taken all the potato chip seasoning to fries. Slept at Ship Motel (right in town) for $125. Drove east to Schermerhorn Harbor in Hammond to take the tour to Singer Castle (sewing machine people). It cost $35. Then east through Ogdensburg and then south and east back to Watertown. Then south past Syracuse and out of NY. Tried to stop a few times in PA, but, the hotel quotes were insane. Finally made it to Carlisle PA. Lucked into a $95 room at Sleep Inn. Had ok veal parm with spaghetti at Al's Pizza. The next day saw many better choices a few blocks in town. A very cute town. Something to do with Molly Pitcher. A college called Dickinson. Grabbed a Birch Beer Ice Cream at Massey's Frozen Custard. Tasted like vanilla. Drove to Gettysburg (past Appalachian Trail) to find that my restaurant (Gettysburger) wasn't open for lunch that day. Went south to Cacotin Mountain NP (home of Camp David). South to Frederick MD to Monocacy NB. Then south to C&O Canal Trail and Potomac Heritage NST. Nice drives. Short. Then south to Clara Barton NHS. Then I forget if I mentioned Wolf Trap NP and Prince William Forest NP (not in MD).

**I forgot to mention these Korean things at Area 51 in the FL Notes. She called her ramen - ramyeon. I haven't seen a Korean take off on the soup. This was smart. They also sold Makgeolli. They said it was Korea's oldest alcohol drink. Never heard of it. It may be like sake.