This past weekend I had a trip booked for one of my students to compete in a kickboxing match. This girl is something special, there's no doubt in my mind you'll be seeing her on TV someday winning championships. But driving four and a half hours for a single kickboxing match that lasts 8 minutes is not a good value prospect! So, I took the following day to explore some spots around the Syracuse area. This is north of the finger lakes I've already explored so it helps to fill the gaps in nicely.
As the video above shows, we began with our fight at the Kallet Theater in Pulaski New York before a victory dinner at... the cracker barrel. Hey, we were at a loss for places open by the time the event ended!
We started the morning after the fight by stopping at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. This medium sized zoo blew me away with the quality of the exhibits, the cleanliness of the park and the variety of animals. Someone spent a lot of money to really make this place shine and we even were there in time to see the baby Tigers. It's also shockingly cheap at $8-9 an adult. A great place to visit with kids or a date in the area!
We next headed east, with two destinations to stop at on our way home. Green Lakes state park was the first. While we didn't pack our trunks to go swimming, we did catch a glimpse at the absolutely SLAMMED beach at this park. Clearly a local favorite. The water here is absolutely breath taking, at points you can see straight to the bottom of the lake with perfect clarity. There were even clear bottom kayaks for rent!
We hiked the main trail around the lake and got a good look at some of the classic cobblestone buildings along the shore. One was even preparing to host a wedding. Like most New York state parks, this is subject to a day use fee. I believe we paid $10, but if you are planning to hit other parks in the same day you can usually show your receipt for free entry at the other parks once you pay for one. Definitely a place I need to return to swim!
Also, as a side note. The lakes have an extremely rare environment with special algae and marine life that can be disturbed by walking out on the underwater cliffs. While there are signs posted everywhere, people were extremely flagrant in ignoring them for their Instagram photos, and then borderline violently rude when told to stop. Don't be like those people.
We finished our Day up by stopping at the National Boxing Hall of Fame. Located in Canastota New York, Just East of Syracuse, this hall of fame is absolutely jam packed with memorabilia of the most famous boxers. Everything from classic fight posters, gloves, robes, fists cast in bronze, accompanies the beautiful plaques of the hall of fame inductees.
The second building also houses the original Madison Square Garden boxing ring that has been used for a century to host some of the greatest matches in all of boxing history. Bria actually caught the attention of the director of the hall of fame who came out to hold mitts for her in front of the ring. What a perfect way to end a weekend devoted to her fighting!
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