Super interesting mural in the back of a building. You have to go into the parking lot to get the…read morefull view. It's painting evidently caused a little controversy when they put it up because they didn't have the required permit, but the town let it stay. Well worth going to see.

Very cute mural you happen across as you're driving down Ellicott Street in Batavia. It's clearly…read moreThomas the Train, and it's looking to be quite a few years old as some of the paint is peeling off the brick. But it's a lovely mural. No visible signature.

Located on the side of the Williamsville Townhall, is this fantastically large mural. It was put up…read morein 2019 by a local artist Chris Piontkowski. I couldn't find the name for it, but I drive by it all the time and stoped for a closer look today. You'll see it as you are either walking in the area or at the local farmers market, or driving down Main Street towards Buffalo, It's on the east side of the building. Williamsville's Beautification Committee raised the money for this and it's a large public art and public funded project.

Another Chuck Tingley mural in Medina New York. You can see his style. Very interesting "fake it…read moretil you make it" message. It was put up in 2020. It's in the parking lot of the buildings fronting Main Street, so you'll need to go to the alley behind to see it.

I'm in Lockport for a specific place, that I thought owned at 9, but opens at 10. So spending a…read morelittle time in town. And here is a huge mural. On the side of a jewelers building. If you park here you will see this easily. So nice. The artists are Bruce Adams and Augustina Rose. It's got nods to the local winery's, local farms, the bike path, and of course, the locks Lockport is famous for.

This mural isn't quite finished yet, but I saw it as I was driving on transit and stopped and took…read moresome pictures. It's on the Westside of the new Carmines restaurant space. Bright and colorful it's not Buffalo from one of the local restaurant favs.

Near the city of Medina in Western New York is an interesting piece of Erie Canal history, a road…read morethat goes UNDER the canal. While there are numerous bridges OVER the canal, Culvert Road, to this day, is the only one that goes UNDER the canal! The Erie Canal was called the Eighth Wonder of the World in 1825, when it was completed. Construction began on July 4, 1817 and remember, it was dug by hand! It was originally 7 feet deep and 40 feet wide, 363 miles long between Albany and Buffalo. There were 83 locks (57 on today's canal) because the canal rises 568 feet between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. The tunnel was built in 1823 and was even moved when the course of the canal was changed! It was also lengthened (twice!) when the canal was widened. It's a real experience to drive through it, when you remember there are tons of water above you and you see the seepage through the stones in the curved ceiling. Gulp. Just remember, that tunnel has been there since before your great-great-grandfather drove horses through there - it ain't goin' anyplace! Stop on the north end of the tunnel, there's a small parking area there. With any luck at all, a vehicle will come along and go through the tunnel. That way, you'll be able to experience the weird acoustics the tunnel provides. Sound carries through the tunnel as if there were a microphone setup in there. The day I visited, I laughed when I saw a guy kneeling to take a picture with his cell phone. I said, "I'd better get out of the way," and as I stepped to the side of the portal, he waved to me! A few seconds later, I heard footsteps on gravel. I didn't hear a car pull up, so I turned to look only there was no one there! I walked back to the portal of the tunnel, only to see the guy on the other end walking to his car. That was the source of the mystery footsteps and I was mostly relieved to learn I wasn't in a Steven King novel. A car going through from your end of the tunnel sounds like a train coming at you from the other end of the tunnel! Oh, one more thing. The tunnel was featured in Ripley's Believe It Or Not for being the only bridge UNDER the Erie Canal. If you're ever in Western New York, take a drive on Culvert Road between NY 31 and Ridge Road. The Medina Tunnel must be experienced, Believe It Or Not!

Originally this place would not allow anyone to wear any kind of shoes, OR to go barefoot. Hence it…read morewas called Sockport for a long time. Then it became the capital of "saying something twice in different ways", which is why it was known as Dockport for years. Then it became "the Switzerland of WNY" and was known affectionately as "Clockport" for awhile. Then gang violence took over and it adopted the moniker "School Of Hard Knocksport." This caused everyone to put Locks on their doors... and bam. You have the present-day name. Actually think I gave Lockport a bad rap when I gave it a rap before although I didn't actually rap about it but I can rap about it as you see if you've read of my other reviews for a rap endlessly about other things that one might rap about. So here's the thing. It's a much nicer place than I thought. I might have seen the bad side of it before. I think it's actually really nice place to live. The main problem is that it's so damn out of the way like it's so far away from everything that it's hard to even fathom getting all the way up here. There's no highways that really go here except for the interstate 990 which doesn't really go all the way and then it turns into Millersport which is kind of kind of kind of a highway and then it joins Transit and it's just kind of annoying. Having said that I think it's a really cool place to live and I like the YMCA and there are some pretty decent food options and some pretty nice people up here as well. And they don't seem to be afflicted by the horrible weather to the same degree as other parts of the region are. So I have to give them a massive five star upgrade I think finally eventually now. I've been to Lockport more times than I can count. My sort-of doctor is here, my fave Italian restaurant is here, 3 or 4 good friends live here, and I used to visit a garage here. I know the town pretty well. City, rather. It's a great City. Seriously though it is named as such because of the locks. The Erie Canal dissects the heart of this charming little city which has everything from leafy estates to cozy trailer parks with Eminem lookalikes rap-battling in the bushes with little dogs named Jack. Speaking of Jack, everyone loves One-Eyed Jacks. Let me just say, on record. I don't. Sorry. Instead, try Pulp 716 for Boba and the infamous sweet sauce slices of Pizza Oven for a snack. What I do love is The Village Eatery. If not for that place, I might even give LP a 3, (although LPs were always better than singles, right?) but it's like, the best Italian American food everrrr. OK, it's comparably good along with Mulberry in Like-I-Wanna, but it's much more typical and wholesome and filling and would probably take my prize for best Italian American Food In USA. Yes. That good. Parts of LP are really pretty, and even though it's way way way out of the way, it's really cute. Taking the 990 & Millersport up here is pretty fast. If you try and go up Transit, well in the words of the late, great James Caan, "forget about it, beefcake." Oh and Lockport will soon be changing its name. It has become the heart of the gay male community in WNY, and 7-and-a-half percent of the population is now either gay, or male, or both. Oh wait I meant, is both. Experts say this will rise up very fast and impress everyone, growing to a massive, erect 69% by mid-2015. And since these strapping young (and old) (and Middle Aged) (and so on) men often send pelfies to each other, it obviously will soon be known as "C**kport."