Patti’s Pizza

Patti’s Pizza

If you’re in search of local pizza restaurants and want to support small businesses in the area, Patti’s Pizza might be the place you’re looking for! With locations on both the west side and the east side, this multi-generational family pizza shop has been serving up fresh pizzas, subs, and salads daily for decades.

Location:

Patti’s Pizza has two locations in Erie, PA, but the one we visited is located at 3403 West 38th Street, Erie, PA 16506. Patti’s Pizza is open from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. daily, but holiday hours will differ. It’s conveniently located by McDowell High School, so it’s a great place to grab a snack after school or grab an early dinner after picking up your kids, or even a late dinner after a sporting event.

Property Description:

This is a pizza and sub shop with a counter placed almost directly in front of you as you walk in. To your right, you will see a set of French doors that open into a lovely dining area, in case you would like to eat inside of the restaurant. To the left of the counter, you’ll find chips and other small snack bags, as well as cold drinks, such as grape soda and other various flavors. Patti’s has built their reputation on quality and consistency, and it’s no surprise that the recipes haven’t changed in years. They’ve found what works and they keep it simple for their patrons.

What to Do:

If you enjoy a good piece of pizza, this is the place for you. With crust that’s nice and crisp on the edges to its cheesy goodness all the way into the center, we think Patti’s boasts some excellent pizza. Their toppings include cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, onion, banana peppers, sweet peppers, black olives, sausage, meatballs, ham, bacon, and anchovies. They also offer a few specialty pizzas like chicken bacon ranch and vegetarian.

If you’re not into pizza but still want to try out Patti’s, they offer 19 different subs, 7 different salads, wings, pepperoni balls, and pizza balls. Click here to check out their full menu.

Cheese Pizza
Turkey Sub

You can order your food as take out, or you can enjoy it in their dining room, which is to your right after you walk in. We love that Patti’s Pizza has a dining space; we believe it makes this a great go-to spot for anyone in the area to come have lunch or dinner.

Dining Room

Who Can Go:

Anyone can enjoy the deliciousness of this local pizza place in Erie, PA. It is easily accessible for all people. They also have a simple operation, so unless it’s something big like Super Bowl Sunday pizza you are after, you can usually call in an order for pickup and have it ready within about 10 to 15 minutes. This is why you can stand there for just a few minutes and see what feels like dozens of customers coming in for pickup orders or a quick lunch, and the food is simple enough, yet creative enough, that young and old alike can find something great to eat in Erie, PA.

Final Thoughts:

When trying to choose a local pizza place in Erie, PA, we recommend giving Patti’s a try! We really enjoyed their pizza and subs. They serve great food and are so conveniently located on both the east and west sides of Erie.

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[Editor’s note: Please be aware that we are not affiliated with Patti’s Pizza in any way. This is true of all of our posts. We simply enjoy wandering around the Erie area as we know finding what to do in Erie, PA can be hard.]

Chautauqua Park

Chautauqua Park

Our quest to find the perfect sunst watching destination brought us to Chautauqua Park. If you’re looking for parks in Erie, PA, the simplicity and beautiful views of Chautauqua Park may be perfect for you.

Location:

Chautauqua Park is located at Lakeside Drive and Chautauqua Boulevard, Erie, PA 16511.

Great spot to watch the sun go down

Property Description:

This has a very “park like” setting, with a picnic pavilion and plenty of benches to sit on so that you can relax and enjoy the view of beautiful Lake Erie. The park is open from 8 a.m.-9 p.m. daily.

There is a small parking lot located on the edge of the park right at the meeting of Lakeside Drive and Chautauqua Boulevard, but there are not many spaces, so be aware of that if you plan on meeting up with a large group.

What to Do:

Chautauqua Park is a great place to watch the sunset in Erie, PA, and in fact, the reason we visited in the first place. However, once there, we realized that the park had more to offer.

This would be a great place to come to for a family gathering, a meet up with friends, or a simple date. Because of the picnic pavilion and tables provided, we thought it might be a good place to bring a meal, hang out, and enjoy the beauty that surrounds you.

Picnic pavilion and other seating

There is a utility road with access to a creek, but you cannot get into the water. It is, however, a nice place to enjoy the views of the lake.

Creek Access

Clearly, watching the sunset from this location can be stunning. The park provides several benches that allow you to take a load off your feet and watch the beauty that is an Erie sunset. If you enjoy photography, this would be a great place to post up for the evening and capture some beautiful photos.

Sunset

Who Can Go:

We think this park is very accessible by anyone, except if you’d like to walk down to the actual shoreline. There at stairs to get down, but they are built into the earth and very, very steep. One of us was brave enough to venture down and take some photos.

Yep. This is how you get down to the beach.

If you’re looking for beach glass in Erie, this might be the perfect park for you as we found a ton of it on the shoreline at the beach. You do have to walk down steep steps, but if you’re an adventurer and enjoy collecting or crafting with beach glass, this could be a great spot for you!

Pets are welcome at Chautauqua Park, but be sure to keep them on a leash and clean up after them!

Final Thoughts:

We enjoyed Chautauqua Park, especially as an option to go to when wanting to watch the sunset in Erie, PA. This is not a place to swim, so if that’s what you’re looking to do, we would advise to steer clear of this location. It’s a park we think would be great to spend a little bit of time at, whether you want to just take in the beauty of your surroundings, or enjoy a simple meal in the picnic pavillion.

Sunset view from a park bench

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[Editor’s note: Please be aware that we are not affiliated with Chautauqua Oark in any way. This is true of all of our posts. We simply enjoy wandering around the Erie area as we know finding what to do in Erie, PA can be hard.]

5 Places to Get Ice Cream in Erie, PA

5 Places to Get Ice Cream in Erie, PA

The weather is warm, sometimes too warm, so we decided to bring you 5 places to get ice cream in Erie, PA. Check one out, or check all of them out!

Creamland

6221 West Ridge Road, Erie, PA 16506

Creamland is typically known for it’s delicious Perry’s Ice Cream! To go along with their ice cream, they offer sundaes, floats, and banana splits.

Click here for more info!

Mr. Shivers

11220 Old Route 19 N, Waterford, PA 16441

Mr. Shivers scoops out Perry’s Ice Cream, boasting 30 flavor choices on our last trip there! We love that this stand also has a menu that’s fit for lunch or dinner, so if you want to enjoy a meal and then go back and get some ice cream for dessert, this may be a great location for you!

Click here for more info!

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Main Street Cakery Café

2900 Copperleaf Drive, Erie, PA 16509

If you’re looking for a cold treat, The Cakery offers Ashby’s Sterling Ice Cream. On the day we went, they offered 12 flavor choices, including Raspberry Chip Cheesecake and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup. This is a café style restaurant which also serves meals, with a bakery and coffee counter located directly inside the entrance. The Cakery would be a great choice if you’d like to enjoy a sit down meal before your ice cream treat! Upon walking in, the ice cream selections will be to your left. Seating is located both to the left and to the right, and also outside.

Click here for more info!

The Double Dipper

5320 Buffalo Road, Erie, PA 16510

This is a great place to get ice cream in Erie, PA! They serve Perry’s Ice Cream, and when we visited they had 14 different flavors, so there’s bound to be a flavor for everyone to enjoy! Along with Perry’s Ice Cream, The Double Dipper offers milkshakes, soft serve cones, dippers, build your own sundae, ice cream sandwiches, root beer floats, and slushies.

Click here for more info!

Whippy Dip

2527 Chestnut Street, Erie, PA 16502

They serve fantastic soft serve ice cream! If you enjoy soft serve, this is an awesome location for you to visit. They also have shakes, snowstorms, slushies, and bakery items. And cold desserts are not their only forte, Whippy Dip also serves several savory items!

Click here for more info!

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[Editor’s note: Please be aware that we are not affiliated with any of these businesses in any way. This is true of all of our posts. We simply enjoy wandering around the Erie area as we know finding what to do in Erie, PA can be hard.]

Castle Ice Cream and Castle Mini Golf

Castle Ice Cream and Castle Mini Golf

Getting ice cream at a stand in the summer is great, but pair it with putt putt and we think that’s even better! We recently enjoyed an evening at Castle Ice Cream and Castle Mini Golf in Fairview, PA!

Location:

Castle Ice Cream and Castle Mini Golf are located at 7334 W Lake Rd, Fairview, PA 16415 and 7354 W Lake Rd, Fairview, PA 16415. We wanted to provide both addresses, but please know that these are literally right next to each other and basically connected by the picnic tables and giant dragon (for kids to play on) in between.

Castle Ice Cream

Property Description:

Castle Ice Cream is an ice cream stand that also has a drive through! There is parking available right in front of the stand. There are picnic tables located in between Castle Ice Cream and Castle Mini Golf that you can enjoy your tasty treats at.

Seating Area

There is ample parking, and you can find it in the front of both the ice cream and mini golf locations.

Ice cream parking area

Castle Mini Golf is a putt putt course with 18 holes. It’s landscaped beautifully, with lots of greenery, flowers, and water features. There are many Instagram worthy photo locations throughout the course.

A great spot on the course to take a photo
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What to Do:

Castle Ice Cream offers several different flavors of ice cream, as well as sundaes, ice cream cookie sandwiches, soft serve, and smoothies. If you’re looking for something less sweet, they do offer hot pretzels, hot dogs, and chips. We really enjoyed our ice cream cones, someone went big this time and got a triple scoop! Their pricing for their ice cream is 1 scoop for $2.60, 2 scoops for $3.50, and 3 scoops for $4.10, in either a cone or a bowl. Soft serve is different, in size small, medium, and large ranging from $2.39-$3.49.

Orange Milk Shake

Castle Mini Golf is a professionally designed 18 hole course that allows you to have a friendly game or a major challenge with anyone you bring. The pricing is $8.00 for adults and $7.00 for kids (ages 5-12). Please note that adult supervision is required for kids to play. A fun fact about pricing is that the 2nd consecutive game of mini golf is 1/2 of a regular priced game! They will give you a pencil and a scorecard, so you can decide whether or not you’d like to keep track.

Practice green at the beginning of the course

Who Can Go:

Anyone can enjoy ice cream but there is a step up to get to the window in front to place your order. Also, keep in mind that you can order through the drive through if you would like.

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Castle Mini Golf is actually one of the handicap accessible putt putt courses in Erie, PA, giving anyone the ability to enjoy a round of golf. The course gives a challenge to any age; we had people age ranged in our group from toddlers to 60’s. The course was played well by both, and someone even got a hole in one!

We also want to mention that because this course is handicap accessible, it’s also very easy to push a stroller through if you have a little who’s not quite ready to play yet.

Accessible Pathways between holes

Final Thoughts:

We had a lot of fun playing putt putt and getting ice cream in Fairview, PA. The course wasn’t too crowded when we went, but there were consistently people behind us coming in as we played. We would recommend splitting up your group if it’s very large to avoid backing up the course.

If you’re looking for mini golf and ice cream in Fairview, this is the place to be!

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[Editor’s note: Please be aware that we are not affiliated with Castle Ice Cream and Castle Mini Golf in any way. This is true of all of our posts. We simply enjoy wandering around the Erie area as we know finding what to do in Erie, PA can be hard.]

Elk Creek Access

Elk Creek Access

We’re coming to find that there are many different lake access points in the Erie area, such as Shorewood Park and Walnut Creek Marina. Elk Creek Access is not only one of these Lake Erie access points, but a great spot to visit!

Location:

You’ll find Elk Creek Access at the end of Elk Creek Road, Lake City, PA 16423. We’ve included a map below to help you figure out where the destination is.

Brought to you by Google Maps

Property Description:

This is beach and water access, near homes and summer cottages. There’s not a ton of space to park, but you should be able to find a spot being that this is a pretty unfilled area when it comes to outside traffic. You’ll find a little sand, but it is mostly rocks and pebbles on the beach.

What to Do:

There is no lifeguard available, so we would advise staying out of the water for swimming purposes. We did dip our feet in, walk along the edge, and look for beach glass, and we found so many pieces! This beach was full of it, so we highly recommend coming here if collecting beach glass is something you like to do. We heard the best time to pan for beach glass is after a storm, so this may be the perfect place to come the morning after one of Erie’s nighttime thunderstorms.

Beach glass among rocks and pebbles
Our beach glass haul

We are sometimes lucky enough to view things that we wouldn’t even think of, and our trip to Elk Creek Access was one of those times. A couple of guys had brought their dog, who they were teaching how to retrieve in the water. The kids loved watching him run back and forth, and it got us thinking that this beach in particular is probably a great place to bring your dog to play because it is definitely not a busy as some of the other beaches in Erie, such as Presque Isle.

If you’re looking for the best place to watch the sunset in Erie, add this to your list of options. We did come to this beach at sunset, and noticed that although there were still people there, the actual beach itself wasn’t very busy. The people who live in the area were watching, but mainly from their own property; we saw roughly 3 groups besides ourselves on the beach.

Who Can Go:

All are welcome at this beach and creek access point in Lake City. This is definitely a cozy place for a date night in Erie, but it’s also a great place to hang out with your family and friends or bring your dog to run and play. You do have to walk across rocks, so it’s not most easily accessible place to visit if you want to get close to the water.

Be aware that there is some private property in this area, so not all points are accessible to the public.

Final Thoughts:

We really enjoyed our evening at Elk Creek Access. We highly recommend this beach if you are looking for beach glass in Erie, PA and the area surrounding the lake.

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[Editor’s note: Please be aware that we are not affiliated with Elk Creek Access in any way. This is true of all of our posts. We simply enjoy wandering around the Erie area as we know finding what to do in Erie, PA can be hard.]

Pleasant Ridge Park – Fairview, PA

When it comes to getting outside in this climate, one of your best options is traveling to a park. We explored Pleasant Ridge Park in Fairview, PA and it checks off all of the boxes for a way to get out into nature.  

Entrance Sign

Location:

Pleasant Ridge Park is located in Fairview, PA, on the west side near the border with Girard, Pa. It is located at 8271 Barker Road, Girard, PA 16417. It can easily be reached by taking U.S. Route 20 westbound until you get to the border of Girard and Fairview.

Property Description:

This park is an 80-acre recreational park with portions that include woods, trails, sports fields, and rolling fields. In addition, there is a small playground and a pavilion which can seat approximately 100 people and can be rented out.

Athletic Fields

Things to do:

The specific sports amenities include full-sized soccer fields, softball fields, a sand volleyball court, and a small playground. Also, there are ample trails to walk or run. The park is open year-round, so the hills are great for sled riding and the trails double down as cross-country skiing when snow is on the ground.

In addition, the trails, trees, and scenery make for a popular destination to anyone having pictures taken. This includes family portraits, wedding photography, senior photos, and other announcements.  

Playground

Who Can Go:

Pets are welcome at this park. It should go without saying that you are responsible for your pet, as well as cleaning up after them. While you should check to be certain before you go, we have seen horses and horseback riding on the trails in the past. The trails are made of dirt and grass, and while maintained and wide, they are not paved. They do provide for very easy walking, however, individuals requiring a flat surface may want to be aware of this before venturing too far back.

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More Information:

With respect to the size of the trails, you could easily spend 30 minutes walking, but there are different trails to run and you could easily pick up a few miles in the longer loop, while also being able to take shorter routes or different paths every time you go.

One point to note. There is a drinking fountain at the entrance as well as bathrooms which are well maintained. During this current COVID crisis, bathrooms are currently closed (This blog post was written in 2020, please check the website for current bathroom operations).

Park Scenery

In addition to the items already mentioned, this site is great for bird watching as there are many different species throughout the park. There are also deer trails, and occasionally deer can be spotted. You also won’t mistake the sound of bull frogs which can heard in the frog pond in the corner of the larger field, and also as you walk across the foot bridge.

Park Rules

Be aware of the basic rules before you go. Some of the basics are that the park is open from dawn until dusk. In addition, be smart. This is a community park, so clean up after yourself and your pets. And if you have any other questions, you can also contact the Fairview Parks and Recreation Authority at 814-474-5077.

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[Editor’s note: Please be aware that we are not affiliated with The Buffalo Cherry Blossom Festival in any way. This is true of all of our posts. We simply enjoy wandering around Erie as we know finding what to do in Erie, PA area can be hard.]