letchworth state park bestBESTofOF buffaloBUFFALO photo by peter koch by photo WHENIT’SWARMOUT Best Beach Small Boat Harbor Sunset Bay Niagara River : nominees are listed in random order : Sherkston Shores Eighteen Mile Creek Evangola State Park eading the results for our summer category almost always elicits the same set of Crystal Beach Best Golfing reactions from AV staff: First there’s cabin fever, then stunned silence and finally Beaver Island State Park River Oaks Country Club heavy drinking. While the folks who answer earnestly come back with many of Glen Oak Country Club Rthe same answers year after year—Sunset Bay and Evangola in beaches, Allega- Best Bicycling Delaware Park Riverwalk Deerwood Country Club ny and Letchworth in camping, Zoar Valley in hiking, the UB/Amherst bike path for bicy- Niawanda Park Brookfield Country Club cling, Delaware Park and Chestnut Ridge in parks—occasionally a notable upstart makes Niagara Parkway, Ontario the list, like Jones Pond, a gay campground in Angelica. They remind us of why everyone Buffalo’s Waterfront Best Hiking loves summers in Buffalo: long, sunny days and plenty of recreational opportunities. But Amherst/UB bike path Zoar Valley there are others, the ones who cause stunned silence and drinking, who remind of us of Niagara Gorge why democracy is bound to crumble. In the beaches category, many people decided on Best Camping Hunter’s Creek Zoar Valley Chestnut Ridge Park far-off locations, like Laguna Beach, South Beach and Topsail Island, North Carolina. We Letchworth State Park Allegany State Park can only assume that these are not the same people who directed their vitriol toward Jones Pond golfing. One told us to ask the rich white people, and a second simply declared, “Go golf Darien Lakes State Park Best Park in hell, yuppie scum.” Another morbid person likes the “beach” at Mirror Lake in Forest Allegany State Park Niawanda Park Lawn Cemetery. Two responses that raised eyebrows under the camping category fa- Letchworth State Park vored Girl Scout camp. We can only hope that there are Girl Scouts filling out our survey. Best Fishing Glen Falls Park Tifft Nature Preserve Delaware Park Needless to say, none of these answers made the top five lists. Sturgeon Point Chestnut Ridge Park Best Skating Ellicottville for skiing Pepsi Center Arizona IT’SCOLDOUT Hoyt Lake WHEN Best Winter Activity, Nonsport Fountain Plaza Cazenovia Park rink Sex ur winter category revealed a few indelible truths about Buffalonians. Namely that we Buffalo State College rink Drinking, bar-hopping like winter sports, we are all sex fiends, we really don’t need any excuse to miss work, we Sitting by the fire spend way too much time in Florida and several of us don’t quite get it…any of it. Best Skiing Going to the movies OAs is usually the case, sex ranks high in the Best Winter Activity, Nonsport category. But Kissing Bridge Going to the theater what about these variations that didn’t make the top five—”making love,” “bury the weenie,” “making Holimont whoopee” and “copulating”? These four answers came from a scientist, a romantic, a frat boy and an Holiday Valley Best Winter Excuse for Missing Work 80-year-old—you guess which came from whom. One person’s favorite thing to do in winter is to plan Snowed in, road closed, car won’t start for summer. Either he has a very busy summer or no job in the winter. Best Sledding Skiing Under Best Sledding, Buffalo seems hopelessly outmatched by the hilly southtowns, but Delaware Kissing Bridge Sick Park’s Shakespeare Hill snuck its way in, as did Ellicott Creek Park. This, however, isn’t half as de- Holiday Valley Sex pressing as one answer, the I-90 split. Don’t sled too far, kids! Ellicott Creek Park Hangover Buffalonians favor skating outdoors, as evidenced by three of the top five in Best Skating—Fountain Delaware Park Plaza, Cazenovia Park and Hoyt Lake. Other outdoor faves included the Black Rock Canal and Chestnut Ridge Park Best Winter Sport backyard ponds. When we said “Snowbird Destination” some people must have read “snowbunny,” Snowboarding because Ellicottville was nominated. Best Snowbird Destination Sledding, tubing, tobogganing One fellow who likes to have “snowball fights with the neighborhood kids as a nonsport activity” also The Caribbean Hockey used “took ice-ball to face in snowball fight with neighborhood kids” as an excuse for missing work. Mexico Downhill skiing Serves you right. Florida Cross-country skiing may 4, 2006 | | 31.