Road Trip! Destination: East Aurora, N.Y.
It's easy to overlook East Aurora, N.Y., as you whiz past its Interstate 90 exit on your way to Buffalo, Niagara Falls or Canada.
But those who take the off-ramp will find a small-town community that was once the epicenter for the dawning American Arts and Crafts movement.
The town's main street is filled with a rich variety of independently owned boutiques, galleries, stores and restaurants — casual and formal.
The Elm Street Bakery, tucked away on a side street, is a welcome place to recuperate with a fresh-baked scone and a cup of in-house roasted coffee. Its ovens warm up a cold day or evening with wood-fired pizzas and wood-roasted entrees.
Train buffs may want to dine or lift a pint at the Riley Street Station restaurant in what used to be the Pennsylvania Railroad Station.
If you're in the mood for seasonal recreation, the nearby 633-acre Knox Farm State Park offers cross-country skiing or you can take to the ice at the Healthy Zone Classic Rink on Riley Street.
For more suggestions and vacation-planning information, check out the Greater East Aurora Chamber of Commerce at 716-652-8444 or eanycc.com and Visit Buffalo Niagara at 888-228-3369 or visitbuffaloniagara.com
Roycroft Campus
In the late 19th century, Elbert Hubbard established his Roycroft Press and a guild of craftsmen as a reaction to the Victorian-age fondness for what he considered soulless machine-made items.
Like the designs of the now more widely known Gustav Stickley, Roycroft artisans' furniture, lamps, pottery and books featured spare, clean lines and simple design that emphasized natural materials. At its height, as many as 500 glassworkers, furniture makers, metalsmiths, bookbinders and other artisans lived and worked there.
Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986, the Roycroft campus is a historical site and center for 21st-century artists. Visitors can learn about Hubbard and his philosophy and see how it lives on in new work by contemporary artists.
Nine of the original 14 structures, including the inn, the chapel, the print shop, the furniture shop, the power house and the copper shop, remain as part of the Roycroft campus. Some buildings can be visited on your own, but it's advisable to book one of the tours. Tour members receive background and context — and admission to some of the buildings closed to the general public.
Arrive early to get an in-depth look at historical materials in the visitor center and a reserve post-tour window of opportunity to linger in the shops and workshops to watch artists at work in studios and browse the completed objects.
Details: 716-655-0261 or roycroftcampuscorp.com
Roycroft Inn
Fans of the American Arts and Crafts movement will feel right at home in the meticulously restored Roycroft Inn. It was originally built in 1905 to accommodate visitors to Hubbard's artisan community.
After years of decay and abandonment, the inn was re-opened in 1995 after an $8 million renovation that meticulously restored guest rooms and public areas to their original glory. Guest rooms retain the period-style decor and furniture but also feature 21st-century conveniences such as air conditioning, TVs and contemporary bathrooms.
Those without accommodations are welcome to settle into a Morris chair in the lobby to admire Alexis Jean Fournier's murals that surround the room or order a drink and warm up by the fireplace in the Craftsman Lounge.
Details: 716-652-5552 or roycroftinn.com
Aurora History Museum
The Aurora Historical Society's museum focuses on local history with displays of artifacts from early Native Americans and European settlers as well as exhibits of the town's ongoing history.
Sharing space with the town's municipal offices in the Southside Municipal Center, the small museum entertains visitors with exhibits chronicling “The Toys of Toy Town,” “ ‘New-Age' Medicine in Old-Time East Aurora” and “When Doctors Made House Calls.”
The town's history is illustrated in murals created in 1978 by artist Rixford “Rix” Upham Jennings, who grew up in the town and later worked as an animator for Walt Disney Studios before moving back to East Aurora.
You also can get a look at the exterior and gardens of the historical society's Millard Fillmore Presidential Site, which our 13th president built in 1826 for himself and his new wife, Abigail. Tours of the interior are available from June to October. Special tours may be arranged by contacting the Historical Society.
Details: 716-652-4735 or aurorahistoricalsociety.com
Fisher-Price Toystore
Fisher-Price, that universal purveyor of Little People playsets, got its start in East Aurora in 1930. Its brightly colored toys can be found in playrooms around the world.
But the corporate headquarters remains in East Aurora.
It's also home to the Fisher-Price Toystore that fills its shelves and floor with a wide selection of Fisher-Price and Mattel products.
While not an outlet or a discount store, the store does offer weekly specials and in-store promotions as well as answers to the question “What did you bring me?”
Details: 716-687-3300 or fisherpricetoystore.com
Made in America Store
In nearby Elma, N.Y., the Made in America Store is hard to miss. If you were to somehow overlook its big signs and red-white-and-blue canopy, the life-size, carved-wood statue of soldiers planting the American flag on Iwo Jima is sure to catch your eye.
Open since 2010, the store operates as a mini-department store of 100-percent American-made items that range from Anchor Bar Wing Sauce and Saratoga Blizzard Peanut Butter to hammers, underwear and Tinker Toy building sets for kids.
Details: 716-652-4872 or madeinamericastore.com
Vidler's 5 and 10
Spanning four 19th-century buildings on East Aurora's Main Street, Vidlers serves as a trip back in time and a contemporary convenience.
In the days before shopping malls and big-box specialty stores, nearly every town — big or small — had a variety store that sold an eclectic mix of necessary items. That tradition survives at Vidler's, which stocks 75,000 items ranging from the essential — pens, greeting cards, thermometers and cookie cutters — to the nostalgic — Necco Wafers, rock candy and a collection of movie and TV-related mugs, key chains and magnets that span the decades from “The Wizard of Oz” to “Star Wars.”
Details: 716-652-0481 or vidlers5and10.com
Alice T. Carter is a contributing writer to Trib Total Media.
