On June 5th we toured the region west of Rochester. First we had to wait for a couple Canada geese families to cross Edgemere Drive in front of our car. I dutifully filmed them and made a quick, cute YouTube sequence.
Our first stop was at McDonald’s in Hilton NY for a discounted Senior coffee. I judged McDonald’s the best cup of Joe at a reasonable price in the US.
We crossed the canal in Brockport and I took a swing through the college there which has radically changed since I attended in the fall of 1975. I recognized basically nothing. The trees are certainly much taller after 42 years! It is huge campus though. I could not find the Mclean residence hall for the life of me. I lived there 4 days a week for one semester.
When we got to Holley NY I followed some signs saying Holley Falls - which I had never heard of before then. It was beautiful! You drive down into a deep glen, and the world seems to fade away. It’s just splashing water, maybe a pair of ducks, the stream flowing away. There were picnic tables for public enjoyment but we just feasted our eyes...and my camera... alone.
Then we visited the Erie Canal Lift bridge park and realized we had finally found Podunk! A State of NY historical sign informed us that, long ago, Italian immigrant settlers lived there in a community referred to as “Podunk.” The trek across the grass in the park from my car to the lift bridge was perilous due to the presence of multiple “land mines.” Also known as piles of Canada geese droppings. They are large and in charge when a flock settles on the lawns near water in western NY!
We stopped in Le Roy NY at a park to snap pictures in a park and of Oatka Creek that flows through the center of town. I snapped a picture of the site of the first Jello-O factory. Yes, Jell-O originated in a small Western NY town around 1899.
Finally we got to Batavia NY and the old Holland Land Office building on West Main St. The beautiful stone building dates from the 1810s. The Holland Land Company owned almost all of Western New York at the time. Today it is a small but interesting museum with colonial American and Native American exhibits. A display of the Iroquois Snow Snake game was something new for me.
Cannon in front of Batavia's Holland Land Office
Afterwords we had a meal at a locally owned eatery, along with a few dozen NY State lawmen. We felt very safe!
The next day we joined four members of my family in a restaurant to celebrate my cousins birthday, which was actually the month earlier. At each birthday they do a get together. They are all in the 70’s - except me.
On June 7 we began my long anticipated tent camping trip to the Adirondack Mountains. My first discovery was a historic star fort in Oswego NY, on a bluff overlooking Lake Ontario. How did I live in only 75 miles west, in Rochester, for 23 years and not ever visit this? The fort was originally built in 1759. In the early years it was a British garrison. I need to go back and tour this large impressive fort!
The next day we joined four members of my family in a restaurant to celebrate my cousins birthday, which was actually the month earlier. At each birthday they do a get together. They are all in the 70’s - except me.
On June 7 we began my long anticipated tent camping trip to the Adirondack Mountains. My first discovery was a historic star fort in Oswego NY, on a bluff overlooking Lake Ontario. How did I live in only 75 miles west, in Rochester, for 23 years and not ever visit this? The fort was originally built in 1759. In the early years it was a British garrison. I need to go back and tour this large impressive fort!
In Mexico NY I carefully drove around an Amish buggy. I did not know before this that there was such a large number of this interesting group living in this part of NYS.
I admired a row of four Greek Revival churches in the village of Holland Patent NY. The stone churches ringed a central village green with an 1890’s gazebo. This place was dripping with historic buildings.
Onward we drove up state route 28, past Remsen where a girlfriend of mine has a vacation home. Then up into the sunny Adirondack Park proper we climbed, beyond Old Forge to Inlet, NY. There we claimed campsite #2 in the state run campground on Limekiln Lake. And what a serene site it was! The loons called out on the lake and a tired and content Carol fell fast asleep in her tent.
June 8th was a long, lovely day of a loop drive around the southeastern Adirondacks. We enjoyed views of Raquette Lake, Blue Mountain Lake, and Long Lake. Lunch was at scenic Buttermilk Falls on the Raquette River. A couple older men came along in a canoe and had to portage around the falls past our picnic table. The chain of lakes is a popular canoe trip.
From a scenic point in Newcomb we could see all the way to Mt Marcy, the highest peak in New York State at 5344 feet. I found the defunct old Frontier Town theme park in North Hudson. All I could do was access the large parking lot and reminisce about the “Indian Village” and Old West main street and my first ride in a real stagecoach. (We are talking late 1950’s I think.)
I admired a row of four Greek Revival churches in the village of Holland Patent NY. The stone churches ringed a central village green with an 1890’s gazebo. This place was dripping with historic buildings.
Onward we drove up state route 28, past Remsen where a girlfriend of mine has a vacation home. Then up into the sunny Adirondack Park proper we climbed, beyond Old Forge to Inlet, NY. There we claimed campsite #2 in the state run campground on Limekiln Lake. And what a serene site it was! The loons called out on the lake and a tired and content Carol fell fast asleep in her tent.
June 8th was a long, lovely day of a loop drive around the southeastern Adirondacks. We enjoyed views of Raquette Lake, Blue Mountain Lake, and Long Lake. Lunch was at scenic Buttermilk Falls on the Raquette River. A couple older men came along in a canoe and had to portage around the falls past our picnic table. The chain of lakes is a popular canoe trip.
From a scenic point in Newcomb we could see all the way to Mt Marcy, the highest peak in New York State at 5344 feet. I found the defunct old Frontier Town theme park in North Hudson. All I could do was access the large parking lot and reminisce about the “Indian Village” and Old West main street and my first ride in a real stagecoach. (We are talking late 1950’s I think.)
We got to the pristine clean waters of Schroon Lake. My family had rented a cottage on the lake a couple times when I was a child. I wasn’t sure where, so I called my brother and he gave me directions to the area. I found the location, the beach where I swam, the giant “mountain” I tried to climb behind the cottage. Such fond memories!
Before we got back to the campground, I passed a sign advertising a Fish Fry at 7th Lake House. So I pulled a u-turn and we settled down to a fabulous meal on the back porch. It was $40 altogether but you just can’t get such a treat, and such a view, back home in Arizona.
On the morning of the 9th I struck camp and we headed north. Sad to leave the loons at Limekiln Lake but more adventures ahead! There was Tupper Lake and Saranac Lake, where we ate a lakeside picnic. Then we found ourselves at Whiteface Mountain. Although not the highest, because it is set apart, there is a 360o view from the peak. The top is accessible by paved road in season. I paid my $20 toll and up and up we went. There are many pull offs with great views. We could even see Vermont! They say it is sometimes possible to see the skyscrapers of Montreal on very clear days!
The wind was steady at the 4600’ peak. I climbed a bit of the way up the trail to the very top, but didn’t want to leave my sweetheart on the cold stone bench for too long. Down below we took a peek at the Whiteface Mountain Ski Area across a bridge over the rushing whitewater Ausable River. This was the site of the 1980 Winter Olympics. As I drove through the traffic-choked town of Lake Placid NY, it was hard to imagine such a small venue hosting the world today.
As I headed north we passed North Pole NY where I have another childhood memory of Santa’s Workshop. But I only remember being impressed with the tame deer on the grounds, and less by Santa in mid-summer!
Further north we wound our way toward Ogdensburg and eventually to Jacque Cartier State Park on the St Lawrence River. Directly across from us lay the Ontario, Canada city of Brockville. I put up the tent amidst a flurry of mayflies. I have never seen such a horde of the critters in my life! There was no one to collect our fee so I tried to find a dropbox for our check. There was none to be found! We got the last open spot directly on the water.
We viewed two ocean-going freighter ships nearer to the Canadian side. Seeing such ships is impressive to inland folks like us. Later that evening, I heard a splash and figured kids were throwing rocks in the river. Then I saw the source of the splash! A beaver gave another flick of his tail and then he was gone.
Before we got back to the campground, I passed a sign advertising a Fish Fry at 7th Lake House. So I pulled a u-turn and we settled down to a fabulous meal on the back porch. It was $40 altogether but you just can’t get such a treat, and such a view, back home in Arizona.
On the morning of the 9th I struck camp and we headed north. Sad to leave the loons at Limekiln Lake but more adventures ahead! There was Tupper Lake and Saranac Lake, where we ate a lakeside picnic. Then we found ourselves at Whiteface Mountain. Although not the highest, because it is set apart, there is a 360o view from the peak. The top is accessible by paved road in season. I paid my $20 toll and up and up we went. There are many pull offs with great views. We could even see Vermont! They say it is sometimes possible to see the skyscrapers of Montreal on very clear days!
The wind was steady at the 4600’ peak. I climbed a bit of the way up the trail to the very top, but didn’t want to leave my sweetheart on the cold stone bench for too long. Down below we took a peek at the Whiteface Mountain Ski Area across a bridge over the rushing whitewater Ausable River. This was the site of the 1980 Winter Olympics. As I drove through the traffic-choked town of Lake Placid NY, it was hard to imagine such a small venue hosting the world today.
As I headed north we passed North Pole NY where I have another childhood memory of Santa’s Workshop. But I only remember being impressed with the tame deer on the grounds, and less by Santa in mid-summer!
Further north we wound our way toward Ogdensburg and eventually to Jacque Cartier State Park on the St Lawrence River. Directly across from us lay the Ontario, Canada city of Brockville. I put up the tent amidst a flurry of mayflies. I have never seen such a horde of the critters in my life! There was no one to collect our fee so I tried to find a dropbox for our check. There was none to be found! We got the last open spot directly on the water.
We viewed two ocean-going freighter ships nearer to the Canadian side. Seeing such ships is impressive to inland folks like us. Later that evening, I heard a splash and figured kids were throwing rocks in the river. Then I saw the source of the splash! A beaver gave another flick of his tail and then he was gone.
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