Tues Sept 21: Seneca St Pk back to Seneca Falls

In which we find the PA Dutch mother lode  ...

We were at the northern entrance to Seneca Lake and our plan had been to venture out on to the lake today and go to the Bellhurst Castle winery for a tasting and lunch but the weather did not cooperate.  The wind was blowing straight from the south (the lake is orientated north/south) gusting to 25 mph or more.  The wind and kite surfers where having the best day ever, but it wasn’t conducive to boating.  The waves were big and we were not going to go out on the lake. 

Melanie for some reason got up to take pictures of the sunrise!

Sunrise reflected on the clouds.

We got out our bikes and rode along the bike path that skirts the lake on the northern end.  We were only a few miles from Geneva, NY and rode over for a visit.  They have totally redone the water front and it is very pretty. 

A fun sign with the distance to all the other cities/towns named Geneva!

A perfect day for kite surfing!

We rode our bikes to the end of the bike trail and turned around heading back to the boat.  Rick, as usual, was a bit stressed about getting off the dock with the strong wind blowing and then even more stressed about getting under the low bridge THAT WE’VE ALREADY BEEN UNDER!  He seemed to think that the strong wind could blow the water up the lake thus raising the level such that we would be unable to get under the bridge.  Melanie drove, Rick monitored and we made it under the bridge without any problems.  Rick just needs to chill the heck out!

We cruised the short distance on the Cayuga-Seneca canal back to Seneca Falls.  There is rain and wind in the forecast for the next couple of days so we’ve decided to stay at least two days here and wait for the weather to improve. 

We wanted to get to a grocery store to replenish our food supply and found a brochure for a local Farmers Market type grocery store within bike riding distance.  We got out the bikes (yes, twice in one day) and headed off to Sauders Store and upon arrival found one of the most wonderful food retail stores we’ve ever visited.   Turns out Sauders is a Mennonite country store with an unbelievable offering of fresh vegetables, meats and homemade prepared foods.  It is impossible to truly convey how amazing the offering is and we wandered the aisles filling our small shopping cart with way more than we needed.  We couldn’t help ourselves!  There were all kinds of people shopping there including many Amish folk and many of the employees were Amish too. 

We finished our shopping and cycled back to the boat with our bounty.  We were only sad that we don’t live closer to this wonderful store!

Mon Sept 20: Seneca Falls to Seneca Falls State Park Marina

 In which we are both thankful for Dangerous Women ...

We were up at what Rick calls 'a reasonable hour' because our to-do list was long. After a supremely uninspired breakfast at a local diner, the first stop was the Woman's Rights National Park.  The buildings were closed due to Covid, but the ranger talk was terrific.  Of particular interest to us was the fact that so many things had to come together just so, in order to make history in this time and place.  One of those things was the matriarchal nature of the local Iroquois community.  The equality of men and women in this culture caught the attention of the women active in the Abolition movement, showing them that there might be a different way for women to live.

I know my own husband would have been 100% behind such an endeavor.

I encourage you to read the Declaration of Sentiments.  Using language based on the Declaration of Independence it's quite stirring.  It is also clear that some of these rights still do not exist in full.

This statue commemorates the important meeting of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, one of the primary founders of the right movement, and Susan B Anthony, a Quaker activist.  It is said that their friendship was critical because 'Elizabeth stirred up Susan, and Susan stirred up the world'.

I am so glad that these 'dangerous women' (as they were called by the status quo) had such a vision for the way things could be, and fought hard to make it a reality.  I would be proud to be considered 'dangerous'.

I got so riled up about all the things we should be fighting for that I had to look over the peaceful view to calm myself down.

The bridge to the right of this old mill building (now the site of the Women's Hall of Fame) is said to be the one made famous in the movie It's a Wonderful Life.  There is a museum about that movie here in Seneca Falls, but we can't stop for that this time around.

A glimpse of our 'wonderful life' through George Bailey's bridge.

We were hoping to get to Seneca Lake before the weather deteriorates, so we left the Seneca Falls wall and headed out on our last western leg, to the Seneca State Park Marina at the edge of the big lake.

The way there seemed to consist of huge trailer parks, with docks.

I don't know if you can see these three ducks on this old branch - but if you ask me it clearly shows that ducks grow on trees.

You can see us stopped for the night right at the edge of Seneca Lake. It's been awhile since we have seen a large body of water.

By this point we were both feeling a little direction-challenged, but I guess we are facing west ....??  We haven't seen lights twinkling on a far shore since Lake Champlain, and it's quite nice.

Sun Sept 19: Lyons to Seneca Falls free wall

 In which today's museum is NOT a disappointMINT ...

First thing in the morning we got off our lovely dock to see some more of the town sights!

Our lovely dock!

Lyons has a number of excellent murals.

The Pour House!  Get it?!  We had to go to the pour house just so we could say we did.

I know you have always wondered how to satisfy your copious dart needs ...

Our main goal of the day (actually of the stop in Lyons) was to visit the Hotchkiss Mint Museum.  As mentioned in yesterday’s post this area was the center for growing Peppermint, and the resulting oil was used in all kinds of products, potions, and tonics.  Since we like small unusual museums, this seemed like it would be perfect entertainMINT.  In order to visit this museum one has to CALL THE DIRECTOR and set up a time for her to personally open it! Director Patty - known as Peppermint Patty, of course - spent 2 hours of her Sunday morning giving us a detailed tour, and a history of both the business and the area. As a retired history teacher she is in the perfect role, and has spent many years putting together the museum and collecting Hotchkiss memorabilia from all over.  It's clearly and labor of love (a testaMINT to her commitment) , and her enthusiasm is infectious! And Mr History gave her lots of encourageMINT. We came away with a lot of knowledge (who knew there were over 20 species of mint), and some excellent minty souvenirs...some things are just MINT to be eaten.  No - truly - I'm trying to stop this run away pun train, but Rick keeps offering positive reinforceMINT.  It's a predicaMINT, I think you will agree..

The original company was started in the small room on the lower left, eventually  taking over the whole building.

We are MINT to be together on this adventure!

The company was situated 15 feet from the original Erie Canal (called “Clinton’s Ditch” in honor of the then governor of NY) so that Peppermint oil could be brought in, filtered, tested and packaged.  Finished oil was then crated and sent on down the Erie Canal to places all over the world!   Again, showing just how important the Erie Canal was to both the local NY economy, and the creation of economic progress in the early USA. 

Additional warehouse for H. G. Hotchkiss Peppermint Oil Co. Note the upper loft doors for loading things in and out.

Returning to the boat Rick was distressed to notice a NEW NICK in the bow - in a place that's actually hard to nick, even if you were trying...  : (

Next up - Seneca Falls! Today we will leave the Erie Canal and head onto the Cayuga-Seneca canal system that will take us to both Cayuga and Seneca Lakes.  But first a couple of bridges to worry about.  Just to make things extra nerve-wracking for Rick, they added wrapping to the scaffolding we had to deal with last time we went under this damn bridge. For the love of ...

Whew - we made it under.

 

 

The junction of the Erie and Cayuga-Seneca Canals

We traveled through Locks E-26 and E-25 on the Erie Canal, and then turned right onto the CS canal. There are a total of 4 locks on the CS canal, but locks CS2 and CS3 are special in that they are connected “stair step” locks.  It is hard to see in this picture below, but basically you enter lock CS2 and are lifted 25 feet.  When that door opens you travel directly into lock CS3 and are lifted another 25 feet.  As we’ve said before there is always a new challenge on this adventure. 

Locks CS-2 & CS-3 stair step locks. Basically the 4 CS locks are taking us up from the Erie level to the much higher finger lakes region.

We make it to Locks 2&3 just in time.   The locks now only operate until 5 pm (during the peak summer season locks can stay open until 9 or 10 pm).  We pulled into another free wall and tied up for the night.  Seneca Falls is a charming small town, and is home to the Woman’s Rights National Park. In the 1830’s Seneca Falls was a thriving mill town that used water power of the river to operate many of its businesses.   Over time, as the canal was widened, they eventually damned up the river which created a small lake and submerged the falls ending the availability of water power for the mills. 

We are comfy on the wall, with the harvest moon coming up over the bridge in the distance.  Right now it looks like one of the street lights.

Goodnight, you wonderful old building ...

Sat Sept 18: Palmyra to Lyons free town wall

In which we become the talk of the town of Lyons ...

Since the ENTIRE TOWN was closed for this Purple Painted Lady Festival thingy (named for an Arts & Craft store in Palmyra) we decided to join in.  We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit what was billed as one of the largest Arts and Crap (Rick's word) festivals in all of western New York.  I'll tell you this for free - they were not lyin'.  It was a CLUSTER...

There were over 150 vendors, food trucks and a gigantic crowd of unmasked people.  It was truly a sight -  and the vendors were doing a brisk business. We saw people carrying off arm loads (even wagon loads) of crafts, furniture and edible goodies.  There was a music venue too, but the heavy metal band that was blasting out head-banger toons was so incongruous to the out-doorsey, down-home festival feel that it made it almost uncomfortable. It certainly wasn't conducive to lingering.

It was one of those unique opportunities that we have been so lucky to experience on our trip. But it was also full of unmasked people (not us) so we made a quick circuit, had sensory overload and left after about an hour. We didn't feel 'called' to buy anything, but I did get some ideas for some holiday crafts!

After our visit to the festival we rode back to the boat and made the short trip to our next free wall tie up, in the 'hopping' town of Lyons.   On the Erie Canal heading back east we pass through the familiar locks and are constantly reminded of the area’s history and the resources it takes to maintain this national treasure.

Many of the locks have small buildings that date from around 1913, and are lovingly maintained by NY Canal corporation employees.  

Arriving at Lyons, NY

 

 

Lyons is another of the small towns that show a glimpse into the industrial history of this area.  Lyons was know as the Peppermint Capital of the US, and from 1830 to about 1940 the area surrounding Lyons was the center for growing peppermint and distilling peppermint oil.  As we tied up to the dock we were met by Sean -- the local greeter, who welcomed us to the area, gave us a brochure and talked up the various business in town.

Since it was still early afternoon we put on our shoes and took a walk into the quiet town.  Everyone we met had already heard from Sean that we were in town! Each place we stopped we were greeted with “oh, you must be the boaters. Welcome!”  We decided to go see the new Marvel movie in the lovingly restored 1930’s movie theater and the ticket guy said “oh, you’re the boaters, we were hoping you might come.”  

 

 

The biggest/best Christmas store I've ever seen opened here in June - it is bound to become a destination store because it's just gorgeously merchandised.  We just stumbled across it, and I made Rick go in with me.  Glen, the proprietor, said he’d been expecting us because Sean had told him we were going to stop in. He said they would all be expecting us at the tavern tonight! (We ended up not going and will probably hear about it tomorrow from all the locals!).

I'm glad they are working hard to appeal to visitors because Sat night in downtown Lyons currently looks like this - NOTHING is happening...

Fri Sept 17: A 'Bonus' Day in Palmyra

In which we have religion on our minds ...

Palmyra, we were told, houses 5 (tiny) unique (no doubt meaning random) museums covering interesting (all relative) areas of history (yes, even more history).  So we decided to spend a bonus day here and take a guided tour.  Sadly (was it though??), upon arriving for the 10:30am tour we discovered all the 'museums' closed due to something local called the Purple Painted Lady Festival. Huh...

Phelps General Store & Home Museum

 

Museums that we didn’t see were:

- William Phelps General Store

- Allying Coverlet Museum (not sure Rick was too disappointed that it was closed - coverlet is not a very compelling name)

- The Book of Mormon Print Shop

- Erie Canal Museum

- Historic Town Museum

It turns out that Palmyra is where The Church of Latter Day Saints/Mormonism was founded.  Since we had no luck with museums, we decided to take a bike ride out to the Smith Family home and the Sacred Grove where, in 1830, a 14 year old Joesph Smith was visited by the Angel Moroni.   He was led to the golden tablets which he translated to produce The Book of Mormon. 

The Smith Family Home outside of Palmyra, NY

Smith Family Home - can you imagine a family of
10 living in this building?

The Sacred Grove

We pedaled our bikes the 4 miles to the Sacred Grove visitor center and were welcomed by 'uniformed' Mormons (white shirts/ties for men and long dresses for women).   They give tours but we decided just to walk through the grove, which was indeed a very peaceful forested area.  Unfortunately we did not see any angels or have any other visions, religious or otherwise. We did, however, have an interesting and far-ranging conversation about religion vs cults, and what kind of reaction a modern-day visit by a religious icon (Jesus, Mohamed, Buddha, etc) might provoke.  The TV series 'Messiah' had gotten us thinking about this last year - would such an icon even be recognized, or accepted, used politically, etc.  I'm afraid such a thing would bring out the worst in many people, in all kinds of different ways...  

This is probably why we weren't honored with any visions - we are the kind of lower-life forms that find a sign for the rear entry to the fudge stop to be very amusing!

 

With some extra time on our hands in the afternoon Rick had an important chore to attend to:

Rick using acetone to clean the grime off his balls!

My response to Rick cleaning his balls: That's just Knot Rite