Savannah

Savanna Georgia, one of our favorite place to visit. Waterfront views of the busy riverfront, cargo ships loaded, dinner cruise ships, and music to listen to by the street vendors. Shopping and all the hustle and bustle of the tourist trade. So much history and quiet parks with the homes around the squares. Makes one wonder what was built first the homes or the parks? Fountains, statues, majestic old oak trees, architectural delights with
bric -a- brac and iron works, church steeples and the grandeur of the old homes. New and old blended together to form an essence all its own. The weather is warm, but tolerable and the evenings are refreshing at least it is not raining day and night. In fact they could really use some rain here so won't complain if we do run into some. Skidaway Island State Park is our resting spot while we hunt for new restaurants to eat at and find and enjoy the individual squares. It is nice to see places that were or have been under construction when we have been here before now completed and something else being updated. We did stop by the train depot and roundhouse that we so enjoyed before, the trains are nearly referbished and one is actually running on the roundabout back and forth a lot of work, but it is slowing becoming a reality for this city.

Chimney Bluffs

Wolcott, New York. Cliff Bluffs State Park is a day use area with trails and shoreline. We walked the cliff trail with the forested land on one side and the open water on the other. These sandstone cliffs are unusual seeing Mother Nature has formed them. Each climb upward and vista view was a worth walking out to the edge and peering down to them. A small reminder of the Bryce Canyon trail we once walked. This body of water is Lake Ontario and some days it was calm and other with white caps and waves. Sometimes you had to keep reminding yourself that is was fresh water and not salted. You noticed Dave at play on the shoreline with the rock building.
The lighthouse is in Sodas Bay also on Lake Ontario it is about 2o miles west of Cliff Bluffs it is still operated by the Coast Guard, our day trip there was cold, rainy and very windy. The waves sometimes crashed nearly half way up the lighthouse walls. There is a county park adjacent to this light house with a swimming area, picnic tables and restrooms with a snack bar. All closed for the season the little town of Sodas Bay has a few restaurants and many docks for the boaters. This was also the same day that we say the plane that crashed into the corn field. Everyone walked away from that crash, but the plane is totaled. We later learned that the farmer actually has insurance for such things. We would have thought the plane's owner would be responsible for any damage, and the still might be. All in a days adventure to see the sights.

Lake Skaneateles

This is Lake Skandeateles, New York, we signed up for the mail boat tour on this lake. About 5 miles down of this lake the delivery of mail starts as the mail carrier had a difficult time getting up and down the incline to some of the homes along this section of the lake. The boat was built about 1939 holds about 30 passengers and will serve you drinks as well as a bag lunch when you take the tour. It is said to be the cleanest lake in the Finger Lake Region an we would agree. It was a pretty day with the weather having cleared up and the wind not blowing gale force even though there was a slight chop to the water the ride was smooth with the occasional splash of water over the bow and blowing in the windows when they were open. We boarded about 10:00 am and came back to port about 1:30pm. Many homes were in the process of being shut up for the winter and the last vacation days a fond memory till spring. There are rules for delivering mail to the homes on the lake, one must have a mailbox on their dock or be there in person to accept the mail. This day there were only a few within residence, but the home are spectacular and stunning to look at anyways. We like the boat houses, some were large enough to live in as well as house a boat. A lot of history along this lake with the homes from the Rockefeller's to the Roosevelt's, not so much the main family as other relatives with the connection to them. There is one that looks like the White House in Washington that was owned by the Roosevelt's and they in turn gave it over to the community and it has been subdivided and restored.

After the boat ride we toured the town with its quaint shops and sampled the bakery and ice cream items. Took some pictures of the old house within the town proper and enjoyed our drinks along the waterfront watching others paddle around in the windswept lake. There is definitely a lot of money in this area from the way things are still bustling and the shops that are open along the main street area. The properties are well kept and appreciated for their history.

Seneca Falls

Seneca Falls, a small town with lots of history and architecture. These old homes have plenty of history and ornate decorations on them. Some have widow walks or crows nest on top. Most times when you see these the houses are close to the sea, but with the lakes and the shipping that ran in the canals maybe this area had it share of tragedy on the waters too. Most of these homes have been restored and are lived in. There are probably a few that are homes for the summer as many families come out of the City of NY to enjoy the country and get out of the heat. However it was a fairly warm a few days this past week, but not stifling hot as it could be in a city. The pink flowers in one of the pictures are called Pink Lady or naked lily, they are just the flower and no green leaves. Unusual, but we have seen them in many places this summer. What we thought was an old train station was actually a feed store, now the police department and the train station is across the street. The store in the last of the pictures has been around since the 1850's as were most of the houses that were built. The railroad came to this town in the 1850's and the train still runs through town once or twice a day. The side walks are of slate, was quite unusual and trying to remember where we had seen them before. No were not house hunting, but we had the houses of Carmel in July now the houses of Seneca Falls for September.

Finger Lakes

We have spent a few days sightseeing around the lakes of NY. Have managed to find Locks 1,2,3, and 4 of the National Erie Canal Heritage Trail some of these locks range in depth difference from 7.5 feet to 20 feet. Locks 2 and 3 is a double lock system. We expected them to be higher in elevation but considering the access it allows it is interesting that so long ago this was all done for cargo to flow and business to flourish. Many towns depended on this canal system and along with the railroad system that still is in existence industry was in full swing. Many small towns still have an active community for the boating enthusiasts and offer docking space as well as park area to tie up at. and picnic at. (or Dock at) By the way these locks open on demand not on the hour system as we have with our draw bridges in the South. They do close at night and boaters as well as barges find a place to wait for the morning. What else is interesting is that they will ask you where you are going and then communicate that information to the next lock and if you don't arrive begin to send out messages that a particular vessel has not reached there. A little check and balance and safety too. There is a charge to go through the locks and you can purchase a 2 day pass for $5.00 or a yearly pass for $100.00.
We next followed the wine trail along Cayuga Lake 16 wineries at 6 taste each guess who didn't get to taste all the samples? And that is just one wine trail we did. We found a couple of out of the way places (marina's) and took a couple of interesting pictures of wood boats, storage areas and a train trestle that went out on the lake. Nice to see that these small towns turned the old train stations into government offices. Nice park areas, restrooms and access to the lake. We found a nice little Bistro to have lunch, called Pumpkin Hill. It was an old building taken down and moved to this site. Old chairs and tables, pie tins for plates, collenders for salads and mason jars for your drinks. It had a great view of Lake Cayuga and one could have sat outside and enjoy a glass of wine and taken it all in. Reminded me of a place in California along the Big Sur River where you could just spend the day sitting in the water. Just down the street we discovered a fruit stand and the apples are just starting to ripen. Oh so good when they go "crunch" as you bite into one. The wine vineyards are everywhere on the hillsides and there are still plenty of grapes to be harvested in a couple of weeks. One must pace themselves with all the sampling, so as a side distraction you find a waterfall or two to fill in and help you navigate the rest of the route, This one is Taughannock Falls State Park on the southwestern side of Cayuga Lake. Many waterfall are in this area, there is just not a lot of water coming over to really appreciate the force and beauty of it all. It still is worth the side trip just to see them. One must not forget the Cheese makers as well on these wine trails. Just like wine, some is good some is not. An ice cream shop is always a good place to stop too. The only down side is that if you take all the side trips the wineries close before you get to them all. Okay another day to do some.