After crossing the northern end of the Adirondacks (after Vermont) we wanted to head toward the Saint Lawrence River again. We had followed the St Lawrence River in Canada from Montreal to the Gulf in the Atlantic. Now we wanted to catch up to it again on the US side. We took the Great Lakes Seaway Trail - the first to be designated a scenic trail - a 518 mile scenic driving route that follows the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes. It connects destinations in which we were interested such as Thousand Islands, Rochester, Oswego, and some charming waterfront towns and villages.
Along this route, there are many signs commemorating the War of 1812. All that we could remember about the War of 1812 was that Washington DC was burned and there was a Battle of New Orleans with Colonel Jackson (Johnny Horton song). We discovered that the War of 1812 also took place along much of this trail since it is on the border of US and Canada (then still British Territory). Since this is the bicentennial of the War of 1812, there were many historical plaques, interpretive signs, parks that were prior battlegrounds, reenactments, and description of battles that took place. After three days of reading signs and visiting battle sites, we can summarize as follows: the War of 1812 lasted more than that year and was based on a number of nits and snits left over from the revolution. The US was overly optimistic about how easy it would be to beat up a major world power again and Great Britain was preoccupied with the conflict in Europe (Napoleon) and largely viewed the US hostilities as a bothersome distraction. At the end almost no land changed hands and trade rights were established - leading to the longest, most peaceful border between two nations in world history – the US and Canada.
We found the 1000 Islands area (Alexandria Bay and Clayton) one of the more interesting. The Thousand Islands constitute an archipelago that is in the Saint Lawrence River emerging from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. The islands are in both Canada and US waters. The 1,864 islands (not 1000) range in size from over 40 square miles to smaller islands occupied by a single residence or uninhabited outcroppings of rocks that are only home to migratory waterfowl. To be counted as one of the Thousand Islands these minimum criteria had to be met: 1) Above water level year round; 2) Have an area greater than 1 square foot, and 3) support at least one living tree.
From Alexandria Bay we took a 22 mile boat tour around some of the 1000 Islands. The tour included “Millionaire’s Row” of huge homes, in both US & Canada, 1,000 Island Bridge to Canada, and the famous Boldt Castle which resides on Heart Island. Starting in 1900, George Boldt (millionaire proprietor of Waldorf Astoria in NYC) built this castle to show his love for his wife, Louise. They spent only 4 summers there, overseeing the construction. In 1904 she died of a meth overdose prescribed to her for weight loss, again proving that wealth doesn’t always buy happiness. She was not overweight but not thin enough for fashion of the time (not much seems to have changed.) Boldt had all construction immediately stopped and he never returned to the island. The castle remained vacant for 73 years before restoration and tours. The St Lawrence water is potable thanks to the introduction of the zebra mussel. The mussel multiplies well and filters the pollution. Thousand Island Salad Dressing originated in this area at the turn of the century. A Clayton hotel owner got the recipe from a local woman and served it to local fishermen and NYC actors staying there. One of them shared it with Boldt who introduced it in the Waldorf Astoria.
We continued on the Seaway trail to Watertown, Oswego, Ft Ontario, Sackets Harbor, Sodus Point, Pultneyville, and Charlotte/Rochester. Sackets Harbor is a small, historic harbor with many sailing ships. Sackets Harbor became the center of shipbuilding on the Great Lakes during the War of 1812 and of naval and military activity for the upper St. Lawrence Valley and Lake Ontario. A British force from Kingston Onario landed in Sackets Harbor and the attack site is now a historic park. Today, Sodus Point and Charlotte have lovely parks and beaches directly on Lake Ontario.
We attended Ron’s High School reunion at the end of September in Greece NY, just outside of Rochester. Rochester is on the Genesee River and Lake Ontario and the Erie Canal runs through there also. The Erie Canal opened in 1825 and cut transportation costs by 95%. The canal fostered a population surge in western New York State, opened regions farther west to settlement, and helped New York City become the chief U.S. port. Rochester did not get settled by Nathaniel Rochester until the Erie Canal was completed. Rochester MN and Rochester MI were named after this town by settlers from NY who continued to move west. Brockport is another of those towns on the Erie Canal and the place of Ron’s birth. Brockport is home of Birdseye frozen foods and the place of the invention of McCormick’s Reaper, which kicked off the industrial revolution in agriculture in the US. Prior to that, farming techniques were the same in Christ’s time as they were in George Washington’s time. The Erie Canal, left in disrepair after becoming obsolete, is now a restored recreation waterway and bike path. The canal goes between Albany (on the Hudson River) and Buffalo (on Lake Erie), thereby providing for shipment and passenger travel from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic. Barges were used mostly and pulled by hoses along a path adjacent to the canal. Bridges over the canals are draw bridges, but weren’t always as the lyrics of the Erie Canal song goes: We haul'd some barges in our day, Filled with lumber, coal, and hay, We know every inch of the way, From Albany to Buffalo. Low bridge, everybody down. Low bridge, yeah we're coming to a town. And you'll always know your neighbor. And you'll always know your pal . If ya ever navigated on the Erie Canal.
Munson history existed in Western New York since 1799 when the Munson pioneers moved from Connecticut to the town of East Bloomfield NY (a long journey via in those days) which was the same year the town was established (first Munson immigrant came to the US from England in 1637.) The Holloway House in East Bloomfield is an old stagecoach stop and tavern where Munsons lived for over 100 years starting in 1833. The house still stands and is an excellent restaurant today, as we can attest from a delicious meal there. In Greece, we visited the house that Ron’s father built (literally) which is now owned by a Munson! They are everywhere! I’m sure we’re related somewhere in our tree so we consider them cousins.
The Finger Lakes are a pattern of 11 lakes that are long and narrow which collectively reminded early map-makers of human fingers. The two longest, Cayuga and Seneca, are among the deepest in America. Waterfalls, gorges, glens, hills, and rivers define this area. In this area the Great Second Awakening occurred in the 19th Century when some new religions, reforms, and utopian movements were formed, including Mormon, modern spiritualism, & Shakers. Many Underground Railroad sites are here, including Harriet Tubman’s home. One stop on the Underground Railroad was William Seward’s home. Seward was in Lincoln’s cabinet and is most well-known for purchasing Alaska. On the northern end of the Finger Lakes is also the birthplace of the Women’s Suffrage movement in 1848 with the first convention and the generation of “The Declaration of Rights and Sentiments.” Elizabeth Stanton lived here and Susan B. Anthony in nearby Rochester. It is interesting that the leaders of the fight for women’s rights and the abolitionist’s fight for the freedom of slaves were entwined in a common cause for human rights. It was Congress who thought it was too large a change all at once and dropped the women’s rights part. Black men were allowed the right to vote in 1869 via Amendment #15 while women didn’t get that right until 1920.
The Finger Lakes area is the largest wine producing region in the Eastern US. Due to the steep banks surrounding the lakes providing good drainage of rain, due to the fog effect, and the lakes' great depth, the warming lake effect makes for a fertile place for the lush vineyards that flank their shores. Retaining residual summer warmth in the winter, and winter's cold in the spring, the grapes are protected from disastrous spring frost during shoot growth, and early frost before the harvest. New York wine once was synonymous for sweet fruit wines (e.g. Mogen David). During prohibition times, the area grew grapes for Welch’s Grape Juice. Now the area has over 100 wineries, producing drier wines as well to keep up with the market. Riesling has become the signature Finger Lakes varietal wine, and Cornell University has been instrumental in developing the varieties. We wouldn’t take their word for it, so we went wine-tasting at many of their gorgeous-setting wineries and found many that we enjoyed and purchased.
The southern tier of Western New York is a hilly area bordering on Pennsylvania and part of the Appalachian Mountain chain. The Delaware, Susquehanna, and Allegany Rivers run through there. Fall colors are really beginning to get to the peak here with the hardwood reds and oranges. Corning New York is most well known for glass. The Corning Museum of Glass is a fascinating place filled with Tiffany, Chihully, Frank Lloyd Wright, Steuben, and thousands of other artists. It exhibits the history of glass as an art form, starting in ~3500BCE in Egypt up through the 21st century. Who knew there were so many colors and such elaborate designs all made from glass? Earlier in Auburn, we had visited Willard Chapel which is the only chapel completely designed by Tiffany. Not only all the stained glass windows, but the pulpit, the pews, the mosaic flooring, the ceiling, even the design on the brass organ’s pipes were designed by Tiffany.
Elmira NY was the home of Mark Twain in his later life and his grave is in the Woodlawn Cemetery in his wife’s family plot. Elmira is also where a Civil War POW camp held Confederate soldiers (who called it “Hellmira.”) Many died during their imprisonment and 2,973 were meticulously recorded and buried in the Elmira Woodlawn National Cemetery, ironically by a runaway slave. The families chose to leave their loved ones there since they had been so carefully interred. By the way, Confederate headstones all have a point on the top of them to prevent any Damn Yankees from sitting on them. Union headstones are rounded.
We find Western New Yorkers to be independent, traditional, and do-it-yourselfers instead of expecting the government to take care of them. They don’t easily move, but stay in the same house and fix it up instead. There is a lot of volunteering, helping out their neighbor, with a strong sense of community. There are loads of small towns that the franchise chains haven’t found, with mostly farms, miles of apple orchards and roadside stands. There are even many old style park-at-the-door motels, drive-in movie theaters, and old soda fountain diners. The hills and gorges and glens and waterfalls provided beauty, scenery and ever changing landscapes. Add to that the beauty of autumn colors, and we were in heaven. It seemed like there were one or two college campuses in nearly every town, and we visited some of the more well-known campuses: Colgate, Syracuse University, and Cornell - probably the prettiest campus we’ve ever seen. There is a memorial on the Syracuse Campus for the 35 Syracuse University students that were killed in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988 as the students were returning from a study-abroad program in Europe. Author Vince Flynn’s fictional character Mitch Rapp was at Syracuse University at that time and lost his fiancé and many of his fellow rugby team mates. This motivated Mitch to become the “American Assassin” and a one man pursuer of terrorists.
Albany is the capital of New York and has an informative museum of New York history. Many of the exhibits were places that we had visited along our way. The most striking exhibit was the 9/11 since it had more artifacts from the twin towers than we’ve seen anywhere else. The Capitol building is situated on a plaza that contains the museum, the Capitol, the Corning Tower (tallest outside NYC), and the “Egg.” The Egg is a performing arts auditorium that somewhat resembles the “Bean” of Chicago. The Capitol was built in 1899 at a cost in today’s dollars of half a billion. The architecture is Romanesque and slightly different on all 4 floors. The main feature is a massive central staircase. There was supposed to be a massive dome and tower, but, due to the massive size of the building, stress fractures already appeared and the tower and dome could never be completed. It is said that the Capitol is haunted by a night watchman who died during a major fire in 1911. The building with its many corridors, hidden underground tunnels, and massive staircase appears to be a perfect place for such haunting.
We will be crossing the Hudson River and departing for the Berkshires in Massachusetts on our way to Boston/ Bean Town and our pursuit of more fall colors. So we say good-bye to New York for now, but not for long. We will be taking the ferry from Connecticut to Long Island and exploring the Hamptons, Oyster Bay, Fire Island, Coney Island, and more. Until next time, Happy Trails.
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