Aug 12, 2024 – Seneca Falls, NY
We decided to move east and spend some time in the north end of the Finger Lakes region. Cayuga Lake State Park near the north end of Cayuga Lake seemed like a good place to base ourselves so we headed that way.
But first, yes first, we would have to stop by Ashley’s Lingerie & Swimwear in Williamsville. We know all you ladies understand how important a purchase this is!! Sandy had visited their shop in Lewiston during the Art Festival. She liked their swimwear but couldn’t find what she needed. Williamsville was a larger location and, after trying on an amazing number of outfits she found just what she was looking for. Yea!
We made the drive to Cayuga Lake SP and set up camp. It was late and we decided to try Wolffy’s Grill and Marina just a couple of miles down the lakefront. It was a good choice with good food and outdoor seating overlooking the lake on a beautiful evening.
Aug 13, 2024 – Seneca Falls, NY
Seneca Falls is the town closest to Cayuga Lake SP and is thought to be the inspiration for the setting of Frank Capra’s movie, It’s a Wonderful Life. And a bridge in town that crosses the Cayuga-Seneca Canal is similar to the bridge featured in the movie. And so it is popularly called the “It’s a Wonderful Life” Bridge. We drove in to town to see it and to explore the town. Interesting place!
The town has a three story visitor center right on the canal. In addition to some information about the town, the lower floor provides bathroom and shower facilities for boaters who can tie up along the canal. The second floor has more of the usual stuff about the history of the town, brochures, etc. But the third floor filled out the wow factor.
It turns out that Seneca Falls is home to a dizzying array of inventors and manufacturers. Nearly everyone has seen labels on products that were “Made in Seneca Falls”. But the museum on the top floor demonstrated the vast array. Seneca Falls first claims to be the fire engine capital of the country and displays an early hand drawn fire pump. They also manufactured machine tools, the earliest of which included foot powered metal lathes, circular saws and drill presses. The huge Gould pump company began in town as well as manufacturers of drawing instruments, rulers, globes, knitting machines and excavating tools. It was a bewildering array of items.
And, of course, there is a canal lock with the attendant dam that is used to produce electricity.
But, if you simply drive through town on Cayuga Street (NY-20) all you’d see is a prosperous small town business district with a bridge crossing a waterway. No big deal? Not!
We then drove a bit farther west to the town of Waterloo to ride the Cayuga-Seneca Canal Trail. The seven mile trail leads to the north end of Geneva at the north end Seneca Lake. It’s an easy, flat ride on a cinder base along an abandoned rail line. The canal is in view for much of the ride and the trail is mostly shaded. Someone has created a garden along one section of the trail. Besides flowers, the garden features little vignettes with gnomes and fanciful sculptures made from broken tree branches.
The trail ends in beautiful Seneca Lake SP with open grassy spaces along the shoreline.
At the far end of the park was an elegant building that housed welcomed bathrooms and snack foods of which we partook.
Dinner was a chicken sausage stir fry with……fresh corn!
Aug 14, 2024 – Seneca Falls, NY
No touring today.
Both our RV and our car are pretty dirty. We dealt with the car at a car wash but the camper is a different story. Car wash bays very rarely have clearance for our ten and a half foot tall rig and virtually all campgrounds prohibit hose washing. So we had washed the outside of the camper from a bucket and cleaned and vacuumed the interiors of both the car and the camper.
Did you know that squirrels are messy eaters? Well, we were parked under an oak tree and experienced the noise from a nearly constant rain of acorn bits. By the second day whole acorns started dropping as well. Our awning was heavily covered with acorn bits that needed to be cleaned off before rolling it in.
Also, our car needed service and we’d made an appointment to have that done in Seneca Falls. Services included oil change, an alignment, because the front tires were wearing unevenly, and since the tires were well worn, new tires were called for as well.
We were far behind with our blog as well so several hours went into that effort.
Finally, there was a twist in the process of selling the house in Marblehead that required Sandy to be there to sign papers that needed to be notarized. That meant we’d have to make the six hour drive to get there and figure out where to stay. Harvest Host member, Ernie’s Service Station in Essex, was able to accommodate our stay and so we’d leave early tomorrow. Glad we only make plans a day or two ahead!
We returned to Wolffy’s for another excellent dinner.