Thousand Islands and I Forgot My Cameras

We took a road trip on Tuesday and Wednesday, with Anne's brother Andy and his wife, Mary Kay to the Thousand Islands. We had talked about going sometime and they decided that we should get going at 6:00 am on Tuesday morning. Six o'clock in the morning! That means we got up at 5:45 am. I thought those hours of the day were obliterated since I retired, but they're still there. Fortunately I don't see them very often. I volunteered to drive, so I drove to Alexandria Bay, NY, about a three hour drive. We stopped at a diner / truck stop near Route 81 for breakfast and it took a little longer than I would have liked to get served and eat, but we got to the Uncle Sam Boat Tour on time to catch the 10:00 o'clock boat. It was a nice ride, but as I said in the title I forgot my cameras - both of them. The evening before I charged the batteries, got them in a small camera bag and was all ready to go, except they didn't go.

 I had been looking for a 400 or 500 mm lens for my Nikon, but the prices for Nikon glass were really high, but as I was looking I discovered a new breed of point and shoot cameras with long lenses. You can't interchange lenses, but they cost about $400 to $500. dollars, much cheaper than a Nikon lens and, you get a whole camera for that price. I started by looking at a Nikon Coolpix, but figured that since lenses were not interchangeable, I didn't have to stick with Nikon. I settled on a Sony with a Carl Zeiss 28 to 820 mm f2.8-f 5.6 lens. It takes pictures, movies and I think it gets the coffee going in the morning. I also have an older Pentax waterproof point and shoot that also takes videos which also had its battery charged and was patiently waiting for its owner to remember to take it along. I got the Pentax several years ago for kayaking and canoeing and it works fine. It's very small and fits nicely in the breast pocket of my PFD (Personal Flotation Device), or my pant's pocket so it's nice to take along. It takes superb pictures and videos. It should go with me everywhere. The Sony is a little bulkier, a little smaller than my Nikon, but a whole lot lighter, but, it doesn't fit in my pocket.

Anyway, here we are on the boat tour and I don't have a camera. Fortunately, Andy brought his point and shoot and was gracious enough to give me his card so I could download all 162 of his pictures. Any pictures with this post were taken by my brother-in-law.

There are actually one thousand eight hundred and some islands in the "Thousand Islands," but we didn't see anywhere that many. We got off the boat at Boldt Castle and then traveled by launch to an island with the Boldt Boat House on it, which was more impressive to me than the castle. Well, it had boats. The castle was started in about 1894 by George Boldt the former owner of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and other companies. He was building it for his wife as a retreat for them when she suddenly died in 1904. He sent a telegram to immediately stop work on the castle and never returned there again. The castle fell into disrepair but was  acquired by the Thousand Island Bridge Authority that is restoring it to the point of construction when Mrs. Boldt died. It is big and shows what kind of a house any of us super rich can have. The boathouse has doors big enough to allow a sailing vessel to sail right in with the mast still up.

It was fun boating along through the islands on the St. Lawrence River, especially being in Canadian waters for part of the ride. Since we weren't getting off the boat in Canada we didn't need passports. We passed a Canadian police boat and the men on board smiled and waved at us. We were also followed for a while by an apparently empty cargo ship heading East. Ships use the St. Lawrence to travel all the way to Michigan. The larger ships bypass Rochester because it doesn't have a deep enough port for them.

This year is the bicentennial of the War of 1812, which was a pretty big deal along the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario. Every town is celebrating.  After leaving Alexandria Bay we stayed overnight in Watertown.

 The next morning we proceeded to Sackets Harbor and visited the 1812 Battlefield State Historic Site. We had a very nice tour of a commandant's house built around 1840. The plans had to be modified for the cold climate in upstate New York. At the time the Navy had one set of plans for one type of house for this rank of officer. It was a very nice house, but was designed for Virginia. Our state park guide was very interesting.

After our tour, we headed back along the Seaway Trail (Route 3 and Route 104) stopping at Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch. Route 104 is a rather rural road with very little development along it, so it was somewhat of a surprise that in Williamson, about a half hour from home, we passed a fairly new Rolls Royce dealership. Less than a mile away was a Chevy dealership and not a whole lot else. Since we have been here I have not actually seen a Rolls automobile. I saw them back in New Jersey, but not here. Various magazines have rated this area very high for families and as a good value in a place to live. Maybe I should check my portfolio.

Pultneyville, Sodus Point, Transitioning

We went for a hike, actually a few hikes, on Wednesday with Anne's brother Art and wife, Marian. Along the way we stopped at a little town called Pultneyville, right on Lake Ontario. I don't know if it's really a town because it is very small. I guess it's a small town. There is a quaint harbor which reminds one of New England. There is a creek running into the lake, a yacht club with many sailboats at their docks, a restaurant and an art gallery which we would like to visit sometime. It was closed when we were there and seems to be only open in the evenings. It is a peaceful little place.

 Farther on up the road we came to Sodus Point, also on the lake, but a much larger harbor (Sodus Bay) and town, although it still fits into the category of small town. There is much boating activity there and we watched some pretty large sail boats coming off the lake in the afternoon. There is also a bathing beach. The beach is not as big as the ones in Rochester, but plenty big enough for local people to enjoy the water.

We have been doing a fair amount of recreation lately and that makes me think that maybe I have gotten to the point where I am finally transitioning from work mentality to retirement mentality. Recreation was reserved for weekends or vacations in the past. Weekends and some vacations were also used to accomplish chores and projects. Up to now retirement has been filled with buying a house with many trips to Rochester, selling our house in New Jersey with all that entailed and generally very little of what might be called "fun" activities. Has that now changed? Am I finally at a point where I think of what I can do to have some fun instead of what chores I have to do? We went to the beach twice so far this week. On Thursday to Ontario Beach and today to Durand Beach. Both experiences were very pleasant and relaxing. The beaches were clean, the water clear and 73 both days. There are an over abundance of life guards so there is no fear of drowning. There is really very little fear of drowning even without the guards because you can pretty much get you feet on the bottom even at the far end of the swimming areas. But, you can get up to your chest so there is no trouble swimming. Monday we had gone to Canadice Lake to help Anne's brother, Andy, test out a motor on a small aluminum boat. While there we met a group of kayakers who meet and go to a different location every Monday. We may join them this coming Monday.

There are still chores to be done and, of course, there always will be, but things seem to be more under control and the chores not as urgent. Anyway, I feel that the travails of buying and selling a house are behind us, this house is in good shape, I am still able to sit up and take nourishment, we are trying to eat healthier (okay, forget about going to Burger King several times a week for breakfast) and I feel that all of this swimming is helping me physically. Actually, Burger King is good for the social connections and camaraderie. Therefore, I believe that I can say that I am finally enjoying the fruits of retirement up here in Webster, NY, "Where Life is Worth Living."

Seabreeze and the Beach

Today is a Monday and on Mondays, Seniors can get into Seabreeze amusement part as spectators for free. Other days it cost $12.00 each for that privilege. The idea is that grandparents can accompany their grand kindred and still be able to afford to do so. Spectators can't enjoy the rides unless they pay $2.50 per ride. Anne hasn't been there in many years, so we went to look around.

Seabreeze was stared with a hotel built by a railroad company in 1886, a common practice for railroads at the time. They wanted people to have somewhere to go, so they created a place for them. The same happened on Long Island and New Jersey and many other places. The hotel was on the lake, but by 1903 an amusement park was added with the first ride being the Jack Rabbit, a roller coaster which still roller coasts today and is, in fact, the oldest continually operated roller coaster in America. It isn't quite as scary looking as some of today's giant coasters, but people looked like they were having fun on it. Seabreeze has grown over the years and has a variety of rides for all ages, a neat looking water park with several high rise rides, a wave pool, arcades and some live shows. There used to be a Natatorium (I'm not sue about the spelling, but it was a salt water pool - I remember the one that used to be in Asbury Park), but I guess in the depression, when people weren't amusing themselves in parks, it got too expensive to maintain and is now, sadly, under a nearby highway. The park has its own carousel with a genuine band organ, made in 1996, that is really neat as it plays drums, organ music, little chimes, etc. Somehow it runs on music rolls, similar to a player piano, although I'm not sure if the rolls are paper or some form of electronic program. Seabreeze isn't a big intimidating park, but it is big enough that people from the youngest children to adults could have a good time for most of the day. The park is attractive, clean and seems well maintained.The railroad people knew what they were doing in locating the park with a beautiful view overlooking Lake Ontario.

After Seabreeze and a hamburger at Bill Grey's, we went to Ontario Beach Park for swimming. We got a spot pretty close to the park and a spot on the beach very close to the water. No worry about tides here coming up and getting your stuff wet. I did notice this time and other times when we went to the beach that there is a serious absence of beach umbrellas. In fact, when you ask people about this they look at you funny and don't know what you mean by a beach umbrella. Seriously, though, I think the reason is because of the wind. There were a few umbrellas, but the breezes can be strong. The wind isn't strong enough to blow up the sand, but it does cause wavelets in the water with whitecaps. If you don't want to bake in the sun you can sit in the shade in the park and just walk a little bit more to get to the water. I used plenty of sunblock, so I felt safe on the beach, for a while anyway.

As I mentioned in my prior post, the beach patrol protection seems like overkill compared to the Jersey shore, especially since you can rarely get over your head. It is nice for small children who are able to wade out quite a ways. The guards keep a close watch on everything and don't tolerate any horseplay or floating devises that may carry a bather beyond a quick rescue. The wavelets that I mentioned are nothing like the waves in the ocean and don't have the power behind them, but you get some exercise swimming among them.

We watched sailboats and some motor boats coming into the lake and it was a very restful afternoon. Some people were being very creative in sculpting sand figures, one of a woman lying on her side with her head propped by her hand with her elbow in the sand. She had on a bikini, or not, I'm not quite sure. It took about twenty-five minutes to get back home. About eight minutes closer to home is Durand beach, part of Durand Eastman Park, also in the City of Rochester. This is a somewhat narrower strip of sand than Ontario Beach, but it is backed up by a row of trees and brush that separate it from a hill on which there is a parking area. The trees provide a nice area of shade right on the beach. They charge $3.00 per carload at Durand Beach and there are Porta-Potties as opposed to regular rest rooms and showers at Ontario Beach. Did I mention that there is no charge for parking or use of the beach at Ontario Beach Park.

The other day when we were at Ontario Beach Park we noticed a man roller skating. He was noticeable because he was about 70 or 80 years old and had on about as much clothes as the sand sculpture, which in his case was a mini Speedo. He was remarkable in his roller skating skills doing quick turns, little jumps and everything. Anne and Marian wanted me to take a picture of him, but I just couldn't bring myself to think of looking at a picture of him on my computer. Turns out, he was there again today and had parked right next to us. He was just finishing and getting in his car as we returned from the beach. I didn't take a picture today either. In fact, I didn't bring my camera today thinking it was just something else to carry. Maybe I should bring one in the future. Hey, you never know.
  

Being a Rochesterian Part 3

I'm doing so much lately that I'm getting behind on my posts and I'm forgetting what I want to write about. So, let's see, where were we? The other day, Anne, sister-in-law Marian and I visited replicas of the Nina and the Pinta in the Port of Rochester. The Nina is about 20 yuears old and is said to be the most historically accurate reproduction of the ship. There haven't been too many reproductions and most, if not all, of them have been allowed to deteriorate. There was a volunteer crew that explained how the ship worked and what life was like on it in 1492.

After we looked at the ships, we went to lunch at the Pelican's Nest restaurant which is right on the Genessee River as it empties into the lake. The service was slow, but the food was really good.

Before we got to the restaurant, Marian showed us a walk along the lake that seemed to go through private back yards. It seemed that way because it did. There is a public sidewalk running behind these houses that separates  the streetside property from the land that people own on the lakeside. Some of the houses are very nice indeed.

After Marian left Anne and I decided to have a look at Ontario Beach Park, referred to locals as Charlotte Beach (up here, the put the emphasis on the last syllable, so it sounds more like SharLOT, sometimes pronouncing the "r" and sometimes not). The part has a nice lawn area with many trees and benches, restrooms and a carousel that Anne had ridden as a child. The part is adjacent to the beach which is wide, clean and well guarded. There are about five lifeguard stands in the space that would hold two at the Jersey shore plus there are lifeguards walking along the water's edge. The City of Rochester plans to have no one drown on any of its beaches. Oh, there is no charge to park in the huge parking lot just across the street from the park and there is no charge to use the beach or to swim or to use the bath house which has a shower and changing room.

The Arbor, Bees and Such

Anne wanted an arbor because she got a climbing black eyed Susan plant from daughter-in-law Patti and didn't have a good place for it to climb. We went to the store to look at arbors and I was horrified at the prices of some of them and said to myself, "Myself, you can build a better arbor than they are selling and you can do it for less money." So, I bought some cedar and built an arbor.  However, that's not the end of the story. We had planted an Andromeda plant very close to where the arbor was placed so we decided that the plant should be moved. It is still small and I figured it is probably better to move it now. I figured that I would dig a nice big hole, get some good soil and compost in it then dig up the plant with plenty of soil around it so as not to disturb it. We looked and looked for a suitable place and then found a good spot. However, it required removing a considerable amount of underbrush, which I proceeded to do. I got out my shovel, pruners and axe and like Paul Bunyon cleared the land. Only I didn't know that one section was occupied by a nest of ground bees. They objected to the activity and let me know in no uncertain terms. I decided that I had done enough for the day and had taken enough punishment. Besides it was getting really hot and humid. The Andromeda will have to wait a little while longer to settle in its new home.