Road Trip

After selling our country home, we seriously downsized to a two-bedroom townhouse in the outskirts of Rochester. We exchanged vistas from the Adirondacks to the Finger Lakes of New York. You would think that after giving up all those domestic chores of mowing 3 ½ acres and maintaining a 186 year old home we would have all the time in the world to do whatever we wanted. After all our new place does all the maintenance for you.  In addition to welcoming into the world our new and second grandson, the summer flew by.  We finally were able to carve out some serious time for my passion…photography!  Kathy was a good sport in that she got up “zero dark thirty” as we ventured off to chase the light on what turned out to be a 165-mile adventure.

First stop was the Erie Canal in Seneca Falls, NY.  This area is rich in photographic opportunities.  Although I preplanned the locations and specific sites, I was surprised by an unexpected opportunity of a very historic tugboat docked on the canal.  Built in 1901 in Michigan this tug was sold in 1920 to the NYS Canal System and renamed the Urger.  Urger was retired in 1980 and called back into service in 1991 as a teaching tug. In 2001 it was placed on the National Register of Historical Places.

A bonus photo opportunity were these European styled canal boats docked in Seneca Falls, NY.

Right across the canal was one of my preplanned sights, the Knitting Mill. This limestone structure was built in 1844 and ran continuously for 155 years, until it closed 1999.  It is now the future home of the Women’s Hall of Fame.  Seneca Falls, NY.

The next stop was to find the Trinity Church, but along the way found this funny looking red house.

Right across the street is the Trinity Episcopal Church.   After 50 years of service, the congregation decided to build a church across the canal at its current location. Construction began in 1885 and the first service were held in 1886. The limestone used came from Fayette and Onondaga, NY.  Of particular note of this church is its Gothic influence and the numerous stained glass windows.

This wonderful timber-framed pergola was located right next to Trinity

It was time for some coffee and we decided to try the XIX Café.  Best cinnamon buns in the world!  They were so big, that we decided to split one.  Between the pastries, selection of coffee and excellent service, this is on our top list to revisit again.  It worth the trip just to go there!  Now it was time to get back on the road and on the way to Geneva (USA!).

First stop in Geneva is the waterfront!  Captured this shot from a floating dock near the jetty. Using a Lee Big Stopper Filter (10x) created the smoothness in the water.

You never know what you will find along the way.  I saw this site several months ago when I didn’t have my camera with me and was bound and determine to capture this image.  I wonder what he uses for seeds to plant this bicycle garden?

South Main Street in Geneva is the most significant Historic District and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. Most of these homes were built between 1825 and 1850.

 

Time for lunch!  We are always up for a challenge in picking places to eat and so far we have never been disappointed in trying something new. At the lower end of South Main Street was a neat look place called Beef and Brew!  The name says it all and we tried. It was absolutely great.   What did we eat?  Well beef and a brew for me and beef and a glass wine for Kathy. Based on our waiter’s recommendation, Kathy tried one of the local wines and we ended up taking a side trip to the Bellangelo vineyard.

The goal of our trip was to end up at the famous County Road 12 overlook above Canandaigua Lake. In order to get from Lake Geneva to Canandaigua Lake, we took…..Lake to Lake Road!  How appropriate!  Along the way, I couldn’t resist stopping to take a picture of this barn featuring some vintage signage.

 

 

As we are motoring along heading west, we arrive in Naples, NY (not Italy!) with a population of 1,025, except for when we arrived. The population swelled to what appeared to be 5 times as many people with half the number of cars bumper to bumper. Somehow I found a back road at the back-end of the Hazleton winery and finally make my way to CR 12.  We arrive at the overlook and it is full of cars and people.  No chance of setting up my gear so we moved on.  Fortunately, less than a mile away I located a small pull off and was able to capture the final image of the day!