Well, much to see in the Finger Lakes but we were on a mission. My very sophisticated sister had
scouted out our first destination north of the Finger Lakes- a vegan bakery and
restaurant. This was supposed to
be a cleansing trip- as soon as we clean out the gas station breakfast and the
Amish pickled eggs. (And the pumpkin whoopie pie breakfast )
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| Here's Janet looking for vegan restaurants..... |
So off we went to
Sodus, New York. Which is
different from Sodus Center or Sodus Point or East Sodus (which is west of
Sodus Point) or South Sodus. We did find a cute lighthouse and boating village at Sodus Point and finally, after
another internet search on our smart phones…ta dah- the vegan bakery closed two hours prior and we never
found its actual site. http://www.everydaygourmetbakery.com/- looks good online.
We did find the actual Sodus, 1812 Hotel. Clearly the wounded from
the Sodus battle of the War of 1812 were likely housed here. Internet search proves this place is a weird as it looks.
http://www.waylandparanormal.com/1812.html
http://www.waylandparanormal.com/1812.html
The town of Sodus is one of only two towns in Wayne County to ever experience a military battle within its borders. In the morning of June 19, 1813, during the War of 1812, the British attacked Sodus Point. The British seized the stores in the warehouses and burned the town. Only one building, a tavern, was spared. This building was spared because Asher Warner, who was severely wounded during the battle, was carried there by British soldiers. He died several hours later. One other man, Charles Terry, also died as a result of this attack. Terry, also wounded during the battle, made his way home. It was thought that he would recover, but after getting up from his bed and walking to the door, he caught cold and died a few days later. (Men never change- I'm NOT hurt!)
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But we had found
Lake Ontario- hence the Sodus Point lighthouse. On Lake Ontario.
We arrived at 5:15pm.
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| It had lovely hydrangeas |
* Sodus Bay Lighthouse Museum, Ontario Street, Sodus Point
Sodus Point Lighthouse Museum
- Completed in 1871, this lighthouse was built to replace the lighthouse tower and keeper's residence constructed in 1824 at Sodus Bay. It was in use until 1901. Today, the Sodus Bay Lighthouse Museum is operated by the Sodus Bay Historical Society and houses maritime collections depicting the history of the Sodus Bay region. Open May-October, Tuesday-Sunday, 10 am - 5 pm. (315) 483-4936 |
It was closed.
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| Lake Ontario It wasn't closed! |
Giving up on our vegan dinner, we cruised west along the
road that hugged the lake- we knew it was scenic because the map showed green
dots. What we saw were trees, glimpses of water, “wow, check out that house!”, more
trees, glimpse of water, more houses. All the way to our next “What’s up with
that?” moment.
Really?- what road is
only open December to April? The one we wanted to cross the Irondequoit Bay and
go on to Niagara Falls.
"The Irondequoit Bay Bridge is on NY 104. This one is a seasonal swing bridge, open year-round but in two different senses of the word. In the summer season, it's "left open" so that boat traffic can pass between the Bay and Lake Ontario. In the winter off-season, the bridge is opened to vehicular traffic. I was here in summer, so you get the bridge while it's open and not while it's open.
"http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/ny/ibob/ Check out the link- full of fun pics and more zany writing about a bridge that isn't open unless it's open.
So we skipped the "open" bridge and drove south along Irondequoit Bay - fabulous houses, my, oh, my…. straight into Rochester, NY, then drove back north along the west side of the bay to the Lake Ontario Parkway.
And stopped for the night at Hamlin Beach State Park http://exploreamericasparks.org/ny/hamlinbeach/vt/- where they clearly hire children
to run the front desk. Or we are just getting older? Either way Ken
and Barbie’s little brother and sister were busy with their summer jobs and checked us in.
(FYI- Barbie's sister was Skipper and Ken's little brother was Tommy- they are ten, maybe.
Perky little Skipper gave us a yellow sheet from a small legal pad
with 35 or 40 camp site numbers hand written on it – “Just drive around and find one
you like! Bring the sheet back. I won’t give it to anyone else until you come back.”
Hmm…. seemed an odd way to assign sites in a park that was
getting full. And... could she have really given the list I had in
my hand to anyone else anyway? We
had the potential to really mess with their sophisticated system if we just
left town with the master list. But we
didn’t.
Grateful for open camp sites, we drove around and found the perfect site- no
yelling kids or barking dogs, level, close the showers – wonderful. We went back to Skipper and Tommy and she pouted
a bit- “Oopsee, that one’s gone.
What’s your second choice?”
Okay….breathe deep and throw a dart.
They took our money and stuck a yellow golf tee marker into the
campground map, officially securing our new camp site. Then she informed us that we would share
our electrical outlet with a neighbor and if the power failed, “Just give us a
call!” Seriously?
We were clearly desperate and drove off, found our site and carefully backed in next to Mr.Angry
Potty Mouth who was really irritated
that we were coming to claim the site where he was getting/ stealing the power from. His outlet
was broken and ours turned out to be a single plug only so we couldn't share it. As we settled in, the dogs barked and
the horde of kids yelled. Lovely-
let’s take a walk.
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| Yes, I did walk in public with a headlamp on my head. It was dark coming back... |
Nothing like a walk along a soft sand beach in the setting
sun to soothe the nerves and redeem the campsite. The neighbor turned out to be
a gruff but very helpful man, the kids went to bed and someone put those dogs
out of our misery. Excellent.
Excellent park, even if Skipper and Tommy are running the show.
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