Brewerton, NY (Finger Lakes)

We had a short three hour cruise to Brewerton on Sunday, Sept. 29 where we would keep Zendo for the next five or six days while we explored the Finger Lakes and traveled down to NYC.  We docked next to David and Barbara on Miss My Money.  We know them from Jacksonville and they had lent us several Canadian cruising guides which we faithfully used and will now return to them.  

We had a car reserved to use for our land excursions, the first of which was to explore the Finger Lakes which neither of us had ever been to. This post will cover that trip and a second post will cover our NYC trip.  So on Sunday we left Georgio with plenty of food and headed out to our first stop in Skaneateles.  What a very pretty town this is! Obviously affluent with very nice shops and restaurants on the Main Street which backs up to a little lake of the same name.  We stopped for coffee on the chilly overcast day with occasional rain showers and strolled the village streets which were lively and extremely attractive.

A short drive from there brought us to Seneca Falls where we visited the Women’s Rights National Historic Park.

Seneca Falls was the home of many of the leaders of the women’s rights movement and associated events took place in this now very historic place.  The museum was quite interesting as were several of the surrounding shops. 

We stopped for lunch at a local pub and Lynn talked Jonny into ordering the specialty of this part of the world, beef on weck, which is a roast beef sandwich on a special roll called  kummelweck with au jus and horseradish.  It was tasty and quite filling (we liked it better than Philly cheesesteak).

We continued our drive through stunning lakeside scenery and passed scores of vineyards finally stopping at Lamoreaux Landing Tasting Cellars.  What a beautiful setting and view of the lakefront vineyards from the tasting room!  We were able to see truckloads of grapes being unloaded.  We had a lot of fun sampling their very good wines from Rieslings to Cabernet Francs to Ice Wines.  Of course, we walked out with a couple of bottles - it wouldn’t be polite not to!

$



That evening we stayed in a very well reviewed motel on the edge of Ithaca and drove into that small city for dinner.  We found a place called Coltivare which was part of Ithaca’s culinary institute.  We proceeded to have a surprising good dinner then took a short stroll through the center of town which was closing up after what looked like what had been an all day festival. 

The next day we drove through the campus of Cornell University which is located high on a hill in Ithaca with great views overlooking the surrounding area. The campus was quite attractive with mostly traditional architecture but one very beautiful contemporary building.

From Cornell we drove south to Corning to visit the Corning Glass Museum.  What an impressive museum!  The architecture is stunning and the collection is amazing.  We took advantage of one of the free tours which was conducted by a retiree of Corning, a major employer and benefactor in the area.  We spent several hours exploring the collections of very contemporary glassworks and their innovation center as well as the historical displays of glass beads and other artifacts dating back to 2000 B.C.  Our favorite section was the collection of contemporary glass sculptures but we also enjoyed finding some crystal pierces in the historical section that were reminiscent of pieces we have that were part of Jonny’s mother’s collection that she had given us. 

C







From there as we headed back to Zendo driving through the cool town of Watkins Falls.  We passed many more vineyards on the western shore of Seneca Lake (which we were able to resist).  At the top of the lake we drove through the attractive town of Geneva and saw Hobart College where our friend Michael Bracken went to school. 

We had a light dinner and packed because we were heading to NYC the next day to spend two nights there.  Fortunately, the wife of the marina owner offered to check in on Georgio while we were gone so Lynn did not feel so guilty for leaving him alone for two days and two nights. Originally we were going to bring him with us and we even found an Air B&B that allowed animals.  We gave a Georgio a big break by not forcing him to ride in a car for a total of eight hours.  He would not have liked that at all!

Baldwinsville, NY

The first thing we did on Friday, September 28 was walk up to the nearby post office in the pretty village of Lyons to mail the items that some of our recent guests left on board.  But the post office hadn’t opened yet so we took the opportunity to walk around and explore this sleepy village.  At 9 a.m. very little was open and even the local school looked closed!

Before we took off for our day’s cruise,  Jonny took the TV antenna down because we’ll be going under the Erie Canal’s lowest bridge. The day was beautiful, sunny and cool but not uncomfortably so. The Erie Canal continues to impress us with its beauty.

When we got to the lowest bridge, Lynn climbed up on the roof of the aft deck as we slowly approached the bridge.  It was a little nerve-racking but we passed through with maybe four inches to spare!

By 3:30, we arrived in Baldwinsville and tied up on the town wall by Lock 24.

Right afterwards Greg and Reenie on Thistle tied up just ahead of us. We’ve run into them quite a few times on the canal.  We hung out on Zendo for awhile then walked around the town past a dam and some cute storefronts and as usual ended up at the local brew pub. 

We had a quiet night aboard Zendo planning our next week.  We finally decided how we could spend a couple of days in the Finger Lakes prior to our upcoming road trip to New York City so we are now doubly excited about this next adventure!

Lyons, NY

On Thursday, September 27 Addie and Lange were flying home to Miami but first we went out for breakfast together at a little local restaurant.  They called an Uber and left shortly afterwards. We really appreciate the Kings taking the time to  celebrate Lynn’s birthday with us!

We shoved off at 11:40 bound for Lyons.  The landscape continues to be stunning all along the canal, as beautiful as anywhere we’ve been on this trip.  The bridges we go through are equally picturesque.

And we continue to pass under some under some very low ones.  Scary!

The day was fully absorbed by the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings  with Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh.  Lynn was totally glued to the radio even after we docked at the Lyons town dock.

Lyons had a great dock for us to tie up at - right next to a very nice firehouse where there were large comfortable restrooms and showers.  We were delighted to see this sign when we walked up to the fire station.

A very nice couple cane by to welcome us to Lyons with a goody bag and a sprig of peppermint.  Lyons was once the peppermint oil capital of the world.

We didn’t even bother to walk through town because Lynn was so transfixed by the hearings.  But with lots of turkey chili leftovers and salad, we had a satisfying dinner.

Fairport, NY

Most of us slept in on Wednesday, September 26 after our night of birthday revelry.  It was a rainy, dreary day.  As always, Jonny awakened first and kindly went out to get bagels.  He proceeded to make a lovely breakfast of bagels, lox and cream cheese and we leisurely ate while waiting for the heavy rain to let up.  Our plan was to take a short cruise to the village of Fairport on the other side of Rochester.  But we had to wait for David’s sister Ann to bring the long-lost insulin and the backpack we had left at the museum in Buffalo.  In the meantime, we took turns walking up to the library next to the town dock that shared a building with the local Starbucks. There was a book sale going on and Addie and Lynn each bought a couple of books.  

Ann arrived around two in the afternoon with our packages and needless to say, Jonny was very relieved to finally recieve that life-saving medicine!  We had a cozy lunch of chili and salad and by 3:50 the rain had stopped and we took off for our short cruise to Fairport.  We passed under a low bridge that clearly indicated where we should go.

 We had a very fun time while underway raucously singing Jonny’s new favorite song, Erie Canal.  Here is the chorus:

      Low bridge, everybody down,

      Low bridge, we’re coming to a town.

      You’ll always know your neighbor and you’ll always know your pal

      If you’ve ever nav-i-gated on the Erie Canal!

And for the record, Jonny has been singing that song for the last 10 days at least!

We tied up at a town dock before the bridge because we didn’t make it in time for the bridge-tender to open the bridge.  If we had, we would have had a better berth closer to the restrooms and the main part of the village.  Jonny and Lange went across the bridge to check out the facilities.

Afterwards, we all went for a stroll around the attractive village of Fairport, a suburb of Rochester. It is known as the Crown Jewel of the Erie Canal and has a population of 5,353.  Fun fact - Henry DeLand, a prominent citizen from Fairport was the same DeLand who was a founder of Stetson University, became a big developer in Florida, and has a town named after him there. 

We stopped at a local bar for beers and kambucha (a new experience for Lynn) and chatted with the bartender and her husband.  He was quite the expert on kambucha and could have been a contestant in Key West’s annual Ernest Hemingway look-alike contest!

We didn’t get out of there until later and eventually found another bar where we had a bite of dinner.  It was another lively late night with good friends!

Pittsford, NY

September 25 was a dreary rainy day but it was expected to get a lot “sunnier”with the arrival of our friends, Addie and Lange who were flying in from Miami to celebrate Lynn’s birthday.  We took off for the four hour cruise to Pittsford, a village outside of Rochester.  Jonny had arranged for his insulin and backpack to be delivered to the home of our friend David’s sister who lives in nearby Rochester.  Our cruise continued through the bucolic landscape and we passed under several of the low bridges we encounter along the canal.

Addie and Lange arrived shortly after we docked at the Pittsford town dock.  We hung out on board Zendo catching up on our lives while they showered Lynn with lovely gifts including a fabulous rum that we had to start sipping!

After awhile we walked into town where our first stop was a creamery where we treated ourselves to the most delicious ice cream.  The creamery also sold other enticing items, the best of which turned out to be a cherry crumb pie that was a most excellent substitute for Lynn’s birthday cake! Since beer naturally follows ice cream (?!), we headed over to the local pub for a beer.  It had a great view of the river where we watched a number of crew teams rowing right past Zendo.

Brian, a friend of David’s (mentioned earlier), came by to meet us and visit for a few hours and we walked around the town of Pittsford with him as our guide. 

That evening, after he left, the four of us went for a celebratory birthday dinner at a very nice restaurant that, lucky for us,  had a BYOB policy on Tuesday nights.  We continued to celebrate on board Zendo until midnight, much later than we usually stay up and we had a blast putting a bigger dent in that bottle of rum!

Brockport, NY

We took our time on Monday, September 24 and left at 10:45 for a short three and a half hour cruise to Brockport.  Jonny was still trying to straighten out the problem with not having received his insulin delivery yet.  We’re now hoping to get it delivered to Rochester at the home of our friend David’s sister. The day was gorgeous and we couldn’t believe how beautiful this part of the Erie Canal is - a combination of pastoral landscapes with vineyards and quaint villages. Really special!

We were thinking of going to Spencerport but David Brayer got us in touch with one of his local buddies who advised us to go to Brockport instead and so we did.  We tied up at the village dock and walked a few yards away to the little visitor’s center/harbor office which was staffed by volunteers.  The couple on duty were very helpful and the woman offered to drive Lynn to the local Wegman’s to go grocery shopping. We wanted to stock up for the upcoming visit of our friends Addie and Lange who were coming to help celebrate Lynn’s birthday.

Jonny did boat chores and afterwards we walked into the charming town so he could have a beer at the local pub.  Brockport is quite old and quaint but lively as it is a college town with the College at Brockport, State University of New York there. The architecture was beautiful and it would be easy to to stay an extra day if we had the time.

That evening Jonny made a nice dinner of perch and salad while Lynn did laundry.  Later that evening, Lynn prepared a batch of turkey chili to have with the Kings as the next couple of days were predicted to be rainy and chilly.