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Aug. 10 – The Oswego Canal

By on August 11, 2018 in The Pearl
Minneto Free Dock

“Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.” —James Dean

I’m not sure why we make plans…our relaxed take it easy trip has already been filled with two very long days. We found out diesel was .80 cheaper a gallon in Brewerton than the price on the lake, so we went to Baldwinsville last night. Long day, 70 miles…thinking we’d have a short day today. Go get diesel and then stop in Phoenix at lock one of the Oswego Canal. Nice plan, but there was no room at the inn…sort of speak. The lock had been down all morning and no one was moving. Luckily for us we only had to wait about 30 minutes on the blue line for the lock to begin operating. The only issue now was time. We wanted to get all the way to Oswego and miles wise it’s wasn’t far, but we had six more locks we needed to do. Unfortunately they stop operating the locks at 5:00. We didn’t make Oswego…we got stuck in Minetto. No eating out tonight as planned…hopefully things will go smoother tomorrow.

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1000 Islands Adventure

By on August 10, 2018 in The Pearl
“To travel is to take a journey into yourself.” ―Danny Kaye

We’re on our way to the 1000 Islands (pronounced “Thousand Islands,” not “One Thousand Islands”). We spent a few days in the area in 2012, but didn’t feel like we really had enough time to explore all the little places we wanted to see. The Thousand Islands constitute an archipelago of 1,864 islands that straddles the US/Canadian border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. The islands stretch about 50 miles downstream from Kingston, ON to Brockville, ON. The Canadian islands are in the province of Ontario and the U.S. islands in the state of New York.

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Aug. 4 – Markets and Festivals

By on August 6, 2018 in The Pearl

Allan H. Treman State Marine Park

“Material things lost can be found. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost – Life.” -Steve Job

There’s always a lot to do in this area on a weekend…farmers markets, festivals, music, sporting events, fishing tournaments, boating, hot air ballooning, you name it, there’s something for everyone. This Saturday we decided to drive over to the Windmill Market near Penn Yan and then to the 26th Annual Glorious Garlic Festival (they have festivals for everything around here).
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Aug. 1 – Black Diamond Bike Trail

By on August 1, 2018 in The Pearl
Allan H. Treman State Marine Park

“Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you would have preferred to talk.” —Doug Larson

We thought we’d get out and get a little exercise yesterday…and oh boy did we get some exercise. We rode our bikes up the Black Diamond Trail to Taughannock Falls. This Rail Trail follows the Lehigh Valley Railroad route who’s Black Diamond Express once ran from Jersey City to Buffalo and Niagara Falls between 1896 and 1959. The luxury passenger line was named for the most profitable commodity on the railroad: coal…black diamonds.

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July 31 – What Happened to July

By on July 31, 2018 in The Pearl

Allan H. Treman State Marine Park

“Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yardstick of your success will be how you treat other people – your family, friends, and coworkers, and even strangers you meet along the way.” –Barbara Bush

Wow it’s almost August…this summer is flying by. We’ve been very busy, but we haven’t done any of the things we did last summer. We just haven’t found the time to do the beautiful hikes or visit some of our favorite places. Although, we’re having a great time. Hopefully we’ll make our way back to some of those gorgeous spots before we go home in the fall.  
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July 29 – Newfield Covered Bridge

By on July 30, 2018 in The Pearl
“Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.” ― Alexander Pope
I love covered bridges, they are so picturesque. A reminder of a simpler time when life was a little slower. There’s been a lot of rain in the area, so our usual route to Kyle’s home in Pennsylvania had several closed roads, so we had to go a different way. The benefit…seeing something new. Only 7-8 miles from the boat we spotted a covered bridge right here in Tompkins County. The Newfield Covered Bridge is the lone survivor of the three covered bridges that Tompkins County once boasted and is 1 of 24 authentic covered bridges left in the state of New York. It’s the oldest covered bridge still open to daily car traffic. 

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July 14 – Finger Lake International Dragon Boat Festival

By on July 17, 2018 in The Pearl
Allan H. Treman State Marine Park

“The sensation of energy expands with increasing relaxation.”―Ilchi Lee

Today we went to the Finger Lake International Dragon Boat Festival, held at Taughannock Falls Park. Dragon boat races are one of the most typical traditions of Chinese Dragon Boat Festival which was traditional held on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. They began in the Guangdong Province of China more than 2000 years ago. For more than 20 centuries the competition took place as a part of religious ceremonies and folk customs, but beginning in the 1970s dragon boat racing emerged as an international sport. But the history of dragon boats in competition reaches as far back as the same era as the original games of Olympia in ancient Greece.

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July 13 – Finger Lake Cider House

By on July 16, 2018 in The Pearl
Allan H. Treman State Marine Park

“Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true” —Lyman Frank Baum
As we’ve said many times before…one of the things we like the best about being in Ithaca for the season is exploring all the great little places to sample locally made wine, cider, liquor and food. These small family owned places pride themselves in using fresh locally grown ingredients and the products they produce are wonderful.

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Mid July Update

By on July 13, 2018 in The Pearl
Allan H. Treman State Marine Park

Never say dreams are useless because useless is the life of those who can’t dream. —Jim Morrison

Just a little update to some of the things we’ve been doing since we returned from the western Erie Canal. The weather has been pretty hot this month…hot for New York and hot if you live on a boat with no insulation. Some days have been almost as hot as Texas, but at least those days don’t last long. So what do we do when it gets hot…we try to find a cool spot to spend the day. Some days that means going to a park on the lake and others it means going to a mall.

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June 20 – Seneca Falls, NY

By on June 23, 2018 in The Pearl

Seneca Falls Town Dock

“Not until we are lost do we begin to find ourselves.” —Henry David Thoreau

The Cayuga-Seneca Canal is actually two short canals that join the Erie Canal to Cayuga and Seneca Lakes. The first lock is about four miles south of the Erie Canal, this lock takes you into Cayuga Lake. We decided to complete the Cayuga-Seneca Canal so we took a right after lock 1 and followed a well-defined canal about 8 miles to Seneca Lake. We’ve now done all the canals in New York.
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