New York - Day 17 - Syracuse

Selkirk Shores State Park

Thursday, 17 May 2018

today's route

I spent much of the day driving through farm country, going from near the southern border to northern New York. As I was going by one farm, I glanced to my left and saw a man sitting in a chair in the middle of a fenced garden. And then I realized it wasn’t a man but a creative scarecrow. My first seated scarecrow, but I’ll bet it worked.

I passed another home in a wooded area with lots of houseplants and wood carvings in front. One large one had its back to me but I’m sure it was Dumbledore. You know, you can tell him from behind, which is a trick since he’s not real. But some of the realest stuff is the stuff you want to believe. As our president can attest.

I’d read in several different places that a barbecue place in Syracuse has won awards and achieved far-flung fame for its barbecue so, of course, I had to check it out. Called Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, it’s your basic dive, as you can see in the photo below. I got a combo – you pick 2 meats and 2 sides, they add cornbread – and chose ribs (they have pork only) and brisket plus coleslaw and broccoli slaw. It was a lot more food than it first looked like and it was pretty good (except the cornbread which was inedible, in my opinion), but I’m guessing it wouldn’t win any awards in Texas and likely wouldn’t even get very high on Texas Monthly’s annual list of best BBQ places. But I guess it’s as close as New York’s likely to get without a plane ticket. 

Niagara Mohawk Power Building

Niagara Mohawk bldg. detail

monument

The best part about it, from my point of view, is that it’s only a couple of blocks from what was the center of town a hundred years ago. One street over is Erie Street, which was formed when they filled in and paved over the Erie Canal, which helped bring Syracuse to prominence back when. There’s a town square there, and it has a Soldiers and Sailors Monument on it that was dedicated to Civil War veterans. One block away is a stunning Art Deco building for Niagara Mohawk Power. I tried hard to take photos of these things but just couldn’t do them justice so I cribbed them.

Selkirk Shores State Park is on the edge of Lake Ontario and I’m staying here 2 nights. I can intermittently get a wi-fi signal and, when I can, I’m trying to get reservations for Memorial Day weekend (curse you, national holidays!) and, in fact, the rest of my New York stay.

Because I took so many photos of the continuing winter landscape, I think it's only fair that I show a few now that spring has arrived.  I've seen dogwoods and lilacs (real ones, not the Texas version) blooming away, little wild violets everywhere, including right behind the camper now, spring green leaves, ferns coming up - it's spring now.  Just in time for summer, I hope.

New York - Day 16 - Elmira/Binghamton

Chenango Valley State Park, near Binghamton

Wednesday, 16 May 2018

today's route

My route south from Keuka Lake State Park led along the west side of Seneca Lake; a week or so ago I was camped on the east side at Sampson State Park.  Many vineyards along the lake.  Very pretty country.  I passed one called Pompous Ass Winery.

I was aiming for Elmira to pay my respects at the grave of Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain.  His wife’s family lived in Elmira and he and his family spent quite a bit of time there.  He wrote some of his most famous books there (Huckleberry Finn, Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Prince and the Pauper, Life on the Mississippi) but left for good in despair after the premature deaths of several of his children.  After his death, his body was brought back to be buried with his wife and children.  Woodlawn Cemetery seems as old as the town – it’s very large and beautiful with graves much older than those of the Clements family.  The dogs and I all enjoyed our walk there.

  

By then it was 11:00 and we were all getting hungry but I had a plan in mind.  I drove an hour away into Binghamton and, getting turned around only once, went to The Original Lupo’s Char Pit.  They don’t claim to have invented the spiedie but do claim to have

You can see I'd already started eating.

perfected it.  A spiedie (pronounced speedy) is a regional speciality – you can find it only in the Binghamton area but, there, it’s wildly popular.  It’s marinated pork or chicken (usually), cut in chunks and charbroiled on a skewer, then the cook uses a sandwich bun as if it were a potholder to pull the meat off the skewer.  And that’s it – meat and bun.  Nothing else.  It’s the marinade that provides the flavor, which is piquant and delicious.  I had no trouble wolfing down a pork version and didn’t even add salt, which is almost unheard of for me.

After that I planned to get some important chores done. It’s time for Dexter’s annual checkup and I’d located a Banfield Vet Clinic at a PetsMart only a few miles from Lupo’s.  But when we went there, the store told us the Banfield’s had closed about a year and a half ago and that the closest one they knew of was in Albany.  I’ll certainly call that to the attention of someone when I find another outlet, and this time I know to call ahead to confirm when I think I’ve located one.  In the meantime, I’m going to be nervous because it really is time for Dexter’s shots (fortunately not his rabies shot - NY state parks wouldn't let us in without it - but everything else).

Then I went to a CVS to pick up 2 prescriptions I’d called ahead about, only to discover one of them didn’t have any refills left and I need to call my doctor to get another one.  Of course, then I have the problem again of planning ahead to locate a CVS I can get to easily to have it sent to for filling.  Meanwhile, I’m out of that medication, which is supposed to help my blood pressure.

Well, I’m not expecting any serious stress ahead, and when I can get a wi-fi signal, I’ll look up my doctor’s phone number.  (I’m absolutely certain that I brought her business card but couldn’t find it or any of the others I know I brought, even after a 20-minute search.  They’ll show up when I don’t need them and I’ll need to figure out a better spot to put them in.)

I’d originally intended to spend more time in Binghamton because it calls itself the Carousel Capital of the World, but earlier in the month I looked them up and learned that, of the 6 remaining antique carousels here, all are closed until Memorial Day.  I can tell you that the flight simulator was invented here, and IBM was founded near here, and in 1858 the New York State Inebriate Asylum was established as the first in the country to treat alcoholism as a disease.  Interesting place, huh?  Binghamton’s at the confluence of the Susquehana and Chenango Rivers, so there are 11 bridges in town.

This state park, a great deal of which was built by the CCC, is located around 2 kettle lakes formed about 11,000 years ago when the glacier sheet retreated.  It’s pretty and wooded and quiet.

New York - Day 13 - Buffalo

Evangola State Park
Sunday, 13 May 2018

Happy Mother's Day!  This was my first Mother's Day since Momma died, and I decided to go someplace she'd have been interested in: the place Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office.

In 1901, the US had just recently won the Spanish-American War and was establishing new relationships with the rest of the Americas.  To promote that, Buffalo hosted the Pan American Exposition, and President McKinley made an appearance.  He was shot there and died a few days later.  Vice-Pres. T. Roosevelt was in eastern New York on vacation with his family and took a train to Buffalo.  He took the oath of office here, in the home of a friend of his. 

That home is now a national historic site and the National Park Service offers tours, which I took.  The home became a restaurant for some years before the NPS bought it back and then restored the changes that had been made.  Fortunately, some features were the same, like the ceiling decorations and a stunning fireplace.  They were also able to track down some of the original furniture, including the desk where TR wrote the statement he issued to reassure the public.

My momma really liked TR and I'm sure she'd have liked to see this place.  They have exhibits about the issues he dealt with during his presidency, which ran from 1901 to 1909 - he filled out McKinley's term, which had just started, and then was elected to a term of his own.

The Anchor Bar

Oddly, less than 4 blocks away is another landmark of a different sort: the restaurant where buffalo wings were first created.

Sorry, I'd already started eating before I remembered to take a photo of a small order of original buffalo wings, that includes 10 wings, celery and Roquefort.  They offer choices of how hot you want them and I chose original, which they call medium, and they were just right to this Texan, though the guy next to me at the bar ordered the same thing and thought they were too hot.  I'd never had them before, but I thought these were so wonderful that I doubt any other version could measure up.

McKinley Memorial

This obelisk was erected in memory of McKinley, partly because he was very popular but probably mostly out of a sense of guilt because he was assassinated here.  It's in a circle in the center of downtown and can be seen from a long distance because the city is set up a little like Washington DC, with spokes aiming toward the center of town.

Memorial and Buffalo City Hall

City Hall

Just across the street from this memorial is city hall, an amazing example of Art Deco.  I couldn't get a good angle on it so I cribbed these photos.  It looks just stunning from almost any angle.

The town of Buffalo fronts on Lake Erie at the very tip east end of the lake, and there's a long breakwater protecting the shore from lake weather.  Oddly, the people on the radio call it a breakwall, a word I've never heard.  I don't know if Buffalonians (maybe?) use that word or if the radio person was from somewhere else and had never heard of a breakwater.

New York - Day 2 - Seneca Falls

Cayuga Lake State Park
Wednesday, 2 May 2018

On our early morning walk at the KOA, Dexter went into his frantically-tracking-the-scent mode.  I kept telling him it was a raccoon or something but he ignored me.  We came to the top of a rise and I could just see over the top to the meadow and saw 3 deer grazing peacefully.  The deer hadn't seen us and the dogs hadn't seen them, so I quickly took the dogs back down the hill.  But it was neat for me to see them, even if I was the only one to enjoy it.

As we were driving away toward the highway, we saw a marmot cross the road, looking like a very overgrown squirrel (which it is).  Dexter again went on high alert.  Later, farther down the road, I watched a wild turkey poke his head up in the roadside ditch, climb the rise and trot across the road.  It's lucky I'd seen him from the beginning because I'd never have been able to avoid him otherwise.  I'd have thought a wild turkey would be smarter than a domestic turkey, but apparently it doesn't include street smarts.

One of the reasons I wanted to take this trip was to see what could be found by getting off the main highway, and today I found out.  I went down I-88 from exit 11 to exit 8 (more than 3 miles) and got off at Bainbridge.  There I saw a sign saying "Welcome to Bainbridge, Home of Elmer's Glue."  Who knew?

If you should ever find yourself in the village of Whitney Point, NY, be sure to stop at The Scoop, where I had the best chocolate malt I've ever had in my life.  It's right across the street/state highway from the town's school.  Apparently it's got only one school building and all the grades use it.  Called Whitney Point Central School.  It's the class C field hockey state champions for the last 4 years!

In both PA and NY I've noticed that several towns have signs such as, for example, "Lisle Free Library."  I'm guessing these date from the time when people had to pay for a subscription to get books from a library.  Then thanks to Mr. Carnegie, we started enjoying free libraries, open to all.

I spent several hours this afternoon driving along Cayuga Lake, almost 40 miles long.  I had reservations at this state park at the north end of the lake and chose a route that hugged the shore much of the way.

Cayuga Lake from the state park

New York state highways are much like PA's, except the road surface is much smoother overall.  It seems to take a long time to get from one place to another, but that's not really a problem because the scenery is very pleasant; it's just something to account for.

today's route

Pennsylvania - Day 10 - Philadelphia

Philadelphia Walmart, PA
Tuesday, 10 April 2018

Once again I spent time before I left mapping out where I wanted to go and how I would get there.  This time, the problem was precipitated by Gracie.  She started showing clear signs that she was about to be car sick, and I've learned that the way to prevent that is to get her out for a walk instantly.  Well, "instantly" in Philly traffic is a relative term and I got distracted from where I was while I started looking for a legal space to stop where I could also walk her.  I did, and we did, and all was okay until I tried to figure out where we were in relation to where I wanted to be.  I thought I had it, and I was wrong.  We ended up on a highway that didn't want to let us off, and once off didn't want to let us back on again.  But I'd learned my lesson about driving in this town and fairly confidently made our way back to where I wanted to be.  And we made it pretty well.  And I found a legal space to park on the street that only cost $3.00 for a 1-hour sticker.

I was only 2 or 3 blocks from the Reading Terminal Market, an easy walk.  It's amazing.  Indoors and it takes up about 2/3 of a city block.  Inside it's divided into "streets" that are labeled, and the exit doors are labeled as to where they are, so it's fairly easy to navigate, even though there's SO MUCH inside there.

Reading Terminal Market
There're at least 2 seafood vendors, several meat markets, a Lancaster County booth that sells homemade popcorn, jams, pickles - including pickled dill brussel sprouts.  I swear.  There's a place that sells pretzels, including breakfast pretzel rollups, at least 2 candy shops, a place that sells bee products, and several bakeries.  I fell for a warm pecan sticky bun that cost $2.25 and was worth every penny.

There're many restaurant-type places, but most operate like a food court at a mall, and there're a bunch of tables where quite a few people where drinking coffee and eating breakfast.  I saw at least one business meeting going on.

There's Keven Parker's Soul Food Cafe, serving the Food Network designated Best Fried Chicken.  3 pieces + 1 roll + 1 side = $10.00.  Or a thigh for $3.00.  I had Walmart fried chicken last night for supper so I was a little off chicken this morning.  There was a place that served falafel, a Chinese place, a BBQ ribs place, a Down Home diner place.  

Mushroom & Co. sold nothing but their own mushrooms.  In this photo, from left to right are Grey Oyster, Maitake, King Oyster, and Lion's Mane.  And they offer recipes for the various types.  Odd looking things.

There was a shop that sold handmade olive oils and vinegars, several that sold their own cheeses, and a bookshop.

Several of the places - especially the bakeries - were operated by Amish women.  I talked to one who said she lives in Lancaster County and likes it there because it's quiet.

I bought a dozen fresh eggs for $3.00 from a guy who said he's lived in Philly for 6 years and loves it.  He lives in the Arts District, and that's his favorite part of living here.  He was a little sullen until I started asking him questions and then he brightened right up.  Maybe he's slow in the mornings.

When I got back to the RV, my time was exactly up but the dogs were bouncing around asking for a walk so I decided we'd take a quick one.  That was almost a big mistake because the only way to get them in and out is through the main cabin door.  Well, I was parked on the left side of the street, so the main door opened into a lane of traffic.  I thought I had it timed right, but Gracie suddenly got spooked and didn't want to come out, and just at that moment the traffic started up again and Dexter and I were pinned against the side of the RV while I held the door closed with Gracie on the inside.  Finally the cars had a red light and I got Gracie to come out.  Then we did it all over again getting back in.  But they got to walk around smelling Philly smells.

Post Office
I needed to go to an actual post office and located one online, and I could see they didn't have a handy parking lot attached.  But I got lucky and found a legal spot only 3 blocks away.  When I walked into the PO, right away I had to turn and walk up some stairs - a little like a split-level house.  And upstairs was the regular post office, except the employees had bullet-proof glass in front of them.  They were very helpful and cheerful, though, and I got my business done, and then I asked if they'd had a lot of trouble, if that's why they had that glass.  The woman said no, long ago it was open all night, and at that time they did have a little trouble so they had to install that glass.  Then the building got declared a historic building so nothing could be changed about it, so the glass stayed even though it's no longer needed.  It was sure intimidating.  But the people were nice.



Philadelphia Cheesesteak

I walked the dogs around the block again before I went to buy my brunch.  This is what a real Philly cheesesteak looks like: it's from Geno's Steaks, one of the 2 that claim to have invented it.  I ordered mine with provolone and onions, and it was wonderful.  It was also huge - maybe 9" long - this photo doesn't really show it.  And it was so good I'd only intended to eat half of it and instead ate almost all of it.  I managed to stop myself at the last minute and gave the dogs the last bits of meat.

The woman who took my order told me she's lived in Philadelphia all her life and she loves it.  What she likes most is being able to walk everywhere, and she prefers living in South Philly, where it's calmer than in the main part of town, but town is still right there.

Rodin Museum
The dogs insisted on another walk and the Rodin Museum sits on a grassy landscaped small city block, so I knuckled under.  This time we had the same exit problem but I was now experienced in getting in and out in time with the traffic.  Other people walk their dogs in that park, so I had to keep a close eye on them.  Then I went back with my camera.  You can almost see the RV on the right.  A man told me those are birch trees - the grounds are full of them, and they look quite old.

A plaque told me Rodin originally sculpted "The Thinker" in 1880 to put at the top of his Gates of Hell sculpture.  In 1902 he decided to enlarge it, and in 1919 cast it in bronze.  This is indeed the original.

I knew that the museum was closed on Tuesdays, but I forgot that today is a Tuesday.  I apologized very contritely to the guard I disturbed when I was trying to get in.  So this is all I got to see.  Probably just as well since I don't know enough to really appreciate what he did.  But you don't have to know much to appreciate this.  Can you imagine this guy at the top of the Gates of Hell?

Laurel Hill Cemetery

notice the porcupine on the wall

people knew how to honor their dead

I never saw a cross like this before

This cemetery was founded in 1836 and was only the 2nd rural cemetery in the country.  All the others had been set up in towns.  And with the press of increasing population, sometimes people's graves would get built over, or they'd get dumped into communal graves.  So much for eternal rest.  That was the impetus for this one being built out of town - well, what was then out of town.  Now it's smack in the middle of town, but lots of park land has been preserved all around it.

a grave for a Confederate soldier

I also saw a grave for a man whose epitaph read: "A patriot of the Revolution, a usefull [sic] citizen, and an honest man."  You can't really ask for a better epitaph than that.

Tomorrow will be mostly for driving.  I'd originally intended my route to be in a different order, and that's how I made my campground reservations.  It was the weather that interfered.  But it costs too much to change my reservations so tomorrow I'm driving across most of the state.  Fortunately, Pennsylvania only ranks 33rd in size among US states, so it's not like driving across Texas.

The weather's supposed to be improving immensely for the weekend - at least it is here - I don't know what it's supposed to do in the southwestern part of the state.  Hopefully the snow is finally gone.  On the weather report this morning, they said we've skipped so much of the usual spring progression that they're forecasting both the early pollen producers and the late pollen producers all producing at once and making this a year for allergy sufferers to remember.  There's always something for everyone.