Traveling South to Central NY from the North Country

Stone Church

We left Fort Drum and headed south on Route 26. Freedom Wright moved with his family, and his brother Charles and his family, to the Black River country of upstate New York, settling in the village of Denmark in 1802. He built the first framed house in the village, and became the first innkeeper and tavern owner there. A meeting was held at Freedom’s Inn on January 3, 1804 to discuss the possible division of Oneida county. Then, historically, the meeting where it was decided to create Lewis and Jefferson counties was held there on November 20, 1804. The Freedom Inn still stands today. Entering Lowville on Route 26, there is a Stone Church. It is the historic Lowville Presbyterian Church. 

Wind Farm on the Hillside

It consists of rectangular stone, gable roofed main block erected in 1831 and an attached gable roofed wing added in 1906. The front facade features a pavilion with triangular pediment surmounted by a staged wood bell tower that contains the "town clock." There is a great windmill farm on the hillside along Route 26. Just before Boonville, in the southbound lane, just past the guardrails, you can see the falls. It is referred to as Talcottville Falls and Sugar River Falls. There is actually a

Sugar River Falls

series of drops here. Just downstream of these falls, between the falls and the highway, is another smaller drop. This section could qualify as a waterfall on its own since it is actually as large or larger than other waterfalls in northern New York, it is closer and more visible from the highway.  As an interesting side-note, the hamlet of Talcottville was the first settlement in Lewis County. The Sugar River flows into the Black River just a few miles downstream from these falls.  The Black River flows into Lake Ontario in the Jefferson County community of Dexter, just west of Watertown. 

Black River Canal

On Route 12 south, we saw the waste-weir at Baker's Falls, two miles south of Boonville. It is an impressive sight. Water from the Black River Canal blends with the Lansing Kill at this location to form a stream that runs partially underground. Also on Route 12, you can see remains of the Black River Canal. It was a canal built in North country of New York to connect the Erie Canal to the Black River. This canal was only 35 miles long, but it had 109 locks. We moved over onto Route 46 south.

Pixley Falls State Park

Where six miles south of Boonville, the Lansing Kill cascades 50 feet at Pixley Falls.  Formerly the site of Hurlbut's sawmill, Pixley Falls has been the centerpiece of the name sake State Park since 1932. The next State Park is Delta State Park, located on Delta Lake. It is a great place to camp and relax. It is located on a peninsula extending into Delta Reservoir. The terrain is wooded and generally flat, with hiking and nature trails, a boat launch and shoreline fishing for trout, pike, bass, bullhead and perch. If you enjoy Bluegrass music as much as we do, you need to check out the Annual Mohawk Valley Bluegrass Festival, sponsored by the MVBA and the Woods Valley Ski Area on State

Delta Lake, along Route 46 S

Route 46, just 7 miles north of Rome. You can hear the Corey Zink Band, Bob Amos & Catamount Crossing, Chad Darou & Stealing Time, Mathews Family Tradition, Diamond Someday, Rebecca Colleen and the Chore Lads, Pocket Change, Mountebank Brothers, Ernie Evans, Louie Setzer and The Appalachian Mountain Boys, Plexigrass and our own home state band ... the Florida State Bluegrass Band. A great place to visit in Rome NY is the Rome Fish Hatchery has been providing fish to over 350 public waters for over 75 years. The facility hatches out more than 1 million Brown, Rainbow and Brook trout eggs annually, raises them to about 8-9 inches long, then stocks them in rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds in 11 counties in New York State. Yes, you can feed the fish while you are there. If you visit at the right time of the year you can see them loading the fish trucks. They have big pumps that they load the fish trucks with. It’s pretty neat to see that.

Fort Stanwix

In The center of Rome, you can see historic a Fort Stanwix. Known as "the fort that never surrendered," Fort Stanwix, successfully repelled a prolonged siege, in August 1777, by British, German, Loyalist, Canadian, and American Indian troops and warriors commanded by the British. The failed siege combined with the battles at Oriskany, Bennington, and Saratoga thwarted a coordinated effort by the British in 1777 to take the northern colonies, and led to American alliances with France and the Netherlands. Troops from Fort Stanwix also participated in the 1779 Clinton-Sullivan Campaign and protected America's northwest frontier from British campaigns until finally being abandoned in 1781. After Rome, you can visit Erie Canal Village. Erie Canal

Erie Canal Museum

Village is an outdoor living history museum. It is a reconstructed 19th century settlement on the site where, on July 4, 1817, the first shovelful of earth was turned for the construction of the original Erie Canal. The village is home to three museums: The Erie Canal Museum, which unfolds the story of the Erie Canal from the first proposals for an improved route to the West through the emergence of the Barge Canal System in 1918; The Harden museum which exhibits a collection of horse drawn vehicles that range from utilitarian farm equipment to an elegant Laundaulet. In order to present a clearer view of 19th century travel, vehicles are placed on samples of three types of roads: dirt, plank and cobblestone; and third, The New York State Museum of Cheese building, which once housed the Merry and Weeks cheese factory in nearby Verona, NY. In addition to the museums, other typical structures found during the 19th century can be viewed such as Bennett's Tavern, Blacksmith Shop, Railroad Station, Ice House, Wood Creek School, Maynard Methodist Church, Shull Victorian House, Settler's House, Crosby House and Canal Store. 

blue lupine at the Sand Plains

While we were in New Jersey, we saw the pine barrens, but we did not know that there were pine barrens in NY. The Rome Sand Plains is a 15,000-acre pine barrens consisting of a mosaic of sand dunes extending about 50 feet above low peat bogs that lie between the dunes. The barrens are covered with mixed northern hardwood forests, meadows, and wetlands. Pine barrens are typical of seacoasts; the Rome Sand Plains is one of only a handful of inland pine barrens remaining in the US. There are several rare species in the Sand Plains, including the purple pitcher plant and a sundew (both of which are carnivorous plants), red-shouldered hawks, martens, and the frosted elfin butterfly, which is a threatened species in New York State. Other species that can be found include wild blue lupine (also rare, and the food for the frosted elfin), barrens buckmoth, whippoorwill, pine warbler and pitch pine, normally indigenous to coastal areas. In Oneida, we started to head west of Route 5.

the yellow brick sidewalk

We entered the village of Chittenango, which holds a three-day annual festival called Oz-Stravaganza! (formerly Oz Fest) to celebrate the literary works of author L. Frank Baum, who was born in Chittenango in 1856. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published in 1900. The weekend-long festival consists of many events including a parade, which features many community groups. Notably, the parade has also featured several actors and actresses from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz who played the roles of various Munchkins, including Jerry Maren, Karl Slover, Meinhardt Raabe, and Margaret Williams Pellegrini. The Wizard of Oz theme continues beyond the annual festival. Several local shops and restaurants have adopted an Oz theme, such as Auntie Em's Place, Over the Rainbow Crafts, Tin Man Construction Co., Emerald City Grill, and Emerald City Bowling.  In 1982, the village installed a brick sidewalk on either side of the downtown portion of Genesee St. which was painted yellow as an homage to the yellow brick road from the novels and film. The sidewalk required regular upkeep as the color would fade over time and the bricks would chip and crack due to the freeze-thaw cycles in the colder months and regular use throughout the year. As part of a downtown Chittenango revitalization project, the sidewalks were replaced with concrete which was then stamped and colored to replicate the yellow brick road. 

In the center of Fayetteville, stands a plaque that identifies the location of the boyhood home of Grover Cleveland. Grover Cleveland served as U.S. President for two non-consecutive terms, from 1884 to 1888 as 22nd President, and again from 1892 to 1896 as 24th President. He is the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms and to be counted twice in the numbering of the Presidents. Cleveland was the fifth of nine children, five sons and four daughters. He was named Stephen Grover in honor of the first pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Caldwell, where his father was pastor at the time, but he did not use the name Stephen in his adult life. In 1841, the Cleveland family moved to this house in Fayetteville, where Grover spent much of his

flowscape, downtown Syracuse

childhood. Neighbors would later describe him as full of fun and inclined to play pranks, and fond of outdoor sports. We traveled through downtown Syracuse and encountered a street covered in a sea of blue paint. Volunteers have transformed a central spot in downtown, known as Perseverance Park at corner of Fayette and Salina streets. It is called a "Flowscape,'' a public art project sponsored by the Downtown Committee of Syracuse, replaced the dull concrete and brick surface at the corner with light blue paint and flowing white stripes. Organizers planned the installation to draw attention to the street corner, formerly dominated by a major bus stop, because the site is slated to become a new city park in the future.

a hoggee and his mule

Near the blue painted road we encountered a statue of a boy and a mule. The history behind this statue involves the Erie Canal. The most famous song about the Erie Canal was written long after the Civil War. Written in 1905 by Thomas S. Allen, the song "Low Bridge, Everybody Down" tells of the special relationship between a canaller and his mule, Sal: "She's a good old worker and a good old pal, Fifteen years on the Erie Canal. I eat my meals with Sal each day, I eat beef and she eats hay." It is a statue of a driver boy (hoggee) and the mule. Hoggees were subject to much ridicule. One famous taunt: Hoggee on the towpath, five cents a day. Picking up horse balls, to eat along the way. Rollin Wheels Raceway, also known as "The Fast Track" is located east of Auburn.

Fingerlakes drive-in

It is one of three founding-member speedways when DIRT Motorsports was established in 1976, Rolling Wheels has matured into one of the most respected ovals on the entire circuit. The big 5/8-mile layout was first mapped out by the late Bob Petrocci, once a competitor himself at neighboring Weedsport Speedway. One year following the August 17, 1969 opener, Petrocci lost his life in a freak accident while spectating at a nearby speedway. The World of Outlaw Series runs at this track, our neighbors in Florida have a nephew that drives in this series. Route 5 joined up with Route 20, to form 5 & 20. We passed by the Fingerlakes Drive-In, an iconic piece of Americana. The theater opened in 1947, and it is New York state's oldest operating drive-in theater. They are a classic drive-in which still has speakers, but you can use of our FM radio transmission for an incredible stereo sound. 

Sunset over Auburn

Whether you're spending one night or several, the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail has an abundance of lodging, shopping, tours, shows, museums, outdoor activities, enjoy a quick lunch or an exquisite meal at restaurants with lake views, ice cream shops, bakeries, and dozens of opportunities to enjoy the bounty of the Finger Lakes. The motto of the Cayuga Wine Trail is "See It! Taste It! Live It! Love It!" We will end this portion of the trip with a nice bottle of wine and a perfect sunset as we settle in for the night.