Day 70 of our 2025 RVing Adventure with Historical & Musical Interludes

It's Thursday July 10th, day 70 of our 2025 summer adventure. After my walk this morning we did not sit around and enjoy our coffee. He had errands to run this morning.

We are staying at Ontario County Park at Gannett Hill. It is named after newspaper mogul, Frank Gannett, founder of the Gannett Company. Gannett was a native of the Bristol Hills and a prominent figure in the Rochester region. The Gannett family property was never actually part of the park. According to Ontario County, “the park was named after the Gannett family due to its history of farming and Frank Gannett’s distinction.” 

The property originally gained notoriety in 1916, after a group of Boy Scouts from Canandaigua hiked Gannett Hill and camped at the top as guests of Irving B. Wilson who owned 300 acres at the top. This "first annual" hike received a great deal of coverage and soon tourists were being encouraged to drive up the hill. Some of our friends have been coming here long enough to remember when Gannett Hill was a dirt road to the top.

We got cleaned up and headed to Livonia to find the birthday boy, Jimmy Wingate, and give him his birthday present. He is not really into the public knowledge that it is his birthday. But since he is not on social media and he still uses a flip-phone. I think I am good in putting that information in my blog! We also grabbed breakfast at a great local establishment in Livonia, Wanda's Family Restaurant. It is always good and everyone is always glad to see you! Charlie enjoyed oatmeal and toast. I opted for a breakfast sandwich and brought half of it home!

We grocery shopped and stopped at the Post Office before we headed back to the campground. When we got back, Dana and Dawn were there and getting set-up. Royce pulled in while we were talking to them. Karen arrived a couple hours after Royce got set up and went fishing. Charlie's brother Donny and his wife Donna, stopped up for a visit after her appointment in Rochester. Sheila and Rob were the last to arrive today. My brother arrives tomorrow. As we sat around and got caught up, Mother Nature rumbled all around us. Just when we were talking about heading to dinner, the skies opened up. It rained hard, but did not last long. 

We headed to dinner in Naples, at Naples Wood Fired Pizza and Smokehouse BBQ. They cook pizzas that everyone loves. Neapolitan Wood-Fired Pizza made with the freshest ingredients. 

Charlie enjoyed a specialty meat lovers pizza creations cooked in their custom-built wood-fired oven. Others in our group enjoyed house smoked brisket, pulled pork, and wings. I enjoyed the smoked chicken Harvest salad.

On our way to the brewery, we passed a purple house. Since Naples is know for it's grapes. A purple house is nothing new! But, also notice that all the fire hydrants are purple too! 

After dinner, we stopped at Engine 14. A local brewery in Naples. Engine 14 Brewery began operations in 2021, but its roots run deeper than that. The founder Greg Borden has lived in the Naples area his entire life, and has always had a passion for craft beer and home brewing. After retiring from the Rochester Fire Department in 2019, Greg set his sights on opening a brewery. 

The vision was to build a brewery that felt like an old firehouse. He found and purchased an old fire truck decommissioned back in the ‘60s that ran out of the same firehouse he worked at. Over the next two years, Greg and Kate poured thousands of hours into the idea. A fantastic location was found, equipment was acquired, and a plan was hatched. The first batch of beer, a pilsner dubbed “Golden Arm”, was brewed on November 11th, 2021. 

We came back to a good fire with great friends! Stay tuned for more Two Lane adventures!