Sunday June 26, 2016Today we are going to head east to Seneca Falls and go around Cayuga Lake.First stop – Star Diner for breakfast.  Church does not start until 10:00, so at 9:00 it was packed.We waited about 20 minutes for a table.  Talked to 2 gentlemen in the parking lot that travel around the country to Horseshoe tournaments.  World Tournaments. They had been to Nashville for a World Tournament a few years ago.  That is one of them in the middle of the photo holding the menu.Worth the wait.Welcome to Seneca Falls, considered the Birthplace of the Women’s Rights Movement.By 1828, the Cayuga-Seneca Canal had been linked to the Erie Canal, opening up a much larger market for items manufactured locally.  Landowners along the lake and canal became very successful by leasing water rights to a wide variety of industries.Canal Tours are available.  You can also Skipper your own canal boat down the Erie Canal. Self-Skippered Rentals, Explore the Erie Canal.  You can be your own captain of an easy-to-operate Lockmaster Canalboat.  It sounds like a lot of fun!!Nice waterfront walkway.In 1848, the first Women’s Rights convention was held in Seneca Falls.In May 1851, there was a chance encountered on the streets of Seneca Falls, NY.  Susan B. Anthony was introduced to Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The bond that was forged between Stanton and Anthony gave direction and momentum to the seventy-two year struggle for women’s suffrage which culminated on August 26, 1920 in the passage of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution.  Neither woman lived to see this happen.The beautiful Trinity Episcopal Church across the Canal.Lock 2 & 3 on the Cayuga-Seneca Canal.  This is a 49 foot drop or rise depending on the direction you are going.  That is a pretty deep lock.  It is actually 2 locks.The upper end with the protection barrier raised.I would not go any farther up the walkway.  It was pretty high.Upper end…lower end and they are split in the middle.The actual falls were flooded when they completed the canal.  They are under water somewhere.

So we left Seneca Falls and headed south on 89 along Cayuga Lake towards Ithaca.We came across Varick Winery and a Cherry Festival.  You could pick your own cherries.  Since it was Sunday and the cherry crop was bad this year, there was nothing left to pick.  The woman at the cherry trees explained that because of the late cold, the bees just did not do there job and there was a very small cherry production this year.  One row of trees did not produce anything. There was a row of artist and homemade honey, etc.  Look at the view of the Lake from here.Wine tasting at the Varick Country store.Land TortoiseThe owner was talking to a group of people about something else.  I pointed out to a little boy that this guy wanted out.  He kind of started yelling and the owner was like “oh, he won’t hurt you, unless he gets around you and strangles you to death.” We moved away.This was the Twelfth Annual Cherry Festival. Nice stop.

We drove through Ithaca, home of Cornell University.  We did not see it, but saw a sign.Up the east side of Cayuga Lake in a small town of Aurora, NYThe beautiful campus of Wells College.The estates along the lake are beautiful.Beautiful old churches in Cayuga.The amazing tile work on the roof.More beautiful estates.A huge farm.

Back to Waterloo and the Moose Lodge. The next few days were pretty uneventful.We got out Cliff’s new kite that we bought in Shipshewana, IndianaHe got it pretty far up.Went for walks at Seneca Lake State Park.Seneca Yacht ClubOne of paths in the park.The beachThe Splash parkThe View.Watched a horseshoe tournament at the Moose Lodge.  Every night we grilled out some type of meat and a vegetable.  We had chicken, North Carolina shrimp, smoked pork chops from Oak Hill Farms, homemade chicken salad, etc

By Thursday June 30, 2016 we had come up with a new plan.Ride our bikes through Seneca Lake State Park instead of walking.  Then to the Geneva Farmers Market and laundry.

Next to Auburn and Skaneateles, NY