Each small town we encounter, on our travels, has it's own story, and we heard a small part of the story of the town of Albion, NY, today.
We had to go back into Albion to Walmart, to get food that I had somehow (duh!) forgotten to buy yesterday. Don't ask!!!
We first had to return to the Lighthouse Diner for breakfast. Waz so enjoyed his banana pancakes there yesterday, it was a repeat today! It says something...well, A LOT about the chef, that we returned.
I had been told to ask if the Chef could make crab cakes Benedict for me. I asked, and he said yes, but we would have to wait a while. No problem! As it turned out, he not only had to make the crab cakes, but the hollandaise sauce as well, so I know everything was fresh:) It was superb!! and all for under $20 too, I might add! Unheard of anywhere else.
We walked around the corner to the diner, and then went walking afterwards down one of the longer streets in town, to see what we could see. This is Point Breeze, which is home to some year-rounders, but there are also a lot of vacant homes, some of which are for sale, owned by folks from elsewhere who thought a vacation home here might be nice. So, who comes here? there used to be a healthy charter fishing industry here, but that has kind of withered and almost died. There are certainly a LOT of boats in Marina and on docks, up the Oak Creek River, but not a whole lot of them go down the river to Lake Ontario. We might see 4-6 charter fishing boats go out, each day, with about 4-6 people on board, but apparently there have been many more boats in years gone by. Everyone here is complaining about the lack of tourists!
We didn't make our run into Albion until around 11am.
Robyn and Dave very kindly lent us the use of their sporty little Mini, for the duration of our stay, and we hadn't needed to drive it until two days ago. It is a stick shift, and I hadn't driven one for about 8 yrs! It was a bit like riding a bike, I have to say...comes back really fast. I have always loved having that much control, in a vehicle, so it has been a real pleasure to drive a stick shift, again.
A couple of drawbacks to this car....It wasn't meant for tall people :) and it has a few blind spots, meaning I had to turn myself inside out to see behind me...though I tried putting my head out the window to look behind, there wasn't really room for my head to GO out the window. It is a fun car, nonetheless.
We both took our cameras this morning, intending to stop in the town of Albion, get out and walk around. On our way into the town we had to cross the Erie Canal .This part of the canal is original...some parts aren't, further east, but this part is where the town grew up alongside the canal.
A little tug boat behind a barge, parked outside the Canal Authority building, on the left. The canal isn't that wide, at this point, and the bridges are lift bridges. We couldn't get our boat along this part of it due to some fixed bridges that are too low for us. That is why we chose to leave the Erie Canal and travel the Oswego Canal to Lake Ontario. This canal exits at Buffalo, on Lake Erie.
A couple of small boats docked along the town wall., between bridges. You can see how low they are!
There are signs all around the town, giving interesting historical facts, like this one:) Of course the bridge collapsed...250 people is too many for a wooden bridge...but a tragedy nonetheless. I would hazard that most of them couldn't swim, either.
(Orleans is the County).
In these parts there is much 'Pink Medina' Stone, from the nearby town of Median. It is a pink sandstone. The ornamentation on many of the buildings, is wonderful, such as this Briggs Building, on the main drag into town.
it is great to see at least some of the buildings getting a new coat of paint and some loving care.
The bricks are fascinating. Remember, this is a place that freezes in wintertime, which is very destructive to most structures. We see the effects of the annual freezes and thaws everywhere on both commercial and domestic buildings. You can see the bridge over the Erie Canal, on the right.
Just behind these buildings are warehouses (former). their construction is a curiosity, but entirely of their 'times'. We happened upon an old building being demolished and took great interest in the 18 inch thick walls that were exposed....see photos further down the page...
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Looking from the Canal bridge , you get another view of the main road. This building is right alongside the Erie Canal. Take note of the stone wall, facing us.
This is the warehouse behind those buildings. Again, take note of the stone wall!
We were told these were built in the early 1800's from 'local' stone. This may well have been field stone.
It is a miracle that it has stood for so long, don't you think? The mortar had lots of shell pieces in it...the white flecks.
Another building which houses an existing ACE hardware store (much to our surprise it was still open for business) is hand hewn rock. Most of the woodwork has been painted over so many times without being stripped, that the paint AND the wood appear to be peeling off, in places.
For a long time now, we have been seeing Granite stone curbs. The concrete sidewalk butts up to the granite, and for the most part they remain intact, for all the wear and tear that any curb stone gets. Occasionally we see chunks out of them, but I would say these are the most effective curbstones around! In some cities, where Trolleys and carts/drays have been used in centuries past, we see steel on the outside of the corners.
Waz and I walked up one side and down the other, of the main drag, after walking several blocks behind, because, as usual, we found other buildings of interest:)
This is the US Post Office! Pretty! I had cause to go and use their services, sending a parcel home to my mother. We have been searching for clip on earrings for her for literally years. It seems they don't make such things anymore. We walked into a second hand goods store, all beautifully laid out, and low and behold...a wide selection of clip-on earrings. We purchased four pairs and promptly sent them to her in NZ.
It is always interesting to note how much of the Public Purse is spent of Public Buildings. They are often and I could say 'usually' the most impressive buildings in any of the towns we have visited. This one is no exception. It is part of the County Courthouse, legislature, various county offices etc. Gorgeous stained glass windows, architectural detailing et al. Someone had a fine time designing this building.
and one architectural detail that just couldn't have been thought of back then....:)
The town square is known as Courthouse Square, apparently. Not only dose that building dominate the middle of the square, but it is surrounded by Churches of note.
We found it interesting that the Episcopals might have built a church, but a few years later, they sold it to the Presbyterians for the grand sum of $200 (this is 1860's), and then were sold a piece of vacant land owned by the Presbyterians for $500! hmmmm... We gathered this information from a middle aged man who was serving as the custodian of the First Presbyterian Church...more on that later.
The spire in the background is the Baptist Church. They need a lot more money to restore this gorgeous edifice....some plywood covers one of the windows on the steeple, sadly.
The pink Medina Stone church in the foreground is the Catholic Church.
On the corner opposite (directly) the Catholics, is this Unitarian Church building, the low-rise of the group. It is also built of Pink Medina Sandstone. The little green spire, you can see sticking up on the far left, is also part of this building. It is a curious addition, in our opinion.
Now to the stone walls...
This is the building under demolition, which I mentioned earlier....no supporting inner structure, on these walls...no Reinforcing Steel Bar but plenty of smaller stones/rocks in the middle with the mortar. A good sized earthquake might just bring them all down!
The Catholic Church has some beautiful Stained and colored glass windows and doors.
It really is a beautiful building.
Along the street on another corner was this stone house. Sadly it has been divided into apartments, but we find this a lot. No one person can take care of large homes, it seems, and there is little or no money to restore, let alone maintain the structures, as I have detailed here. Makes me very sad.
The children playing on the driveway (it is summer school holidays in the USA) out back had to contend with concrete driveway that had heaved and dropped about 2 feet, in this past winter, one would guess. It created a huge 'hole' which the kids were playing ball in. It really is a grand home, and being only two blocks from the center of town may have been built by a leading light of the town.
Oops..this one is out of order, but, I had to include the detail of the doors. The hinges are wonderful! This detail is on the Unitarian Church.
...and the Prison is right next door to the stunning County Building and Courthouse, on the right. Not exactly in keeping with the rest of the town architecture.....
On a wall out front of the decorative County Building was this bronze Plaque.
So, this County Building used to be a Female Seminary.
One of the corners of the building. Obviously, the spouting is a newer addition!
This is the damage caused by years of Ice and snow. Note the Granite foot stone bottom left. The sills and door and window lintels were all this grey granite.
Opposite the Court house and the County Building is this glorious home. We chatted briefly with the owner who was sitting (reclining, actually) on the bottom left covered lanai. I think he is invalided. The man with the ladder is cleaning the windows. She was built as the Presbyterian Church Manse. The church is next door to the left of this photo.Again, excellent use has been made of the Pink Medina Sandstone. The gardens were also noteworthy.
I would love to have been invited inside to see what she looks like in there, but that opportunity didn't arise, mores the pity:) My curiosity gets the better of me, sometimes:)
The Courthouse, opposite the Manse. Those pillars are made of wood!
...and just two doors down, is the 'new' Presbyterian Church. Don't ask me how I forgot to take Photos of the FIRST church, but I did! It is in between the Manse and this structure. It has tall pillars, just like the courthouse, opposite. We were told that the pink Medina sandstone holds the heat, so in August, when it is so hot, in these parts, the congregation meets in the OLD church next door. Conversely, in winter, the sandstone insulates the church, and it heats up very quickly.
I love the trees growing out of the top! Those roofs are made of colored slate, as was normal in those times....and was probably quarried not far away. Remember the last post at Letchworth Park? Those cliffs were all slate!
The stained and colored glass windows were stunning...especially from the inside!
As luck would have it, there was a fella working outside the church, and we got chatting. He asked if we would like to see the inside of the church. I know we could have done this on our own, but to have local knowledge as a commentary, is priceless, so we said YES!
A woman artist was employed, during the latest restoration project, to uncover and then re-instate the paintings and original colors, inside the church. It is beautiful, in bird's egg blue with gold and silver stenciling and hand painting. The woman was a true artist!
The pipe organ is original, and is played every service. See the gold bands around the pillars?? Those held the original light fittings....screw in bulbs...
This, on the outside of the Church.
The Spire is a source of much pride. It would be 6ft taller than the Done on the Courthouse, if they were on the same level footing, literally. The Courthouse is built on a rise, some 8 feet or so above the church.
About this time we felt we needed a cup of coffee....badly! But no coffee shops exist in this part of town. We were told, at the Travel Agents office, that we had to go up the road to Tim Hortons Cake and Coffee shop. We did, with tongues hanging out. It might not have been the BEST Latte, but it was certainly the HOTTEST! Waz, who has a tongue of steel for such things, had to blow on his, so we know it was REALLY hot, lol.
We went back to Walmart (don't hate us for patronizing them) to look for plastic containers to replace the ones in the lazarette that had broken, but didn't find them. We also bought the fresh veg that I had omitted the day before.
Our next mission, was to eat Ice-cream for lunch...I know!!! it is full of sugar and junk food...but we needed to do it! We had promised ourselves we would go to where the locals recommended we get our ice-cream...Farmer Browns Market, not far from the boat. Waz showed the most restraint, for a change, and just ordered a two scoop waffle cone. I went the whole hog (and lived to regret it!!!) with a Peanut Butter chocolate sundae. Aieee!!! major sugar overload...and I had hot flushes for the rest of the day to prove it! After the first half, I was regretting the choice, but finished it, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, cherry and all! burp!..well, YUK, actually.
We didn't need any other food until dinner time.
Robyn and Dave came over for a casual dinner on the Fly deck. It has rained for the past two days, and we havnt been up there. We scooped a lot of water out of the tarpaulin, before cleaning up, in the late afternoon. We finally got the rest of the hull cleaned on the port side...waz got the dinghy off the back and did the deed....not getting the brown moustache off the front of the boat, however. We have lots more rivers to cross, as it were, before we cut and polish that stain out.
We ate Salmon with capers and cream, fresh green beans and shredded sautéed sweet potato with a spinach/pear/walnut/blue cheese salad. One of my favorite dinners.
The neighbor, John, and a Sth African sailor from up the creek joined us for a while and I served one of my sugarless mousses (choc.) with fresh strawberries and cream for dessert.
It was almost 10pm when we all said goodnight, and set about cleaning up.
We are doing our last laundry, this morning, and will take the boat up the creek for a pump out and fuel top-up, Fuel in Canada is expensive, and we estimate we wont have to buy fuel again until we get back to the USA, in about 6 weeks time...if we are a bit miserly about our running speed.
Waz has been conscripted to sail again, tonight. We might have a crowd at the dock, also. Andrea and Dale have said they might come by to say goodbye. We are off in the morning, all going well.
So, Im outta here, and on with the day.
We will be out of contact for a short while, until we set up our Canadian communications.
Canada, here we come!
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