New England Trip

News Flash - The blog entry for Wednesday, June 24 was incorrect. It was actually Wednesday, June 25.

This morning we ran some errands, then went to the Robert Moses Power Plant to learn about how the New York Power Company uses the Niagara River to generate power. There was a self-guided tour that was interesting and informative, with some educational exhibits about how electrical power is generated and used. The exhibits were interactive, and had us pedaling a bicycle or moving magnets to see how electric power is generated or used. We got a laugh out of the fact that several of the exhibits didn’t work because of a burned-out light bulb or other low-tech problem. As usual, budget cuts have apparently hit the PR function of the power plant especially hard. The guy at the entry desk was very helpful, though, and gave us some good maps and information for the rest of the day.

We drove north to the little town of Lewiston, north and downriver of the Falls, where we had a good lunch at a little riverside bar where the Whirlpool Jet Boat Tours depart for a very wet and wild ride though the Whirlpool turn on the river. While we enjoyed lunch on the deck, we watched a busload of Asian tourists deck themselves in yellow foulies and orange life jackets for an E-ticket ride, and another group of drenched tourists return.

From Lewiston we drove the scenic route along the shore of Lake Ontario, stopping at a state park to see the lake, and on to the 30 Mile Point Lighthouse, one of a long string of lighthouses that mark the southern shoreline of Lake Ontario near the entrance from the St. Lawrence River. It was great to drive through the countryside and see the huge old trees, especially the giant weeping willow trees, the small villages, farms and vineyards along the way. Surely the best way to get beyond the stereotypes of other states and regions is to drive through their heartlands and see the homes and businesses of the people who live there.

We stopped at a state park along the way to look at the lake. Lake Ontario was shrouded in haze or fog today, and didn’t give us any great views of a distant horizon. The beach was made of small pebbles in sand, and while we were there, the wind was calm and the water flat.

After a much longer drive than we expected, we reached the lighthouse, and took some pictures. The lighthouse now has an automatic light, and is no longer tended by a keeper, but most of the original buildings are still there. On the way back, we took a different route to cross the old Erie Canal at the town of Lockport. For all its history, the canal is now apparently just a river of very consistent width without a lot of traffic.

We leave tomorrow for Seneca Falls, NY, in the Finger Lakes Region, on the way to Vermont.

A picture of the lighthouse follows.