Beaver Lake Nature Center

Here’s a great nature place to visit! This is a wonderfully wooded and wild place to go. It has a network of trails, all geared for exploring nature. We saw lots of wildlife and enjoyed our forest trail walk.

The Erie Canal Blacksmith

I finally got this video uploaded to YouTube. Took me all day! It’s the Blacksmith demonstration we saw while at Erie Canal Village in Rome, NY. I love watching these things. This guy is relatively new, but I think he did a great job. And those double-bellows are amazingly large.

More on Rome Sports Hall of Fame

This is part two of our visit to the Sports Hall of Fame in Rome, NY. Admission to the museum is free, and if you are a sports fan, this is THE place to go. Both NASCAR champs Richtie Evans and Jerry Cook were from Rome, NY. The museum has a lot of their memorabilia here.

Rome Sports Hall of Fame

The Rome Sports Hall of Fame is in Rome, NY. It is a museum filled to the ceiling with sports memorabilia, including the famous Richie Evans (a Rome native) racing car.

The Peppermint Pig of Saratoga, NY

The Peppermint Pig is was a vogue Victorian tradition, when American prosperity was blossoming. It was the creation of a candy confectioner in Saratoga, NY, and the tradition continues to this day.

Gerrit Smith Estate, Peterboro, NY

You may not have heard of Gerrit Smith, but in his day he was the man most responsible for the abolition movement in New York State. Gerrit Smith was the “Stationmaster” of the Underground Railroad. We visited his old estate in Peterboro, NY.

Whatever Happened to Fort Bull?

Fort Bull was one of three forts constructed during the French and Indian War to protect the Oneida Carry, a portage route in central New York State. The Oneida Carry lay between the Mohawk River and Wood Creek, as one of the important trade routes between Albany and Oneida Lake. This fort was destroyed in an Indian raid, and some say Mel Gibson borrowed its history for his Fort Wilderness take in “The Patriot.”

Egyptian Mummy at Cazenovia Library

This is the second post of our visit to the historic Cazenovia Library. Residing here- in the middle of Upstate New York– is an ancient Egyptian mummy and his cat! It was a wonderful day of education and exploration.

Museum of Oddities at Cazenovia Library

What a library! Besides a lovely collection of books, a beautiful Victorian garden, historic rooms to explore within an historic house, this also has a terrific museum of local and natural history. And a resident cat! A great place to visit.