Timeless

If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you know that I adore history. Historical artifacts, historical stories, genealogy, everything! In so many of our exploits seeing so many wonderful old articles from the past, I always walk away awed. HOW can such old, antiquated objects still exist or even still operate after all these hundreds of years? At Fraunces Tavern in New York City and at Fort Ticonderoga in Upstate New York, we gazed at articles owned by George Washington. I loved his old pocket watch, watch fob and watch key. It’s amazing that these things are still preserved! They just don’t make such things like they used to, either. Especially watchpieces. These “time” pieces are truly timeless when made well!

All my kids love wristwatches. A few of them have cell phones, but they still wear their watches. Problem is, the watches they have had are the “discount” watches from the local Wally World. Needless to say, I usually wind up (pun intended!) purchasing a new watch for each kid because the watches are so poorly made. 300 years from now, will museum visitors be treated to the junk from our landfills? Ugh.

It would have been better if I’d paid a little more and just purchased Citizen Eco drive watches for the children. Seriously, I could imagine George Washington wearing one of these watches, especially if it has a barometer or calendar. He and Thomas Jefferson were avid weather watches, I hear. You think this watch with its “perpetual calendar” would go over well?

P.S. My son saw me going through the BlueDial.com website and he came right over. “Wow, watches!” he said. I told you, my kids like watches!

Check out the store for some of the most beautiful watches you’ve ever seen. Truly, these are elegant timepieces. And who knows, maybe someday YOUR elegant timepiece will sit behind a display case in a museum.

A New Year’s Stroll Through Little Falls, NY

Little Falls, NY, is a lovely and picturesque city in Herkimer County. First settled in 1723, it was originally called “Rock City.” No kidding– many of the city’s plentiful buildings were built perched on the rocky slopes and cliffs. Driving through the streets in an exciting challenge, but the views are simply stunning. Downtown was decorated for the holidays and it exuded a nostalgic “It’s a Wonderful Life” appeal.

Little Falls is another fine example of Upstate New York’s formerly prosperous era, between the Civil War and World War II. Many of the Victorian grand dames lines the streets, some kept up while other decaying.

One of the claims to fame of the city is The Human Polar Bear. City resident and eye specialist businessman Professor Louis Sugarman was thus called the Human Polar Bear for his sensationalist plunges into the freezing cold waters of the nearby Mohawk River. The man apparently bathed “daily,” even in temperatures of 20 BELOW zero!

The day we visited, the Monday after New Year’s Day, was extremely cold and the wind whipped around the rugged cliffs. No baths for us! I originally hoped we could wander the streets a bit, snapping photos and admiring the architecture, but it was too cold. Instead, we sauntered into Ann’s Cafe and Deli Restaurant for coffee and sandwiches. The prices are outstanding and the food was tasty. The coffee was Read more

The Antique and Classic Car Show in Utica, Pt2

This is part two of my previous post about a terrific car show we went to earlier in July. I snapped dozens of photos, but have reserved the best for you.

The winner of the event was a man from Pennsylvania. He owned this car, the amazing 1928 Isotta Fraschini. What a slick car.

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Photo Hunters: Garbage

Garbage is today’s theme. Boy oh boy. you could get REALLY creative with this one! I was tempted to snap a photo of a box full of the worst books in the world, or a photo of the current White House and Congress, or of my local school building… but I think it is wise to avoid politics today, lol. So I decided to go with *just* garbage. Although, as the saying goes, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.”

Here’s a photo of some garbage– er, treasure. I drove by a salvage barn on Route 20 in Madison, NY. It’s actually a cool place– they have some of the neatest things to be found there. If you are willing to dig past all the garbage.

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Don’t Blink! It’s Bouckville, NY

Maybe it was the gloomy, overcast late-winter’s day. Or maybe it was the dingy rural landscape, weather-weary and tax-trodden. At any rate, I was compelled to snap photos of this tiny little town called Bouckville, NY, as I zipped through on my way home from Hamilton, NY.

Bouckville’s only claim to fame must be its status as the location of the largest antiques show around– the Madison-Bouckville Antiques Show. People come from all over the country and the world to scour the tables, barns, tents, and antique stores during the big weekend in August. I’ve been through the area during that weekend, and it is nearly impossible to drive through the undulating crowds of antique hunters.

Traveling here in early March is another story.

The entire town was like a ghost town. Oh sure, there were signs of life around– I saw another car on the road, and the gas prices were up again– but I didn’t see a person anywhere. And I stopped to see if the Chenango Canal Cottage Museum was open– not a soul around. Read more

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