Here comes the team for the boat.

The line for the boat ride was rather long in the hot afternoon sun. There were a lot of people. We choose seats on benches on the top of the boat. After everyone was settled and a warning given, the horses started off. A young man with a thick stick pushed the boat back away from the bank and got the boat going.

The boat ride was lovely– we were going at an even pace, about 4 miles per hour. The crowd was quietly murmuring, all mesmerized by the gentle lull of the boat on the water, the very hot sun on our shoulders, and the buzzing insects in the tall grasses along the banks. If it weren’t for the sounds of car traffic on the nearby road, and the occasional power line peeking above the trees, you’d think it was 1825 all over again. I loved it.

I took a few videos of the ride. In the video are some clips of the “packet captain” who instructed us about the history of the canal. It is about 8 minutes long, and I have been thus far unable to upload it to YouTube on my weak DSL connection. I’ll keep trying and post it when I get it uploaded.

On our way off the boat, I snapped a few photos of the boat’s downstairs. The color of the wood is lovely. The kids liked being out of the hot sun for a few minutes.

The kids had never been on a boat ride before this, and had never seen horses so close. After the boat ride, we went to see the horse barn. We just followed the trail!

What lovely horses!

The miniature horses were cautiously friendly. They ate clover from our hands. What beautiful little creatures. We could have stayed there forever! But there was a blacksmith demonstration in the barn, so away we went. I got a video of that, as well, but again, I haven’t been able to upload it yet. More to come!

The Erie Canal Village, Rome, NY, Part 3

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Oh no! Were we driving too fast?!

No. The officer said our van’s muffler was “too noisy.” :-p Disturbing the peace.

Ummmmm… but officer, we’re in the Adirondacks, near a state park? Who’s complaining, the squirrels??

I think the police force just wasn’t making enough money that month, and sent patrols out to fill some quotas. :-p

This next photo shows something fast. This is Richie Evans’ race car. He was from Rome, NY, and we visited the Rome Sports Hall of Fame there. He was a local champ at the Utica-Rome Speedway, and climbed the ladder to win the NASCAR National Modified Championships nine times. Sadly, he died in a crash in 1985, racing at the Martinsville Speedway.

And this baby is FAST. It’s my “hot rod,” as I call it. OK Ok so it’s not a sooped-up, super gaming machine. But it IS the fastest computer in the house! It’s a quad-core, with 6GB RAM and a NVIDIA graphics card. It’s enough to handle all my photo and video editing that I do. I really like it a lot.

This is Livvy. That’s fast?? Yes, fast asleep.

Cookbook: “Bring water to a fast boil.”

That’s my fast for the day! Now I’m going to go take a nap! How did your Photo Hunt go today? Leave a link in the comments!

Photo Hunters: Fast

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The further away this Upstate NY scourge gets from us, the better. What a disgraceful, ugly spot on the historical annals of an other wise noble city, Rome, NY. Once known as the area (in nearby Oriskany) of the fiercest battle for liberty during the Revolutionary War, it’s known today as the site of the lascivious psychedelic drug orgy for the nation. OK, I’ll be fair– there was music there, too. Woodstock– the foci of all that’s wrong with the Baby Boomers and the Gen Y generation.

Litter photo courtesy of osufan77 at Photobucket.

P.S. Aren’t these people the same that are always pushing everyone to “be green”?!

Woodstock 99, Rome, NY: So Glad It’s Over

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Well this in an interesting theme for Photo Hunters today! Here’s what I tried:

The first thing I think of is protection from possible danger. Like a hungry tiger!

We saw this tiger at the Utica Zoo a few months ago; we were protected from the tigers (and the tigers from the city surrounding) by a 30-foot-high metal cage. Maybe it was the cool weather, but I’ve never seen the tigers so active as they were on our visit. They were pacing around, running, and chasing each other. It’s amazing how graceful and how heavy they are.

A fence also provided protection from this Whooping Swan, who wanted to bite our fingers off. I got a little too close with my camera, and it bit and chomped on my jacket sleeve! Oh, he may LOOK cute– don’t let that fool you. He’s a MONSTER!

And here’s a photo of the wooden palisade fencing around Fort Stanwix in Rome, NY. Click the photo for a better look at those hungry wooden spikes sticking out from the walls. The fort is situated on a man-made knoll, surrounded by a deep trench. The fort is constructed on the knoll, with high walls and abutments. In times of quiet, the women and children camped in the trench below– they had tents that they slept in (soldiers slept in bunks inside the fort barricades). The women did the cooking and washed laundry for their men in the trenches. When a watchman spotted Indians or the British, he called for the women and children to get into the barricade for protection.

New York State has many protected historic sites, many of which we have visited. The Erie Canal Village in Rome, NY, is one. This village is just as it was in the 1830s or so, just like a walk back in time!

So that’s my “protection” for today! How did your Photo Hunter’s go? Leave a comment with your link!

Photo Hunters: Protect(ion)

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ABC’s story started out as a flag-flying, anthem-singing train stop, but quickly developed into a down-and-out Kleenex-wringer when they started talking to Rome residents. There are two Romes here– one the politicians want you all to see, and the other that the people live in.

You can watch the “Good Morning, America” segment here. You can also read the news story about this at our local news outlet online here. Read the comments– read what the people are saying, they are amazing. One guy took the words right out of my mouth:

Sad part of all of this is, it’s not just Rome it is the whole area. Open your eyes and drive around the area it is depressed runned down and basically every third house is for sale. Utica has literally become a dumping ground for refugees since 1990′s. Herkimer County lost all their manufacturing as well as Oneida County over regulative state government with all the overburdening laws and taxes has chased many away. There isn’t too much that is positive. You can’t blame Good Morning America for the troubles we face. If it is any consolation we can slightly point our finger of blame at NAFTA and Government regulations, and high taxes.

What is amazing now is the whole country is starting feel just like we all have been through for the past 25 years.

The mayor of Rome was upset when he saw the ABC segment, and Douglas Bartell, the president of Rome’s Chamber of Commerce, wrote an open letter to ABC here. The funny thing is that I think ABC got it right. I’m no lover of the major media, and ABC sure does milk events, but Rome IS in deplorable conditions. All of Upstate New York is. Sorry, but that’s the truth! We are the most taxed people in the country and we have some of the lowest wages in the country. All our manufacturing jobs have left the state, and property taxes rise more and more every year. All you have to do is go to Yahoo’s Real Cities and look up an Upstate New York town. You’ll see that the average yearly income for central New Yorkers is right around $35,000, and the average cost of living per year here is around $45,000, and growing. That means that in order to live in New York State, New Yorkers, on the average, incure a yearly debt of $10,000. That’s ridiculous!

I’m sorry Rome got bad press. I love Rome, it’s one of our favorite cities to visit because it has such great historic sites. But New York State leaders really need to get out of their cushy offices and pretty mansions and see how the rest of the people are living. It’s not a pretty site.

Not a Good Morning in Rome, NY

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If you want more information about the museum, see here.

More on Rome Sports Hall of Fame

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There are multitudes of sports memorabilia, for local and national sports. Two of the most prominent displays are for Richie Evans and Jerry Cook, Rome natives and NASCAR champions.

Yes, that’s my son in the car. Kids are allowed to check it out.

Richie Evans died in a crash in 1985, racing at the Martinsville Speedway. His career was stellar; he was a local champ at the Utica-Rome Speedway, and climbed the ladder to be win the NASCAR National Modified Championships nine times.

Jerry Cook also started his career at the local Utica-Rome Speedway, and won the NASCAR Modified series six time. He is retired and lives in the area.

You can see a few more of my photos of the museum here at my Flickr page.

Rome, NY, is one of my favorite cities to visit!

Rome Sports Hall of Fame

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What’s uncanny is that I just watched the DVD series by Dave Stotts called Drive Thru History, and in 3 of the DVDs (it’s a 12 DVD set), he goes to Rome. The DVDs are excellent (see here: Drive Thru History with Dave Stotts #1 – Rome if You Want To). Stotts is really hilarious and makes everything fun. I love learning about the ancient ruins, especially. In America, we don’t have any “real” ancient ruins. One of the grandest “ancient ruin” is the Utica Psychiatric Hospital of which I wrote, but that, like many of America’s old buildings, turned into a drug rehab and alcohol center before being converted to a mental health records archives. Anyway, if you love history and humor, you will love these DVDs. And if you can’t wait for the DVDs, check out Singaporean in London!

The Road to Rome

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