Day 29
An hour drive to Rochester, NY, and a visit to the George Eastman Kodak Museum and Mansion. A very interesting display on the history of photography with a guided tour of the museum explaining the photos and the cameras. It turns out the name Kodak was a creation of Mr. Eastman. K was his favorite letter and he desired a name that would be the same in any language and not have any other meaning. Also interesting was that Kodak was at the forefront of developing digital cameras which lead to its demise as it was the sale of film that made the company profitable. Then a guided tour of the mansion. Eastman, fearful of fire with all the chemicals related to his work, built the walls with steel reinforced concrete 14 inches thick. Later he determined that the entertainment square room with a player pipe organ would be better if rectangular so the house was cut open and one side moved 9 feet 4 inches. Another guided tour of the gardens by a doctoral student who was very enthusiastic. Worth a visit if near Rochester. We spent most of the day there. A 2 hour drive to the Niagara Falls Walmart for the night.
Day 28
We headed north to the Waterloo Harbor Campground at the north end of Lake Seneca. A visit to Rose Hill Mansion in Geneva. The house was built in 1803 by a Virginia tobacco farmer who brought his 75 slaves when the tobacco farming methods ruined the soil on his Virginia farm. The slaves made their way by walking with the promise to be free by 1827. The Greek Revival mansion was not built until 1839. We had our own personal tour by an amusing lady with some strong opinions as to the occupants of the house who had all workers sign “contracts” with morality clauses and penalties for violations. An interesting tour. Next up was the Muranda Cheese farm where we sampled 16 different cheeses and purchased a couple. At Muranda, we discovered that Fleur De Lis Brew Works was celebrating its grand opening and was only 4 miles away in Seneca Falls. After picking up a dollar off a pint coupon, we, correction I, could not resist. The brewery was a beautifully renovated garage attached to the house of one of the owners who happened to be in the construction business. We were served by Beth, wife of the other owner. After trying a couple, I ordered the Louis Pasteur, a milk stout and a good one. We told Beth about Harvest Hosts and told her we’d be back if they joined as a host. We left her the HH info so hopefully they join. Beth realizing Rosemary is a tea totaller told us about Finger Lakes Tea Company so off we go there. Mostly herbal teas so we do not make a purchase. Back to the coach for our Chinese dinner.
Wednesday, June 7, 2017, Hector, NY
Day 27
We depart the Cayuga Wine Trail and headed to the Seneca Wine Trail and to another Harvest Hosts host, Chateau LaFayette Reneau. We were here in 2014 and it was our favorite winery and favorite HH host. A spectacular view of the vineyard and Lake Seneca and the best dry Riesling in our opinion. We bought 3 bottles and were thrilled to discover they ship to Florida. We will definitely make an order when we get home. In the meantime, our refrigerator cannot hold any more wine so we spend the afternoon waterfall hopping - Robert Treman Lower Falls, Buttermilk, Taughannock and Montour falls. Taughannock involved a 1.5 mile hike and was the most impressive, it being taller than Niagara Falls. Dinner in Watkins Glen at the House of Hong, Chinese, Rosemary’s choice of course. Food was good and with a quart of soup to go we had enough for dinner tomorrow. Back to our Chateau for a glass of wine and a hike around the vineyard. Another great day.
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