August 4th, Saturday – One Last Trip, Seneca Lake Luncheon Cruise; Packing Up

What a beautiful morning to wake up to.  The best that it could be.  Not to mention we have our electric back.  Last night around 2 am it went out.  I have no idea what happened.  Thankfully, it was a short outage and just like that it came back on.  Beats me what happened.

Breakfast was absolutely super.  Barbara made me another favorite.  Scrambled egg, cheese and sausage on an English Muffin.  Add to that a glass of juice and a cup of coffee and I was set for the day.  Barbara had eggs and coffee as well.

No rush this morning but no time to waste either.  We had one last trip to take and it was to Watkins Glen.  Not for the races rather we were going on another cruise, yes, a real cruise.  Barbara had booked a two hour luncheon cruise for us on Seneca Lake with Captain Bill’s.

So in due time we were off.  Mistake number one.  Believe the route the GPS tells you.  OK, it did get us there but what a convoluted route it took us on.  I know coming home I’m going my way.

Before we get into the particulars of the day, here are some quick facts about the Finger Lakes and Seneca Lake in particular:

• The 11 FingerLakes in Upstate New York, from west to east, are Conesus, Hemlock, Canadice, Honeoye, Canandaigua, Keuka, Seneca, Cayuga, Owasco, Skaneateles and Otisco.  Each lake is connected by rivers ultimately leading into Lake Ontario
• Seneca Lake is the largest of the glacial Finger Lakes.  At its widest it is 3 miles.  At its deepest point it is 617 feet deep and has a mean depth of 219 feet..  It is 38 miles long with 75 miles of shoreline.  It holds 4.7 trillion gallons of spring fed water.  At its deepest the average water temperature is 39 degrees but the first 15 to 20 feet during the summer averages 70 to 75 degrees.

So, in due time we were at our destination in Seneca Falls, Captain Bill’s Lake Cruises.

William Simiele, best known as Captain Bill purchased an existing sightseeing boat company in 1963. Captain Bill was not one to sit still and after thirty years he found his business had grown to include son Mark, and daughter, Gina. He would need them for they now found themselves with the sightseeing vessel, a 270 passenger dinner vessel, a gift shop, miniature golf course, ice cream shop, and a marina.

Our ship for our luncheon cruise would be the Seneca Legacy.  The Seneca Legacy was

built and launched in 1963.  For many years it severed as a passenger ferry severing Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.  She was purchased by Captain Bill in 2006 and underwent an extensive 12 month reconstruction.  She now serves as the dining vessel in Captain Bill’s fleet of boats.

Soon enough we were underway and moving out unto the lake for our cruise.  Breathtaking and beautiful we could not have asked for a better day.

Here they are Thomas and Lucy Carnegie (aka William and Barbara) on-board their private vessel traveling to Cumberland Island (aka Seneca Lake).

 

This was our wonderful server for the day, her name was Marissa.  I kept kidding Barbara that I should have had a small bell to ring for service.  Know how far that got me?

One of the first discovery’s made while on the lake was that of the US Salt Plant.

US Salt has been in operation since 1893.  The refinery sits atop a rich underground supply of salt.  Water needed for the plant’s operations comes from Seneca Lake.

Salt was first discovered in Watkins Glen in 1882.  During that year the Watkins Oil Well Company was organized to drill for petroleum, gas, salt and other minerals.  The company drilled a well on the hillside west of Watkins Glen, on the site of a spring which the Indians knew had medicinal properties.  In September 1882 the Watkins Oil Well Company reported that, at 1,513 feet below the surface, it had reached a sufficient flow of brine to make salt.

By 1890, the first brine-producing well was put into service.  Impurities in the brine made it difficult to dry the salt.  The first real producer of salt in Schuyler County, N.Y., was the Glen Salt Company.  It drilled wells on property at Watkins Glen, now owned by US Salt.

The Glen Salt Company drilled its first well in 1893, struck salt at 1,841 feet, and stopped drilling at 1,902 feet without reaching the bottom of the salt bed.  In 1894 a second well was dug without hitting the bottom of the salt bed.  By 1896 a third well was dug that stopped at 1,927 feet, still in solid salt.

Here are some of the other sights we saw during our luncheon cruise on the lake.  We saw this gentleman just drifting along, obviously he had run out of gas and was taking a break from paddling.

When is a lighthouse not a lighthouse?  When someone builds one for decoration.

There were any number of shore side homes of various sizes with boat houses.

Then there was this house.  Obviously, a bit more upscale than the others we had seen.

Then we discovered a Unicorn.

While some had jet skis and pontoon boats, this guy went one better.

Next we came to these paintings on a rock wall on the east shore of the Lake.

The painted rocks located at the southern end of the lake on the eastern cliff face depict an American flat, Tee-pee, and several Native Americans. The older paintings, located on the bottom of the cliff were said to have been drawn in 1779. However, this is disputed by historian Barbara Bell, who suggests instead that these paintings may have been made much later, for tourists on Seneca Lake boat tours.

It is known that the more visible and prominent paintings of the Native Americans, American flag, and Tee-pee were added in 1929 during the Sullivan Sesquicentennial. There are two mistakes in these 1929 additions: firstly the Native Americans in the Seneca Region used longhouses and not Tee-pees, and secondly the flag is displayed pointing to the left which is never to be done on a horizontal surface.

Finally we saw Hector Falls.  It is said that the best view of these fall is from the water.

Although most commonly recorded as 165 ft high, Hector Falls, can be considered a lot taller, if you begin counting the series of cascading drops from the top. Over 250 feet of waterfalls cascade down this hill from near the top. The first third is a sequence of small and narrow, foamy cascades, one right after the other. As the falls approaches Rt 414,(the bridge in the picture above) it spreads out over one wide triangular cascade that dips under the highway, and down another wide cascade, and then another, past some cottages.The final stretch is yet another fanning cascade, the widest of all.

Soon enough we were back at the dock and ready to disembark.  It was a wonderful luncheon cruise.  The food was delicious.  The weather perfect.   A trip made even better by the fact that we met three more of God’s beautiful people on board the boat.  We met a couple traveling with their son who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary today.   Dad was a Vietnam Veteran like myself.  Unlike me, just last year he had the privilege of returning to Vietnam to tour the country and shared what a wonderful experience it had been.

Before I finish for the day, one more thing.  Since this is after all wine country let me share with you some of the delightful wine sayings we discovered in a gift shop today.

I have one more sign, a special for my sister Cindy but I’m not revealing that tonight.  When we see her in a couple of days we’ll present her with it.  It’s a good one for sure.

So that was our day.  A wonderful one in all respects.  I’m so glad Barbara spoiled me with this last minute trip.  I enjoyed each and every minute of our time on the water.  Made as always even better by the fact that we did it together, hand in hand, singing our song.

Well, time now to begin packing since tomorrow is moving day.  We have a really, really, really long trip to look forward to.  Like maybe 60 minutes to the Climbing Bines Craft Ale Company.  It is one of New York State’s first farm breweries.  They specialize in small batch, hand-crafted ales brewed on site with the freshest estate-grown hops and barley harvested just a few miles down the road.   Of course, a tour and taste testing session will be in order!  They have a large field just waiting for Graybeard and the three of us.

Thanks again for joining us for the day.  As I wrap this up let me share this with you:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before