07-09 Watkins Glenn State Park

From 07-09 Watkins Glen

I have long heard of Watkins Glen, I guess because of watching NASCAR or Indy Car racing at the nearby race track. We discovered that there is a beautiful State Park that gives the area its name. So we went over on Friday July 10th, a drive of about 30 miles through beautiful countryside.

The word “Glen” comes from a Greek word meaning “small, narrow, secluded valley”. That is a good description of the trail we took. It is a 1 1/2 mile walk through a narrow gorge where Glen Creek has worn down the rock over the millennia.

From 07-09 Watkins Glen

There are 19 falls along the way

From 07-09 Watkins Glen

separated by calm pools

From 07-09 Watkins Glen

and narrow flowing water.

From 07-09 Watkins Glen

There are 2 falls you walk behind.

From 07-09 Watkins Glen

From 07-09 Watkins Glen

It is just a lovely walk and well worth a visit.

From 07-09 Watkins Glen

07-09 Corning Museum of Glass

From 07-09 Corning Glass Museum

Monday July 6th, we took a 30 minute drive over to Corning, NY to tour the Corning Museum of Glass. Last year while visiting our son Ward in Chicago, we toured a special exhibit called “Glass” at the Museum of Science and Industry sponsored by Corning. It was a fascinating exhibit and prompted our interest in touring the Corning Museum.

We spent about 5 hours at the museum and could easily have spent several days if we had viewed every display case. If it is made of glass, there is an example or more at the museum.

It covers the history of glass making. The Egyptian items below date from 1450 - 1150 BC.

From 07-09 Corning Glass Museum

The displays move through the development of different glass making techniques.

From 07-09 Corning Glass Museum

There were beautiful pieces of glass art through the ages.

From 07-09 Corning Glass Museum

From 07-09 Corning Glass Museum

From 07-09 Corning Glass Museum

There were exhibits on not just artistic glass but also practical every day uses like canning jars and drink bottles.

From 07-09 Corning Glass Museum

Plus several galleries of modern glass art.

From 07-09 Corning Glass Museum

The gift shop was huge and full of artistic pieces made by local artists as well as others from elsewhere in the USA and other countries.

From 07-09 Corning Glass Museum

Our favorite thing was the live glass blowing. They had two stages with staggered shows every 30 minutes. We watched three demonstrations. Our favorite was on the outside stage which is actually a tractor-trailer rig whose sides open to form the stage. It is taken to events all over the nation like the one we saw in Chicago.

Two artists work together taking turns as the primary glass blower called a “Gaffer” or as the assistant. The following shots show the making of a decorative pitcher. When finished it will be light green with cobalt blue around the lip, the base, and the handle. Those final colors will not appear until the piece has cooled slowly over night in a special oven.

The process begins when the Gaffer gets a glob of molten glass from an oven holding about 300 lbs of molten glass at 2100 degrees Fahrenheit.(This shot was from the inside stage)

From 07-09 Corning Glass Museum

He spins the glass as the blow tube rests on a bench. At this point he has already blown a small puff of air to form the initial bubble. He uses the wooden bowl in his right hand to round and shape the glass.

From 07-09 Corning Glass Museum

Here he has elongated the glass and is blowing more air to expand the size.

From 07-09 Corning Glass Museum

He is now shaping the glass using damp newspaper of all things

From 07-09 Corning Glass Museum

He is now adding some cobalt blue glass to form the base. It looks red in its current molten state.

From 07-09 Corning Glass Museum

Now he is shaping and expanding the lip of the pitcher usnig a special set of tongs.

From 07-09 Corning Glass Museum

He is making the finishing touches having added the handle and a bead of cobalt glass around the lip of the pitcher. He will soon separate the piece from the rod, and the assistant will place it in the special cooling oven.

From 07-09 Corning Glass Museum

Here are some examples of their work from previous days

From 07-09 Corning Glass Museum

Do plan a visit to the Corning Museum if you are ever in the central New York region. Give yourself a full day.

07-09 Keuka Lake

From 07-09 Keuka Lake Drive

Saturday July 4th, we took an afternoon drive along the western hills overlooking Lake Keuka.  This is wine country.  There are over 100 wineries in the Finger Lakes Region with 15 or more around Lake Keuka.  In fact the first winery licensed in America in 1860 is in Hammondsport, NY  which is just a few miles from our campground.  We had seen some open spaces from the opposite hills on our way to the Windmill Farm, and I wanted to find them so I could stop and take photos.  We used some of the wine tour maps as a guide to some likely spots.  We found some great spots to stop and enjoy the views. 

From 07-09 Keuka Lake Drive

At these we saw similar open spaces on the side we had been on a few days previous.  In the shot below, the open space to the left on the distant hills is another vineyard. 

From 07-09 Keuka Lake Drive

Here is a shot looking across a field of grape vines toward the lake. 

From 07-09 Keuka Lake Drive

Grapes for wine making appear to be the prime crop for this area. I read that they expect to have a bumper crop this year and produce more grapes than the local wineries can use.  Good news for these folks during tough economic times.

Here are some photos from Depot Park in Hammondsport

From 07-09 Keuka Lake Drive

looking up the lake.  

From 07-09 Keuka Lake Drive

We had hoped to find a local festival to celebrate the 4th, but we did not learn about any in the immediate area.  However we came across a parade about to form in Hammondsport on our way back.  We had seen some firemen dressed up riding in a vintage fire truck in one of the small towns we passed through.  He was followed by two more firemen in what looked like a golf cart with large fire extinguishers rather than golf bags in the back.  We eventually realized they were on their way to Hammondsport for the parade.  We must have passed a dozen or so community fire trucks including several more vintage ones.  Here are the only two pictures I could catch. 

From 07-09 Keuka Lake Drive

From 07-09 Keuka Lake Drive

We also came across a small  antique car club having a show and forming up for the parade.  Here are a few of the neat vehicles we saw.

From 07-09 Keuka Lake Drive

From 07-09 Keuka Lake Drive

From 07-09 Keuka Lake Drive

Unfortunately we had to get back to the campground to check on our dog Clay so we missed the parade.  We got our fireworks “fix” watching the annual PBS special from the Capitol.  It is always outstanding.  It was followed on PBS by an interesting show about the company from Tennessee that puts on the fireworks display.  We learned a lot about how all that works.