Gouverneur New York, Home Of Lifesavers Candy - Part 1

When my scheduled hike along Quebec Brook fizzled, or at least turned into only a driving tour of snowy Blue Mountain Road, I drove home, had lunch and let all the dogs out. Then I again loaded Seamus, Fergus, Daphne and Clover into the car. I left old Winky and Wally behind to snooze in comfort. I then headed southwest on Route 11, headed toward the northern New York town of Gouverneur. I stopped along the highway at this Amish farm's handwoven basket concession. Nothing was priced, an ominous beginning, so I waited for a young Amish lad to walk down from the house. When I learned that the smallest, cheapest basket was more than $11.00, I thanked him for his time and continued on my way:

It's about 50 miles from my place to Gouverneur and we were there in about an hour:

And the first thing I saw was the headquarters of Kinney Drugs, a retail pharmacy with 91 locations stretching from central New York northeast through northern Vermont. I certainly see a Kinney Drug Store or two in nearly every northern town I visit:

And then I entered the downtown section. A friend had told me that Gouverneur was "a dump," but it looked like a fine town to me:

There was a town green in the center and lots of traffic all around:

And then I spotted the Holy Grail, the real (but secret) reason for my journey - the giant roll of peppermint Lifesavers!:

This giant candy sits on two steel beams at the southern end of the town green:

Having located the object of my desire, I parked so I could get closer:

And it was every bit as wonderful as I'd hoped it'd be. It was erected in honor of Edward John Noble, developer and marketer of Lifesavers Candy:

But even giant candy gets wearisome after awhile, so I continued my discovery tour of Gouverneur:

There were some very nice old homes:

And a bustling main street called, appropriately, Main Street. But I wanted to see more so I kept touring. I'll post more about what I saw tomorrow: