Cedar Brook Sugar House, Malone New York

It was the last of the Maple Weekends and I went to visit the Cedar Brook sugar house near Malone, New York. It was obviously brand new and very large:

The cupola appeared to me to be purely decorative. It was lighted inside and was not used for escaping steam. As you can see, the steam was escaping from the vent right behind it:

Inside, they had set up free samples and coffee. A friendly man told me about the family's efforts to build this impressive structure:

In the next room, another man was boiling sap - and it was sure steamy:

I never figured out what was being collected in this bucket, if it was sap to be boiled again or waste. It was far too thin to be syrup:

A red light suddenly came on, but by then my camera lens was too fogged up to take any more photos, so I returned to the retail/office area:

They had many maple based items for sale in the showroom:

And everything was artfully displayed:

There was maple popcorn and maple cream:

Maple syrup and maple cotton candy:

They told me that they made maple peanut butter, which sounded great to me - but they didn't seem to have any for sale, possibly a good thing because I don't need the calories:

I had a second sugar house to visit, just a few miles away, so I left the Cedar Brook sugar house and tried driving to it. After many miles of twisting, mountainous gravel roads and dead ends, I gave up finding the second sugar house. Instead, I drove to Malone and got myself a sub for lunch, eating it on my way home:

Town Line Road In Malone, New York

I was on my way home from Malone and decided to turn onto Town Line Road, headed east, to view the old farms there. This giant old barn appeared to have once had an apartment in it:

A huge farm with multiple silos, barns and grain bins:

An old shed, falling into disrepair, which I suspected was once a horse barn:

A dairy farm with an Amish buggy out front. I believe the buggy was just for decoration:

The sign on the front of the barn said "Hutchins," and I presume it was a dairy farm:

A brick farm house, the only one I photographed that day. Later, I wished I'd taken pictures of more homes, but I'll have other chances:

Farm equipment, double silos and an old dairy barn:

Another Amish buggy, also possibly just for decoration:

This old barn was being renovated:

A beautiful scene with what appeared to be horse fences:

An old silo, whose barn must have collapsed or burned long ago:

Huge quantities of baleage, a sign that some dairy cows will eat well this winter. I intended to continue on Town Line Road to see more, but the road ended at the highway and I decided to head for home:

Historic Homes Of Malone, New York - Part 2

I was taking another driving tour of Malone's historic homes (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) and stopped at this lovely home for a photo:

This large, brick home had everything - gingerbread trim, balcony, porch, gazebo. It was amazing:

I remembered this home from a driving tour a year or two ago. How could I forget the exquisite painting?

A historic brick home with modern updates:

A huge carriage house out back helped this home to look much as it probably did in the 1800s:

Another fancy paint job and a wonderful, well kept front porch:

The kind of home one might return to for Christmas dinner:

Christmas decorations gave me the impression that children must live in this big home:

Another porte cochere on this impressive home:

I began to drive home but felt compelled to photograph two of Malone's impressive churches. There are more, though, and some day I might try to photograph them all. This one, I believe, was an Episcopal church:

And a Roman Catholic church. The huge home attached to it must have been the rectory:

Historic Homes Of Malone, New York - Part 1

My last driving tour of historic homes in the village of Malone, New York inspired me to return to the road where I'd first seen what, to me, seemed like mansions. I began snapping photos of well kept, historic homes:

This huge, old home had a wrap-around porch and sat up on a hill:

An elaborately painted historic home:

A brick home with an American flag:

An elaborate home, immaculately kept:

I noticed the porch, the flag, the chainsaw eagle and the tree hydrangea - all characteristic of this area:

Notice the second story balcony and covered side entrances:

A chainsaw bear, holding a lantern, stood out front of this very large, well kept home:

Plenty of porch for quiet, small town summer evenings:

A brightly painted home with a porte cochere and a carriage house, not to mention a fireplace:

A smaller home (compared to the others), with a nice porch and a lovely location. There were still many houses to see, so I kept going and will post Part 2 tomorrow:

A Small Town Christmas - Part 2

I was taking a driving tour of historic homes in the small town of Malone, New York (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) and came upon this house with an elaborate stone porch:

This very large home was quite elaborate:

I can only guess, but I supposed that this home had extra windows added during a restoration:

A mustard colored house which had, like most of them, a large fireplace chimney and a front porch. The Christmas garland and snow helped continue the holiday theme:

A smaller house with elaborate trim:

No need for extra Christmas decorations when your home is green and red:

I thought that this home looked to be of recent construction, but then decided that it had instead just been restored. It looked just right for a family to return to for Christmas:

A simpler house, but still it showed some fancy trim from its original construction:

A comfortable, friendly looking home:

Another large fireplace chimney;

A hip roof, a front porch and a carriage house out back:

My last photo of the day was of this peach colored home. I kept thinking how the town of Malone looked like a scene from a Christmas movie: