Franklin County Route 1 - Part 2

I was headed north on Franklin County Route 1, from Bangor to Fort Covington, NY (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). I knew I was in Fort Covington when I passed the school. It was a large campus, much bigger than what you see here:

But there was still farm country to drive through to get to the center of Fort Covington, and this place with old equipment out back sure drew my attention:

 A farm house with barn and silo:

Was this a former one-room school house? It sure looked like it:

A small barn, peeking out from behind a spruce tree:

An old carriage house, now a garage:

I knew I was nearing the town center when I began seeing more residences:

And this giant, old farm with a number of outbuildings:

I came to the end of Franklin County Route 1 and laughed when I saw a Dollar General store. They seem to be everywhere around here. I turned east onto Highway 37 toward the Fort Covington town center, but I'll post about that tomorrow:

Discovering The St. Lawrence Seaway, Part 3

I was on my way back from a driving tour of Massena, New York and the St. Lawrence Seaway at Coles Creek State Park. But I kept finding more interesting places to stop. I pulled off the road for yet another scenic view of the St. Lawrence:

I stopped at this magnificently restored old farm house - or should I call it a country estate? It had a huge barn and magnificent stone chimney. There was also a FOR SALE sign on it, so I looked it up on the internet later. I knew that real estate up there is priced much lower than near Albany, so I was surprised to discover that it was listed at $269,900. But I read more and learned that it had "Brazilian inlaid cherry hardwood flooring in the family room, custom made maple cabinets in the kitchen and maple hardwood floors. It has 4400 square feet of space with 5 bedrooms, 3 full bathrooms, 1 half-bath and a separate hot tub room. The stone fireplace in the formal living room adds lots of warmth and the windows in the family room let you enjoy the great outdoors from indoors. It has exquisite woodwork, spacious rooms, rich paneling and a 3 car garage. It is located on over 4 acres of land and has a 36 x 80 barn with two levels." I guess, considering all that, this beautiful property is quite a bargain:

I turned off the highway on Whalen Road and headed once again toward the St. Lawrence Seaway, just a few miles north. I passed old farm fields:

And old restored farm houses:

I reached a town park on the shores of the St. Lawrence:

It was beautiful on that cold, windy day:

But I was chilly, hungry and anxious to get home:

So I began the return trip, passing more upscale houses along the way:

This was surely a pleasant area in which to live - except, perhaps, in the wintertime:

A log cabin style home:

And this was not a modern, upscale home but a fully functioning old farm. The family was all in the barn working, though I couldn't tell what they were doing. But all this stopping to snap photos was delaying my return home, so I decided to quit the driving tour and get back to my own little farm as quickly as possible:

Discovering The St. Lawrence Seaway, Part 2

I'd made a driving tour of the town of Massena and then to Coles Creek State Campground where I was checking out the mighty St. Lawrence Seaway:

Most of the shoreline was rocky, but there were a few sandy beaches available to the campers. This, however, was late November and the park was closed:

I had the park to myself and got to walk undisturbed along the shore. The day was cold and the winds were howling fiercely:

Even my little red car seemed to shiver as it endured the cold winds:

When I'd seen all there was to see, I returned to the park entrance to make my exit, driving around multiple large piles of snow in the entrance road, perhaps put there to keep people out(?):

I left Coles Creek State Park and drove back toward Massena on Route 37. But of course I had to turn in at Wilson Hill Wildlife Management Area to take a look. The roads were tiny dirt lanes filled with water and potholes. Also, it was hunting season, so I soon abandoned that effort and returned to the highway:

Route 37 at that point was very rural and somewhat upscale, with very nice old restored farm houses:

There was a large farm full of friendly horses who regarded my stopped car with great interest:

More horses came out the barn door to see who was stopped along the road:

But then I saw a road leading north on Willard Road toward the St. Lawrence and turned. It took me to the Wilson Hill Boat Launch:

On the shores of the  mighty St. Lawrence Seaway:

A causeway led across the water but I didn't take it. Later, I learned from my map that the causeway would have taken me to a large island with more state land. Well, I'll drive there next summer when the weather is more pleasant:

Discovering The St. Lawrence Seaway, Part 1

I'd taken a driving tour through the town of Massena, New York and intended to make my next destination the St. Lawrence Seaway. Massena sits right on the Seaway and bills itself as the "Gateway To America's Fourth Coast," but doesn't seem to have any public access to that coast. There's a park and nature preserve just east of the city, but I'd checked that out before and found it - well, mostly confusing. So this time I was going to a State Campground to the west of Massena. I drove toward the town of Waddington on Route 37, passing many nice country homes:

There were both flat hay fields and forests along the way:

The houses, some new and some old, tended to be more upscale than those I'd seen in Massena. This, apparently, was where the Massena folks with money lived:

Along the way I passed this solitary silo, no longer attached to a functioning farm but creatively re-purposed for use as a billboard:

When I arrived at Coles Creek State Park, I pulled into the public campground and ignored the "Park Closed" signs as I headed for the shore of the St. Lawrence Seaway. I stopped at the park office to obtain permission but no one was there. So I just drove in to see what I could see:

The St. Lawrence Seaway was huge and impressive, and I could see why they like to call this "America's Fourth Coast." It reminded me of the shores of Lake Erie, which I knew from my childhood:

I saw no passing ships of any kind. The wind was fierce and the skies were gray, seeming much like a November day on Cape Cod:

Flocks of birds bobbed atop the water, but I couldn't see what kind of birds they were:

The shoreline is extremely convoluted, perhaps even labyrinthine, and I could easily imagine why the Thousand Islands region would be such a tourist attraction:

I drove up and down the campground roads checking out the views and snapping pictures:

There were inlets and peninsulas as well as a few small islands. The "thousands" of islands, according to the map, start west of the campground:

The public campsites were located right on the water. I'm sure this is a popular spot in the summertime. I'll post more tomorrow: