Waterloo

Camping on the water…

…backed up to Waterloo Harbor, off Gem Creek, on the Seneca River between Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake. So our “hang out in camp” times were quite pleasant! We are conveniently 10 minutes from downtown Seneca Falls. We had a “lazy day” in camp mid-week (see Gail’s view from her lounge chair above). We spent the other 4 days visiting National Park Sites, the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, the It’s a Wonderful Life Museum and the bridge that may have inspired Clarence’s jump into the ice cold water (Seneca Falls is sort of the Bedford Falls of the movie). We also visited a couple of old friends, Scott, an old RPI friend of Gail’s and Mitch, an old RPI/RSE friend of Mark’s.

Seneca Falls Bridge and story that may have inspired Clarence’s jump into the icy water to save George
Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge Eagle
Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge Eagle Sculpture

Very Special Revisit to 1 National Park Site:

Women’s Rights National Historical Park (#49-Revisit), first visited in 2014, our revisit was during Convention Days 2024, commemorating the 176th Anniversary of the 1st Woman’s Rights Convention, July 19 & 20, 1948, in Seneca Falls, NY!
- Talks with the 3 “Living History Actors” in attendance were fun & informative. They included: Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Frederick Douglass chatting on the porch of the Stanton home in Seneca Falls and Lucretia Mott talking about her life at the M’Clintock home in Waterloo.
- We learned more about the extent to which Quakers were involved in Women’s Rights. At that time, for example, Quaker women were “allowed” to have and voice opinions. Gee! And they thought all women should be able to!
- Michelle Schenandoah gave a fascinating talk about Haudenosaunee women’s history, how their Matrilineal Descent Society functioned, and how the US Constitution is modeled, in part, on their democracy. (We heard this earlier at Appomattox in 2015.)
- Gail even participated in the Closing Ceremony, reading the names of 9 of the 100 people who signed the Declaration of Sentiments on July 20, 1848. (and a Great-Great(-Great?) Granddaughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton was in attendance!)
- Last special activity we did, was a 90 minute historical train ride from Seneca Falls to Auburn, with the “Living History Actors” on board.

Women’s Rights NHP-Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Frederick Douglass
Women’s Rights NHP-Lucretia Mott
A bit about the Haudnosaunee
Women’s Rights NHP-Reading the Declaration of Sentiments
Women’s Rights NHP-Gail reading names of 9 who signed the Declaration of Sentiments
Women’s Rights NHP-The First Wave Statue
Women’s Rights NHP Historic Train ride, with Frederick Douglass on boared!

Visits to 3 new National Park Sites (sort of):

Harriet Tubman National Historical Park (#250) only opened recently and has limited hours. We wandered around to see the key sites, including a tour of her home, a visit to her gravesite, and a drive by her church/the parks Visitor Center (closed that day). Rev. Paul Gordon Carter gave a great job telling the story of Harriet’s life, before his wife gave us a tour of her home.
Fort Stanwix National Monument (#251) is ~90 miles from our campsite, in Rome, NY, so we planned to make it a day trip. NOPE! Should have checked the website! The Visitor Center and Fort were closed, due to the damage done in Rome last week by the tornado! So we wandered around the outside of the fort and read the signs. Will definitely have to return.
North Country National Scenic Trail (#252), on which we will be making several stops over the next couple of months. Fort Stanwix is the first such stop.

Rev. Paul Gordon Carter at Harriet Tubman Home Visitor Center
Harriet Tubman Gravesite
Harriet Tubman Gravesite
Fort Stanwix on tour around the outside of the fort

OH! And we had to deal with a screw in The Beast’s right front tire. Swapped it for the spare. Ordered a replacement the we will pick up tomorrow in Buffalo.