We awoke hoping that things would go smoothly from now on. Our agenda for the day was to drive around and explore the Finger Lakes region of New York. The Finger Lakes region consists of 11 lakes that run in a north-south orientation in this area of upper state New York.  Seneca and Cayuga Lakes are the largest of the Finger Lakes  and some of the deepest in the USA. Cayuga is 435 ft deep and Seneca is a whopping 618 ft deep! They are both 38 miles long. I was blown away when I heard that Cargill has a huge salt mine UNDER Cayuga Lake. This area was the realm of the Iroquois Indian nation back in colonial times. An old Indian  legend says that the Finger Lakes came into being when the Great Spirit placed the imprint of his hand in blessing on the Upstate Land.

Today was a day of much history. After we left Geneva we passed through the town of Waterloo where Memorial Day was first held. Our first official stop was in Seneca Falls where we toured the National Women’s Right museum there, which is also a National Park. It was here in July, 1848, 300 women (and some men) gathered and created the Declaration of Sentiments, proclaiming the equal rights of women. The leaders behind the movement were Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Frederick Douglass was also a proponent.

While in Seneca Falls we stopped to take pictures at the bridge on the Erie Canal featured in the 1946 “Its a Wonderful Life”movie.

Also nearby in the town of Auburn is the original home of Harriett Tubman, born in slavery in 1822, escaped to the north where she became an abolitionist and was active in the Underground Railroad used by escaped slaves as they worked their way north to freedom. We stopped for a short visit to tour her home which has been restored.

We then headed to the small (population 7,100) town of Skaneateles, located at the top of Skaneateles Lake for a bit of sightseeing, shopping and lunch. This was the town we were supposed to have seen yesterday, but better late than never.

Late in the afternoon we ventured south toward Ithaca where we first stopped to see one of the numerous waterfalls in the area. This one is at Buttermilk State Park. When we got there we joked that someone forgot to tell them to turn on the water as the normally large waterfall was barely a trickle. It is a beautiful sight even with the minimal water flow. Our granddaughter is a junior at nearby Cornell University. We called her as she was going to study for an exam later that evening. We would not be getting together this trip. So close, yet so far!

The last stop of the day was at one of the highest waterfalls in the area, Taughannock Falls which is  215 feet high. It was pretty spectacular even though its flow was reduced this time of the year.

We were back at the hotel by 6PM and went to a nearby restaurant for our “welcome” dinner which normally would be held the first night of the trip. No problem, we ate, drank and had a good time.

Tomorrow we will be working our way to Canada and the start of our four day cruise on the St. Lawrence Seaway. Brian was able to also arrange for a boat ride on the famous Erie Canal before we get to Canada. That was one of the things I really was interested in doing.