Stony Point Lighthouse, NY - 12 SEP 2010

On my way to Stony Point Lighthouse, I went by Sackets Harbor and found their Visitor Center/Museum open. They had a young Ulysses Grant animatronics, reminiscent of Disney's Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln (1965-1973). As a young solider, following his honeymoon, Ulysses was stationed at Sackets Harbor. Although his wife accompanied him, it sounded like he spent his time bar-tending and playing cards. It was overcast and threatening rain, but I headed over to Stony Point. Close by, I found this interesting structure:Looks like it may have been some type of business using a lighthouse type motif. When I got to the lighthouse, I found this:

Having my access blocked by private property, my image angles were limited.
Built in 1838, it went through a few structural changes before it was replaced by an automated beacon on a tower in 1947. The current owners bought it in 2002 and found it's restoration turned into a project like the movie "The Money Pit." As you can see, there is no lamp:On the way back to Watertown, I stopped by a cemetery I noticed from the freeway: Elmwood Cemetery.

I thought the red flags were a Marine designation, until I looked closely:
One or both of them must have been a teacher.

To view more of my cemetery images: EnfocusGallery.com

Sackets Harbor, NY - 07 SEP 2010

On my way to up-state New York, I had a layover at JFK. Also waiting for the flight to Syracuse was this woman with the most beautiful tattoos.Most people tattoo areas of their body that will be covered by cloths, but this woman did the opposite...like a farmers tan, her tattoos ended at the shirt/short line. I told her I'd put her in my blog as the first interesting person I met in New York.

After the first day of work, I went over to Sackets Harbor an important military post during the War of 1812. This view is from the park looking across Black River Bay (to the left is Lake Ontario).This place is filled with great Victorian houses:
Walking across the park I nearly stepped on this Garter snake. We were both moving at a fast clip. He was directly in my path when I saw some movement that made me stop. I must have surprised him as much as he surprised me, because he immediately curled into a defensive position:Nearby was a Cemetery:

And across the road was a Military Cemetery:If Old McDonald still has a farm, it must be run by the Grand kids:On the drive back to the hotel, I saw a swift moving black cloud that turned out to be thousands of Sparrows: