Rochester

Who'd a thunk it;  Rochester, NY was very interesting.  Spent a few days in the third largest city in NY.  Founded shortly after the American revolution, in the search for more agricultural land, Rochester became the "Young Lion of the West", then "Flour City" for all the flour mills operated there due to their access to water.  Erie Canal went right through the city, and eventually Rochester spawned Kodak, Xerox, Bausch & Lomb; more recently Genessee Brewing and Wegmans (supermarket chain).  It seems all these once wealthy towns have a "millionaire's row" where  stately mansions have been kept up.  Rochester has as many/more than any of the other cities we visited, one after another, magnificent structures from a bygone era. 

 

We toured the home of George Eastman (founder of Kodak).  His hard working father died when Eastman was young; his mother took in boarders; George ended up quitting school and ended up developing dry process photography, after a lot of tinkering.  He then developed the film roll, with the marketing campaign "Just press the button, we do the rest", as users of his film/camera would send to him for development.  Eventually, in 1901, he introduced the $1 Brownie camera and the world was his.  He became the sixth richest man in the US, eventually gave away $100 million to worthy causes. 

 

 

 

Eastman's home on "millionaire's row"; quite impressive.

His "breakfast room"; Eastman had an organist play for him each morning.


Marlene's grandfather was a Captain on the Erie Canal,  then operated the locks.  The Canal has a rich history, being the first waterway linking the Atlantic Seaboard to the western interior of the US.  363 miles long, it raises the transport vehicles 565 feet so they can enter Lake Erie and the Niagara River.

Below, one of the locks in the Erie, raising a boat 25 feet in about 6 minutes.

One of the most interesting stops was the Strong Museum of Play; dedicated to the history of play, how important it is in our and our children's development.  It chronicles all the great games in history, but the most impressive part of the museum were the numerous (many, many, many) interactive areas for children and their parents to create, in so many ways.  The place was packed, it is extremely popular.  A simple idea, celebrate the history of play, done in an extraordinary way.  Definitely a must see if you ever get to Rochester.

 

One of the many sayings there that rang true.

The hall of fame room, nicely done.

Marlene enjoying their excellent butterfly garden.

A classic, this pic is for you, Caedmon.

Wegmans, a chain of great supermarkets, headquartered in Rochester, is a corporate sponsor of the Strong Museum.  Here they built a mini supermarket, just for kids, with fake food, kid cash registers, etc.  Place was very popular; kids had a great time, doing their shopping, acting as cashiers, bakers. Can't tell you how impressive it was.

Two young girls operating the kid's register, checking out a customer.  You can see that they are taking this seriously

The bakery, with faux bread, kid's oven, etc.

Young lady, shopping for her family.

Produce section.

Our RV park was very close to Holley Falls; below a nice pic of the falls with a guy fishing.

Oh, yes, can't forget the tennis.  Rick Rickenbach was kind enough to hook me up with his bud, Dave Gaudino, at the Tennis Club of Rochester.  Had a great time in a close three setter on har-tru.  Thanks Rick.

Sharing a beer with the boys after a fun match.