Another campground, more special places!

Our next stop was at Cayuga Lake State Park in New York.

The campground was empty when we arrived, but just about every space was full over the weekend. Even though the weather was "iffy" with regard to rain, it makes me glad I have the habit of making reservations in advance. I bet it is going to be a very busy summer!

From there, we took two enjoyable day trips.

It took us a little more than an hour to drive to the Corning Museum of Glass, in you guessed it, Corning New York:

We have enjoyed seeing wonderful "art glass" in many places. There was no lack of it there:

A few of the beautiful glass art pieces we saw

One of the demonstrations we watched was in the Hot Shop Amphitheater. Every time I see a glass blowing demo, I imagine trying it and burning myself!  I had a hard time learning to use a hot glue gun without injury!

As much as we enjoyed the art, I was really intrigued by the educational exhibits in the Innovation Center. In my 69 years, I guess I have never really thought about how glass windows are made, nor the industrial developments and inventions that have led to what we have today. I'm not going to try to explain the process in this post, but I must say I learned a lot in a very short time. 

If you ever get to Corning, New York, this is one place not to miss.

Our second day trip was up to Rochester, New York to see the home of George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak company.

His story is much like the tory of so many of our successful industrial entrepreneurs and innovators. He was a relatively poor young man, but he had a need for a product that didn't yet exist. The time was right, and other inventors around the world were working on the same idea, but due to luck and being in the right place at the right time, he got financial backing and was able to patent and bring the products, dry photographic plates and then roll film, to market before anyone else did.

His company, Eastman Kodak was a great financial success in part because it continued to bring new and innovative products to market. If you are old enough, as I am, you will remember the Brownie Cameras. They were brought out in 1901 and produced until 1935. Our family had one in the 1950's,  I guess it took them a long time to move on to newer equipment.  Much later, 1963, they brought out the Instamatic Camera.  I loved using mine because I didn't have to futz with focus. All of my daughter's baby pictures were taken with an Instamatic! 

Eastman Kodak company brought photography to the people. We may not be professionals, but picture takers we all have become!

We have toured many beautiful estates from bygone eras on this adventure of ours.

 Some, like the Vanderbilt homes were ostentatious, and built to show off wealth and impress others.  Some like the Roosevelts', were old money, and were tastefully elegant showing how the rich were comfortable in their own skins. 

Eastman had the 50 room house built for himself and his mother. It was elegant in some ways, but also very much his. I'm sure he intended to impress, but that was not the primary purpose of the mansion. Personally, I think it was just the right mixture of money and personal comfort. I could imagine him living there.

We left Cayuga on Sunday and are now at Southwick State Park on the shore of Lake Ontario. We had some rain overnight, but Monday dawned dry and cool, just the way I like it. I'm not sure what we will find to explore in the next few days, but I'm sure there is something just waiting for us.

I'll keep you posted.