New York State Road Trip - Part 3: Rochester

On Monday 13 August, we left Alexandria Bay (yay for surviving Ledges' worst room!) to head to Rochester along the Seaway Trail again.

This involved a number of smaller towns and the obligatory searches for the invisible lighthouses. Like other days, there were also a range of battlefields which we passed, many from the War of 1812 which was signposted along the Seaway Trail. However like many, they are basically fields today, some with a few explanatory materials around them. However as they didn't mean much to us, we tended to avoid them. This included a number of forts including the one at Lake George and at Oswega today.

We did manage to see some lighthouses today! Main one was the Sodus Bay Lighthouse which was accompanied by views across Lake Ontario. Our visit was curtailed by Olivia suddenly screaming and hopping around. A bee had managed to get inside her croc and bit her twice on the foot trying to escape. Some pain relief and an ice pack settled the pain and her down enough for us to continue. We are thinking of renaming the first aid kit as Olivia's pain relief kit as that seems to be what it is used for! So in our first four months in the States, both kids have now managed to get bitten by bees!

Stayed at the Clarion Hotel Riverside in Rochester. A multi storey corporate style hotel where everything worked and the beds were ok again! Like most US hotels, the room was lacking a kettle (only had a coffeemaker) and for the first time on this trip, we didn't even have a fridge in the room. Don't understand the latter when they must cost around $50 max here.

Downtown Rochester seemed to be mostly under renovation (like our hotel) or deserted (like the Midcity Plaza). Had dinner at Dinosaur Bar B Que which is a 'genuine honky tonk rib joint'! More protein than you can poke a stick at, good range of sauces from mild to very hot and good music as well. Waitress had trouble opening our bottle of wine and commented that somehow she seemed to sell a bottle of wine every Monday night. Taking the hint that we were in a beer consumption area, I had one of their 4 beer trays which is a wooden ladle with four small beers of your choice, equivalent to a pint for the same price. Excellent idea that the Brickskeller could learn from.

Tuesday morning was a split operation. I dropped Donna and the kids off at the Strong National Museum of Play which claims that it is: "(r)ecognized as one of the nation’s top museums for families and children, Strong National Museum of Play® is home to the National Toy Hall of Fame® and the world’s largest collection of toys, dolls, games and other items that celebrate play. It’s unlike anything you’ve experienced anywhere!" Not sure about the latter but the kids had a great morning.

I used my escape time to visit George Eastman House. This is the Eastman of Kodak fame and their summary of what the House is about is: "George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film combines the world’s leading collections of photography and film with the stately pleasures of the landmark Colonial Revival mansion and gardens that George Eastman called home from 1905 to 1932. The Museum is a National Historic Landmark. Mr. Eastman, the founder of Eastman Kodak Company, is heralded as the father of modern photography and the inventor of motion picture film."

I didn't have time to tour the place as I wanted to see the 'Ansel Adams: Celebration of Genius' exhibition: 'George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film presents the largest Ansel Adams exhibition in its six-decade history, featuring many photographs Adams gave personally to the museum. Inspired by the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ansel Adams (1902-1984), George Eastman House revisited its extensive collection of Adams’s work and created an exhibition of 150 photographs that reflects his full career. Ansel Adams: Celebration of Genius opened in Spain and has been touring the United States, breaking attendance records at each venue. Prior to its final destination in 2008 in Scotland, the exhibition comes home to George Eastman House this spring and summer, May 12 through Sept. 3. ... Ansel Adams: Celebration of Genius presents work from the 1920s through the 1960s. Featured are many of Adams’s most famous images of the American West — Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941, Mount Williamson from Manzanar, California, ca. 1944, and Monolith, the Face of Half Dome, 1927. But prepare to discover equally impressive (if lesser-known) images such as Mud Hills, Arizona or Water and Foam, or the wonderful abstract titled simply, Stained Wallpaper Near Alturas, Calif.'

I missed seeing his photos both times I've been in San Francisco (gallery closed on Sundays in 2000 and then permanently closed in 2002!) so was great to see the prints finally. Biggest impression was the difference between a direct copy of the negative of Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico and a print of that photo. The amount of burning (darkening) on the sky and the dodging (lightening) of the area around the crosses was much more than I expected. Adams always referred to his negatives as the 'score' and the print as the 'performance' but I didn't realise how much difference he made in the darkroom. Had to buy 'printed in Hong Kong' copies of Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico and Moon and Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California even though seeing originals makes the difference in these more obvious - even if they are authorised editions! Also picked up a copy of PBS's Ansel Adams DVD which was playing in the exhibition and looked quite good. A very enjoyable morning and will have to sit down with my copy of Examples: The making of 40 photographs to see if I understand it a bit more now before I see another Ansel Adams exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery in DC in a month or so ...

Malcolm