Guilford and More Adventure: April 28, 2011

It all started a few days ago when I was trying to get information about the Guilford New York Historical Society. In a roundabout way I came upon the facebook page of the wife of the Guilford Town Historian. She responded with a phone number that I thought was for the Historical Society, but it turned out to be her home phone number.

When I reached her on the phone, I asked her for direction to the Roots Corners one room schoolhouse. She said her and her husband would gladly take me there. I recruited my friend Carol, and we agreed to meet up in South New Berlin early Thursday afternoon so that we could do some exploring and then meet up with Wilma and Tom Gray in Guilford at three p.m.

We met up at one p.m. and drove south. Carol knows the area, and she navigated while I drove.

Our first stop was in the hamlet of White Store. There is an old hotel and restaurant which may or may not be open. Its hard to tell. Nobody responded when
we knocked on the door, but a car had just pulled out as we were approaching. Here are a couple of pics: and


Then we went to the White Store Church and Evergreen Cemetery. This old church is on the National Registry.
and



Then we headed to Mt. Upton. WE stopped to look at THE OLD MILL. I hope to eat there someday.

In Mt. Upton, we stopped to look at a church that was in dire need of a paint job, found out that it was open and went inside. It is a beautiful church. Then we looked at the abandoned school next door. I could not find the road to go to see the Lady Uptons monument, so we missed that.

Further down the road, we stopped in the hamlet of Rockdale. Unfortunately, the old hotel/restaurant closed down recently. Here is a pic:


The we headed towards Guilford, stopping in Guilford Center to see THE PILLARS (former Angels Inn). It is apparent that a little bit of work has been done on it.
The broken windows on the first floor front are boarded up.

In Guilford, we met up with Wilma and Tom Gray at their house. They live right next door to what was once a blacksmith shop
and then a creamery and across the road from a shingle factory. They showed us their albums of information and pictures of historical Guilford.

Then we went to THE KLEE HOUSE, where we saw the angel that used to adorn THE ANGELS INN. It is much smaller than I expected. We also saw a display of artifacts retrieved from the bottom of Guilford Lake.

Then it was on to the ROOTS CORNERS SCHOOLHOUSE. Tom had the key and we were able to go inside, but the inside is being renovated. I hope to someday see the finished product. Here is a picture of the school.

Guilford New York One Room Schoolhouse, a photo by JuneNY on Flickr.

Then Tom led the way to the remnants of an old mill. These ruins are on property that he owns.
The creek was full and wild and frothing and very loud at the area where it became a rushing waterfall. Tom showed me a cave that was built by Italian
immigrants, probably associated with the mill. Here are a couple of pictures. and



After that, we headed towards Gilbertsville. I stopped at THE OVERLOOK to do maintenance on my geocache. We drove around a bit and then went to CHRIST CHURCH where there was a free community dinner. It turned out to be tossed salad, roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, peas, green beans and brownies or rice pudding for supper. It was a great meal.

Then I drove Carol back to S. New Berlin where we started this adventure!
It was a great day, thanks to Wilma and Tom!

Good Friday Adventure 2011

Rosa's in Bainbridge, NY, a photo by JuneNY on Flickr.

As soon as Terry finished working yesterday morning, she called me and we met up at her place in Otego.

First stop was at Rosa's in Bainbridge where we had a nice lunch. We both had the baked meatballs with parmesan. It was a good meal, and quickly served up.

Second sop: Pine Ridge Groceries (commonly known as The Mennonite Store). I really splurged today because it is a holiday weekend. This will be my first time tasting goat cheese (which is very expensive).

Third stop: Frog Pond Farms, which was bursting with color. I bought a lot of fresh fruits and some parsnips and tomatoes. I took a lot of pictures of the plants and flowers that they had for sale.


Fourth stop: convenience store in Bainbridge so that we could use the bathroom.

Fifth stop: The highway department in Bainbridge where we looked for a geocache on a "steel angel". Fifteen minutes of searching brought no results.


Sixth stop: PIE IN THE SKY in Otego where we were successful in finding the nicely hidden geocache.

Then Terry and I said our goodbyes and I headed home to await my Easter company.
Dad and Peggy arrived around 6:40 and an hour later supper was served: beef on weck, baked beans and a creamed corn casserole.

Then Dad, Peggy and I played dominoes before going to bed around ten thirty p.m. It was a great day.

Boudreau's and New Lisbon adventure

Terry finally had a morning off and she wanted to go to Boudreau's in Laurens. I had just been there but I was game to go again. We both had french toast and ham.

I had plans to go to New Lisbon and look for an old general store that I saw on FLICKR.COM. I asked Terry if she wanted to accompany me and she did. With the help (or hindrance) of an Otsego County map we finally found New Lisbon. We found the old store:

General Store in New Lisbon, New York, a photo by JuneNY on Flickr.

We also found an antique shop that may or may not still be in business, and a building with a sign saying BEE KEEPERS SUPPLIES. On the way back to Laurens so Terry could get her car, we saw an abandoned house with an interesting outbuilding:


It was just a short outing, but that was fine since while we were out it started snowing.....yes snowing on April 21st!

Quaker Burying Ground: Morris, NY

Quaker Burying Ground: Morris, NY, a photo by JuneNY on Flickr.

Terry and I went to the lenten fish fry at the Columbus Community Church tonight. On the way there, we saw some Amish people in a buggy, so we decided to drive through the Amish area on Parker Road outside of New Berlin. The supper was was great! After that we drove around Columbus a bit and I took a few pictures. We went through New Berlin and I stopped to take pictures of the old feed store. I vaguely recall going into it once in the late 1980's to pick up something. Since the feed store closed down, it has been used as an auction house, but it appears abandoned now.

After I dropped Terry off, I stopped at the old cemetery on Route 23, just outside of Morris. I had always assumed that it was the old part of the newer large cemetery across the road, but I was wrong. The sign says QUAKER BURYING GROUND. I spent a few minutes taking pictures and plan to return to hide a geocache sometime soon.

Mini Geocaching Adventure

April14_2011Geocaching 002, a photo by JuneNY on Flickr.

Leslie and I met up at my house this morning.
I packed sandwiches for lunch and we took off. We headed to the Milford State Forest to look for a geocache that had eluded us a while back due to there being so much snow. We found THE BEEHIVE rather quickly and easily and then headed towards Arnold Lake to find HAPPY BIRTHDAY SNEAGLEEAGLE. We found this geocache rather quickly and easily, also. I took this picture at that cache site. The next geocache was found in a rock wall at the edge of Arnold Lake...........this one was called DAMP DUCKY'S CACHE. We had a bit of trouble with this one because it was hidden in a spot which we felt sure was on private property. Eventually, Leslie pointed out a spot where she thought it was, but she was hesitant to go after it. Anyways, it was there and we found it.

Here is a picture of Camp America, which appears to be a lodge, it is right on Arnold Lake.
I need to return when the blue tarps have been taken down.

We decided to do one more geocache: I've Lost My Head. On the way we stopped so Leslie could do some birdwatching. If she sees an interesting bird, she brakes and pulls over. Here is a picture taken at that spot.
We stopped for a couple of minutes and then headed on towards the next geocache. On the way there, I saw that we were approaching Lippitt Cemetery, which I had discovered on my way to Cooperstown a few weeks ago. I asked Leslie if we could stop there so I could hide a geocache. She pulled over and we looked around and found a good spot, and I hid my geocache. Then we headed out and when I turned on my GPS, it pointed back to the cemetery. I told Leslie that we had just left the area of I've Lost My Head and that I would probably have to retrieve my geocache. We returned and found the geocache, it is way too close to my hiding spot, so I went and got it. We had a bit of a laugh about this escapade. I knew it was a good spot! Actually, I just checked geocaching.com and the geocache was already hidden there the first time I went to the cemetery. It was placed there the day before! Here are a couple of pictures I took at the LIPPITT CEMETERY.
Apparently, someone put flags on these markers because they mark graves of men who served in a war. As you can see, one is so old that the name and information is not decipherable, and the other is a newer stone, which may have replaced an old one.

BOUDREAU'S and GEOCACHING ADVENTURE

Carol suggested we go geocaching this morning. I suggested we combine geocaching with a drive to Laurens to have breakfast at Boudreau's. I had heard about this tiny restaurant over the years and wanted to go for quite a while now. Carol agreed to my idea. She picked me up at 8:45 and we headed over to Laurens. Here is a picture of the outside of Boudreau's.

There were only a couple of customers there and a lone elderly man was running things by himself. He handed me a pad of paper and a pencil and pointed to the menu on a blackboard and told me to write down what we want and bring it back to him saying "I am too lazy to come and get it." We looked over the menu
and ordered scrambled eggs, toast, bacon and home fries. We took a seat at a table in the back and looked around. I asked the owner if I could take pictures and he said that would be fine.

This small restaurant is just the cutest place, and so old fashioned. Here are a few pictures I took inside. The highlight is the old wood burning stove,
but there are other interesting things to see.

Our meal took quite a while to reach us, I think he made the home fried potatoes from scratch. The meal was absolutely delicious. When I went up to ask for ketchup, he pointed to the refrigerator and told me I could get it out myself!!!

The owner said that they have had the same menu for 32 years. He said before that, the front half of the building was a tiny store with two gas pumps outside.

After breakfast (and we were both full to the brim), we headed into Oneonta for a morning of geocaching. The first geocache we found is at ONEONTA'S AREA 51, and I think the name is perfect! It is a bit of a mysterious area, around where the old roundhouse used to be. We saw this concrete structure and wondered what it was:

Then we went find one of the DUCKY DEAD END caches hidden on the end of River Street. This one was fun and interesting. After that, we found BASEBALL LEGENDS at a Little League field near River Street. I had looked for this one last winter without success. The final one was WHERE ARE THE WATER LILIES, in a tiny park at Hartwick College.

By that time we needed a drink and a bathroom and more gas, so we went to the large HESS on Main Street. We talked briefly about doing a couple more geocaches in Oneonta, but decided against that. We then talked about the possibility of going to Morris and finding SCOUT IT OUT, a cache we looked for in the winter but could not find. In the end, we decided to end the day before the predicted thunderstorms came.

It was a great day!

April Fools Day Adventure (short and sweet(

Carol suggested we go to a pulled pork dinner in Burlington Flats, New York. Neither one of us knew where Burlington Flats was and it is not on the Otsego County map. However, with the help of a flickr friend, I got directions.

I arrived early at the designated meet up spot in West Burlington. Instead of waiting for Carol, I drove around a bit and found this old empty store.

Old store in West Burlington, New York, a photo by JuneNY on Flickr.

I also found an old schoolhouse.
I took pictures and by time I got back to the designated spot, Carol was there.

We found our way to Burlington Flats and were pleasantly surprised at the clean, well kept hamlet. The village green is very nice and has memorials to men who fought in various wars. Here is one I particularly liked:
I took several pictures of the monuments and of the church, cemetery and interesting building adjacent to the cemetery.

When we were done there, we headed back to the pizzeria where we met. I went inside and got a couple of take out menus. Then we decided to find a geocache a few miles down the road on the edge of Edmeston. I actually found it before Carol got out of her car. It was the easiest geocache I have ever found.

The dinner was good, and I purchased a take out meal to take with me.