Sodus Bay Lighthouse

A light station was in continuous service at this site from 1825-1901 until the Sodus Bay Outer Pier Light (below) became the main navigational aid for Sodus Bay.

The building was home to lighthouse keepers and later Coast Guard staff until the 1970s.

The map below show the locations of all the lighthouses on Lake Ontario.

The lighthouse was saved by the town and is now a museum.  It has lots of interesting displays including this one on ice harvesting.

And this one on vacationing at Sodus Bay.

Five people at a time are allowed to climb the lighthouse tower making sure to duck and a critical spot.

As lighthouse towers go this one is a short climb to the top.

It has a spectacular view.

I sure didn't know that Sodus Bay figured in the War of 1812.  There is a display inside the museum that elaborates on this signage outside.

For climbing the lighthouse tower each family unit got a magnet that showed this picture of the lighthouse.

 

Chimney Bluffs

 

Chimney Bluffs State Park is across Sodus Bay on Lake Ontario from where we stayed at Sodus Point.

We had to drive around the bay to get there on a rainy day.

Once we got to an overlook of the bluffs we divided up. Some returned the way we came and others went on around.  The latter group got eaten up by black flies.  I was glad not to be a part of that.

There were many warning signs about not venturing out on the bluffs.

Here's a bit of history I got from this website.

The Great Lakes were once the valleys of a massive river system that drained into the Atlantic Ocean. Repeated periods of glaciations gouged out the valley, creating large basins that soon filled with the melted ice water of the receding ice.

The Bluffs were formed by a glacial drumlin, or pile of ground up mud, sand, and stones pushed along by the glacier as it scoured the land. Over time, Lake Ontario grew and began eroding away at the northern end of the drumlin, exposing the cliffs. Wind, rain, and snow melt-water continue to eat away at the cliffs, reshaping the Bluffs and providing us with a dynamic landscape that can be vastly different from year to year.

Drumlins are common for Western and Central NY, but one that is sliced in half like this is pretty rare. There are only three large examples of this in the region, with the Chimney Bluffs being both the largest and the most accessible. Other bluffs along Lake Ontario can be found just to the east near Port Bay and then at Fair Haven Beach State Park.

Wasps

 I have not seen any wasps this summer outside which I'm glad of because after two stings several years ago and a couple of years apart, I'm allergic!

Just before lunch I spied my first wasp of the year at the sliding door but not outside, inside. 

I called Dan to deal with it and while he hunted for the fly swatter I kept my eyes on the wasp.

It left the slider and headed to a beam in the ceiling and just as Dan got the swatter ready, the wasp tangled in a cobweb. We could see the tiny thin legged spider rush to deal with the wasp.

For a time it looked like the spider was the victor and the spider left his prey wrapped but it was not a secure tie up because the wasp dropped towards the floor.

We hunted and couldn't spy it until it rose from where it hid to another window.  Again the swatter was brought out and Dan was crowned the victor.

No EPI pen required by me thankfully especially since the ones I have are past their expiration dates.

Scenes from Sodus Point, NY

 

The house we rented and our view of Sodus Bay below.

It was a very walkable town.

Family Photo.

Next year's vacation in at Schroon Lake in the Adirondacks. Already booked after much searching.