Le Roy, NY and Canandaigua Lake

Last day in Le Roy, NY and then onto Ohio……

     Since I was able to cajole Debbie into departing a few days early, we've been able to slow the daily pace down and do some serious moseying.  There’s no point in being in a hurry, and usually there’s something interesting happening around you.  The trick is finding it.    The weather has been cooperating so far, although it’s been cool enough to require us to do a little heating with our propane furnace.  Hate to do that when there’s electricity sitting on the pole that’s included in the daily fees, but it seems that once the temps start hovering in the mid 30’s, the heat pumps get a little fidgety, and home starts feeling a little cooler.  Not quite sure at what temperature the heat pumps quit working, but they don’t like the 30’s!!   So between Cooperstown and Le Roy, we spotted a True-Value Hardware store with a propane tank in the back yard.  After a quick left turn off of the main drag, loop around a residential neighborhood, and back to the hardware store, we topped off our tank.  People sure look funny at you when you drive a 33 foot MH, towing a Jeep toad, down residential streets.  But I really don’t have any reservations about pulling down these streets.  The Tiffin seems to be very maneuverable, and so far, I haven’t been stuck anywhere. 

     As we arrived in Le Roy, NY the other day, Debbie spotted a sign about a Jell-O Museum in town.  She mentioned it several times, so I assumed it was something we just had to accomplish.  Wednesday morning, over coffee, Debbie asked what was on the itinerary for the day.  Jell-O Museum tour, I replied!  She looked at me like I was nuts, but being a sport, she acquiesced and said OK.   Sure enough, on Main Street in downtown Le Roy, NY, we found it. 

And they had a story to tell.  Seems like Jell-O, that delicious dessert that we were raised on, was invented right here in Le Roy, NY.  The museum is actually located in one of the original school houses from Le Roy’s hey-day, and is a beautiful building that also includes a Transportation Museum downstairs.  Back in 1897, Pearle Bixby Wait, a local carpenter/inventor, combined fruit juice and a gelatin, and created Jell-O.  Mr. Wait tried to market Jell-O for 2 years, but people just couldn't get used to buying a “desert” in a box”.  So in 1899, he sold his rights to Jell-O to Orater Woodward for $450.00.  Seems that the cost of a new house was $450.00, and Mr. Waite needed a house more than he needed Jell-O.  Mr. Woodward was a bit more successful in developing and marketing the product, and in 1923, the Postum Cereal Co of Battle Creek, MI acquired Jell-O for more than $66 million!  And the rest is history.

     After completing the museum tour, we headed downstairs where we viewed a 1908 Cadillac and numerous work wagons and racing sleighs with ties to Le Roy.  They even tell the story of Henry Ford driving through Le Roy on August 1, 1922 and being stopped for speeding.  He paid a $30 fine, but accused Le Roy of being a speed trap.  He even post a billboard on the outskirts of town about it. 

     Our journey continued, and we headed for Canandaigua, NY to take a tour around the beautiful lake and maybe get in a little wine tasting. 

The Finger Lakes Region of NY is quite famous for its many vineyards, and if you are traveling through the region, you really must test a few.  Our first stop on the lake was the marina area, where we found rows of boat houses along the docks.  Seems there's quite a history with these houses, and their development over the years.  All of these buildings contained a boat, but you would never know it from this side.  We heard 2 interesting stories on our journey around the lake.  Most incredible was the assessments the properties face on the lake.  We were told that lake front property is valued at $50,000/foot of lakefront!!!  Ouch!!! Canandaigua Lake is a private lake with very limited public access which would account for the high values.  Secondly, Humphrey Bogart and his family used to summer on the lake.  Being a Bogart fan, I think that’s pretty cool.