Lockport New York Flight of Five

One of the major engineering accomplishments on the Erie Canal was controlling water over a tremendous drop near the town of Lockport. This was done by the use of five locks all connected to each other. This was called the Flight of Five.

When the canal was modernized those five locks were reduced to two deeper locks which are still in use today. The former five locks are now part of a canal museum

This is one of the Flight of Five

Reproduction canal boat is on display

Well done models show how the locks worked in the early days

Today all locks are controlled by automated machinery

The present two locks are quite deep and very impressive

Graycliff

It seems that Darwin Martin and Frank Lloyd Wright were the principals in the design of the Darwin Martin home in Buffalo NY.  This resulted in a wonderful home, but not one especially to the liking of Mrs Darwin Martin. She wanted a home more to her taste.

It was made clear to Mr Wright that the client for their summer home was to be Mrs Martin and he would take his direction from her. That directive resulted in Graycliff. It is not as architecturally striking as the Darwin Martin home but likely a comfortable place to live. 

The home is undergoing a major restoration and is coming together.

Every so often the roof shakes are re-stained to a red color and this is underway in these images 

The local stone has a considerable amount of iron which rusts

It adds considerable character to the color of the rock

Rather extensive fireplace

View out the back door

Explanation of the fillers to be used in plaster for the home

The signature  window of Graycliff

View of the lake is spectacular. The structure is  a deteriorated stairway for  getting down the cliff to the beach 

The Heat Hut contains the boiler for the steam heat.  It is a separate building to reduce the risk of house fires

I liked this image of Frank Lloyd Wright in the gift shop

Nice model of the home and grounds

This model of the home shows the stairway to the beach. Erosion of the cliff has destroyed the bench work on the cliff and stairway access. 

Beautiful watercolor of the home

Last stop on the tour is the gift shop

Boldt Castle

We are in the Land of  a Thousand Islands on the St. Lawrence Seaway. Truth be told there are closer to 1800 islands. They have a definition of the characteristics an island must meet - it has to have at least one tree and be above the water 24/7 365 days a year.

One of these islands is where George Boldt built a castle to give to his wife as a Valentines day gift. Sadly she died a few months before completion and the broken hearted George stopped all work and never returned to the island.

The castle sat vandalized and abandoned for over 70 years until taken over by the government and restoration begun. They have done much and the lower sections are near completion as it is envisioned the original design would have been. Other portions are stabilized and awaiting their turn at restoration.

We took a two hour tour thru the Thousand Islands (Yes, the dressing did originate here) and saw the various homes built on the islands. This was indeed a place for the wealthy to show off their money at the turn of the century.

Our boat tour  utilized this vessel to show the various sights in the area.

View from the upper deck was wonderful but chilly

This is the power generation building for the Boldt Castle. It also had a carillon with bells that could be heard all down the seaway 

Ships from both Canada and the USA deliver passengers to the island

The entrance to the home is rather impressive

The landscaping is beautiful

Being on an island means you are responsible for the generation of power . This was the power house for Boldt Castle

In its day it housed bells that played over the water

Paths criss cross the island to take you to the various buildings

The main floor has been restored

The ceiling is  a glass dome

The bedrooms are restored and furnished in a period correct manner

Mr Boldt made his fortune managing the Waldorf Astoria hotel. He was  wise enough to take his income as profit sharing rather than a salary. He made over One million dollars a year.  The hotel was later torn down and the Empire State building built on the site. 

The upper floors are awaiting restoration and are in a state of arrested decay

I really liked the design of this small gazebo

One of the buildings that was finished was the childrens castle. It too has suffered the ravages of time and is scheduled to be restored

If you live on an island you need a source of transportation and a boat house to store them. Mr. Boldt had quite the collection of boats and the building to store them. You can visit the boat house by another boat ride from the castle.

This is the boat house shuttle  craft

This was our third and last boat trip which returned us to the main land. Quite the place to visit.