Bud-demp...bud-demp...bud-demp. Mile after mile, we rolled on one of Moses' famous Parkways, me being totally awed by....nothing. A whole lot of nothing, except for trees, grass, and the occasional lake side view the Parkway deemed us, the lonely automobile on this loneliest of New York's highways. A park or launch to the lake, Lake Ontario, that is, passing by every 10 or 15 miles, we didn't see any real traffic until getting very close to Rochester.
Wanna see a pic of what nothing looks like? Here ya go:
The question I kept asking, "Where are the people?"
Yeah, I found some, as we whipped through the city of Rochester towards the Thruway, its surprisingly muscular skyline providing quite a contrast to the miles and miles of nothing we had just experienced.
Merging seamlessly onto the fast-moving backbone of New York, the New York State Thruway, we rolled east under a cloud-studded sky. Oh, the sky in New York...don't get me started on that, please. How do I miss it, so badly, so few days after my return...
When we arrived in Syracuse about 2:30 in the afternoon, the day had become hot, in the mid-80's. But hey, doesn't that beat the
ninety-five they were having back in Atlanta? Sure as heck does!
Not to be daunted by a bit of Upstate heat, we shot over to the Carousel Center mall so I could get a city map, and I was quite impressed by the size of this mall, not to mention its abundant use of bright colors. Perhaps this is a response to Syracuse's dark winters? No matter the reason, this mall kicks butt - just check out this awesome atrium:
And no, we do not have malls like this in Atlanta. Ours are way more boring...lol.
After leaving the mall, map in hand, we made our way over to Liverpool and took a stroll along Onondaga Lake Park. I found the park to be very spacious (the sheer abundance of public lakeside lands in New York just boggles me), and I was fascinated by being able to see the relatively distant skyline of Syracuse across the water.
Notice the "seaweed" growing in the otherwise clear water. And the water was
hot, too, a real surprise to this southerner who thought northern lakes never got warm. Not so sure I wanna go for a swim though, lol. Hopefully the lake's clean-up is proceeding apace - imagine the kind of recreational opportunities this lake will provide when they've got it as clean as Lake Chautauqua.
After eating at a delightful Mexican place in Liverpool, we made our way back to "motel circle" on the east side of town. A plain-looking place to stay, agreed, but hey, it was cheap.
The next morning, we made our way through town in "rush" hour traffic...does this town ever have a traffic jam?
, and moseyed over to the southwestern neighborhoods of town, namely Onondaga Park and Strathmore. I was
very taken in by the sheer beauty this area of town offered. Most especially the view from the top of that kidney-shaped reservoir...that was simply amazing! What a great place to go for a walk - and what a great neighborhood to live in....this is my kind of place to the "T"
A couple of pics to demonstrate:
Actually, this 2nd pic is from a park just *east* of downtown, which offered the same kind of views...this just happens to be one of my better shots.
I also loved the way the city slopes up from the relatively low and flat lake plain up into the broad, rolling hills of the central plateau - that was quite evident in the long-range views from the top of Strathmore.
And then on to a quick tour of the city Zoo, which turned out to be a lot more impressive than I had imagined. Along with the extensive indoor exhibits (another response, I suppose, to the cold Syracuse winter - but you know me, I'd rather be outside playing in the snow!
), there was this great Siberian Tiger exhibit:
Aww, isn't he cute???
So little time, so much to do.
Onward to "Skinny-Atlas", otherwise known as Skaneateles. A short 20 minutes later, we arrived at this adorable lakeside town, parked right on the street in front of the lake swimming area and walked over to this pier where I took this pic:
I can't say it enough...I Love New York!
After seeing this:
And this...
...let's just say I was sorely in love at this point.
And how's this from the view of the open-windowed car on this stunner of a summer day, sooooo nice and cool, that sky looking sooo beautiful, that amazing breeze, and that heavenly smell....how can anyone in these United States not like New York?
Certainly not me!
I do have to admit that touring downtown Syracuse was a bit of a let down after touring the nearby countryside (but it sure is close!), but then I realized, that with just a few improvements, Syracuse could have a totally awesome downtown. Just get rid of the confusing one-way streets, dump that elevated section of I-81 (which doesn't meet current interstate standards anyhow), and bring in more businesses and festivals, and Syracuse would have a kickin' downtown for sure, summer or winter.
Here's three shots I took while making the one-hour walking tour of the CBD:
(A similar downtown street in the South would look wayyyy scarier than this, believe me. A few "lowbrow" folks around, but nothing like I'm used to seeing in the ATL.)
A relic of an older time I'm glad they're keeping - we tear buildings like this down in Atlanta. I'd love to see a "keystone" skyscraper of about 35-40 stories go up one day in this downtown - that'd do wonders to Syracuse's admittedly "stubby" skyline. I'll certainly keep my fingers crossed, for sure.
And there is this architectural beauty:
Like I mentioned before, this is something we ain't got in the South. And just look at that sky...it's...just....so....pretty....
Lastly, we rode through the northeastern neighborhoods, which had lots of very nice homes, even just a few blocks away from the run-down areas (which did not look scary at all, nothing like down here at all). But the day was already long, and we faced a 11-plus hour drive the next day for a stop in Tennessee to conclude our great road adventure.
I'll be posting my impressions of Pittsburgh and Ontario in the appropriate threads hopefully in a few days, so keep an eye out for those.
But I want to say about New York is that it was all I had imagined it to be, and so much more. This state offered beauty and surprise around almost every corner, I found the people to be open and friendly, and most importantly of all, I found out that deep down in my heart that this is the place I belong. While the city may yet be undecided, the state sure is.
And yeah, it's gonna take a while and quite a bit of effort and planning, but give me enough time and one thing will be certain:
I'm moving to upstate New York.
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