A transpondine stately home

Yesterday to Sacket's Harbour, a US version of a stately home, this one the site of the repulsion of a British incursion during the war of 1812 which recently celebrated its bicentenary with an upgrade. With thanks to http://sacketsharborny.com/ for the picture.

A light sprinkling of tourists on this October Saturday morning, getting towards the end of the season, with the place about half open.

Pride of place is the battlefield, with a granite memorial, a pillar maybe 8 feet high, and planted with presently small bicentennial trees. There are various cannon barrels. There is a battlefield walk which takes one around, taking in fine views of the Black River Bay, the Black River being the Watertown River and the river which drains most of the western Adirondacks. We then had a scatter of historic houses with a military flavour, mostly dating from the middle of the 19th century when the place was still a military base, which it remained until after the second world war. Last but not least a house which had been made over into a visitor centre and staffed by volunteers, just the sort of people who might, at home, have been National Trust volunteers.

We learned that Black River Bay froze over during the winter, as did large parts, if not all, of Lake Ontario. Lots of chaps went out to fish through holes in the ice. We also learned that we had been preceded at the visitor centre by a couple from Stockport, England, earlier in the year.

There was a small harbour with pleasure boats in and out of the water, some of the latter shrink wrapped in blue plastic sheeting against the coming winter. There was also a black, heron shaped bird but I have failed to identify it this morning. The colour seems all wrong for a great blue heron and the name seems too exotic for an eastern reef egret.

More hostas, but not as thick on the ground as in Ottawa.

Tea, coffee and cake at the Chrissy Beanz Bakery at 105 E Main St, Sacket's Harbor, NY 13685. The cake being a flat, flaky pastry containing rather a lot of raspberry flavoured goo. Not bad, but hard to eat without making a lot of mess. Served, as seems to be the rule in this country, by a chirpy young woman, this one not long out or, or maybe still at, school.

PS: correction following checking with Wikipedia this morning. Lake Ontario, for various reasons, does not freeze over, but in a bad year might half freeze over.