July 19, 2018
Fair Haven State Park, NY to Webster, NY
Day 14
Weather: Cool start, sunny & hot later.
Last night we stayed at Fair Haven State Park on the east side of Little Sodus Bay. Up until 1945 a lighthouse stood on the pier on the west side of the bay. The old keepers house still stands but we didn't ride out to take a look.
Fair Haven Lighthouse
The lighthouse at Fair Haven no longer exists.
A timber framed lighthouse was built in 1872 on the pier at Fair Haven. A lighthouse keepers house was erected on a bluff nearby and completed in August 1873.
The lighthouse was moved in 1882 and again in 1884 as the pier was extended.
An inner range light was added in 1884.
A skeletal metal framed lighthouse was erected in October 1943. The original lighthouses were torn down around 1945.
The keeper’s house has been privately owned since 1965.
This morning it was a lot cooler than we had been experiencing. My odometer said 57 degrees.
Our earliest start time of 7 a.m. today. I wore my jacket again and Cameron put on long pants.
Straight away we hit two hills leaving the camp before getting back on Hwy 104a. There was a small downhill through the town of Fair Haven then as we rounded the corner there was a big hill. I wasn't ready for this and stopped halfway up. Cold legs and still tired from yesterday I pushed the bike up the rest of the hill until I came upon the appropriately name intersection of Hill Top Road.
Shortly afterwards we were suppose to cut through some country roads to the town of Wolcott where I had planned to have breakfast, but after yesterdays experience with the hills we choose to stay on Hwy 104a that would eventually spit us out on the main highway Hwy 104.
And what a great road it was, flat, wide shoulder, a tail wind. Now we were happy.
Soon it was breakfast time again and we found a McDonalds on Hwy 104 just outside Wolcott; not my first choice but they do have good internet for uploading photos.
We cut back to the lake at Alton to visit the two lighthouses at Sodas Point, arriving at 11 a.m.
Sodas Bay Lighthouse
The land for the Sodus Bay Lighthouse was purchased in November of 1824 and one-and-a-half-story dwelling and detached tower, both built of stone, were completed the following year. The tower was forty feet tall with revolving light of ten lamps.
In 1858, a revolving fourth-order lens was installed in Sodus Bay Lighthouse.
By 1869, the Sodus Bay lighthouse was nearing the end of life so plans using the same design as Stoney Point, NY were drawn up for a new light. The new lighthouse was completed in June of 1871 and was built of limestone with a fifty foot tower with house attached.
A storm room was enlarged in 1892 to serve as a summer kitchen.
The fourth order lens was moved to the Outer light in June, 1901 and the lighthouse discontinued. The keeper however remained in residence while maintaining the two pier lights.
The Coast Guard left the lighthouse in 1973 and after several years of neglect the lighthouse became the property of the town of Sodus Point. The Sodus Bay Historical Society took over the management of the lighthouse and in 1985 opened as a museum.
Sodus Outer Pier Lighthouse
The construction of the Sodas Bay harbor commenced in 1829 with twin piers built 470 feet into the lake. In 1837 a thirty-foot stone tower was erected on the west pier. The revolving light was replaced in 1854 with a sixth-order lens
A gale in 1857 destroyed the pier lighthouse and a pair of range lights on masts were erected as a replacement. The masts were replaced in 1872 with frame towers, the outer twenty-seven feet tall with a sixth-order Fresnel lens and the inner eighteen feet tall displaying a sixth-order light. An elevated walkway to the outer light was also installed.
The inner light was rebuilt in 1895.
In 1901, the outer light was elevated another fifteen feet and the fourth order lens from the Sodus Bay Lighthouse was installed. A fog horn was installed in June, 1926 at the outer light.
The present outer tower was erected in 1938 and the energy source converted from kerosene to electric. A skeletal inner tower was also constructed at the same time.
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While at Sodas Bay lighthouse we were able to climb the tower. This was the first lighthouse we have been able to climb the tower since our first day at 30 Mile Lighthouse, NY.
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After a visit to the lighthouses and museum, we headed out of town on our intended route of Lake Road but soon decided to move back to the much flatter Hwy 104.
As we got closer to Rochester, the road widened out to 4 lanes, it still had a good shoulder but the traffic got heavier and the shoulder wasn't as clean.
Our intended destination for the day was the Webster campground but the closer we got to Webster the more Cameron was complaining about his knee, so I decided to cut it short and get a hotel. About this time we also got forced of the 104 as it become a freeway.
So I sat on the side of the road checking hotel websites on my phone. Not much of anything. Hampton Inn full, Best Western full. I checked the Holiday Inn and got the last room in town.
This also brings a change to tomorrows plans. The initial plan was to be on Lake Road near the Lake and ride to the bridge over Irondequoit Bay which is left open to boats and closed to traffic during the summer months. My plan was to try and hail a passing boat to get a ride across, therefore eliminating about 20 additional miles. However as we are closer to the bottom of the bay, we will now take the road around.
Checking into the Holiday Inn, "I know your website said one king bed but maybe just maybe you have two queens". No such luck. I guess we are tucking in together tonight.
Later we walked over to the grocery store for dinner. It was a Wegmans, I have never been in one but we found a food court and ate in the dining area.
Today's ride: 55 miles (89 km)
Total: 663 miles (1,067 km)
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