Point Loma attractions: part 1

In the last post I showed you some marvelous views of San Diego from the perfect vantage point of Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma. Now it's time for a closer look at other reasons to visit this gem, in addition to the views.

The lighthouse shown above is the old Point Loma lighthouse. Very picturesque, but as we learned, not as useful as you might expect. Sure the point is a wonderful spit of land perfectly placed at the initial entrance to San Diego bay, but it's actually too high an elevation for a lighthouse! Its light apparently was often obscured by clouds and fogs that [I guess...boy, we sure didn't see any fog!] occasionally settle on the coastline here.

As the handy relief map on the right shows there are now two Point Loma lighthouses (click to enlarge and see the elevation number; the red box highlights the positions of the two lighthouses). And the one that's actually in use is this new one, down closer to the water:

The "new" structure (built in the 1890's; you can learn more about it than you will ever need to know here, at this amazing lighthouse resource) isn't open to the public, but the old one has been made into a museum. It's particularly dedicated to the lighthouse keepers that traditionally minded the life-saving lights all along the California coast (now most are automated). Here's a sample of their exhibits, some vintage cans representing the kind of food the families stationed here might have eaten:

Of course, the most photogenic aspect of any lighthouse is its position on the land. And this one is as picturesque as any I've seen...

The light cupola at the top is especially handsome, don't you think?

Point Loma offers lots more in the scenic line as well. For instance, this military cemetery that has to be in one of the most gorgeous settings of any resting place...

It's not part of the National Monument, but is rather on the Navy base that you traverse to get to Cabrillo. The official name is the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.

But the Monument does have evidence of military action: several bunkers that were used as gunnery emplacements during the anxious days of World War II, when the west coast seemed vulnerable to Japanese attack. Here's one from the outside...

...another one had a little museum inside with all kinds of interesting information about the operations that were undertaken here...

As interesting and scenic as all these structures were, here up on top of the Point, we found the most fascinating part of the park to be down at the water's edge. I'll show you what we were lucky enough to see down there next time.

Adirondack history: part 2

In addition to the scenery and the everyday history showcased in the Adirondack Museum, the region has seen a lot of really important history-book history, and scientific history, as well. We were able to sample bits of both during our brief visit.

First up, on our way back to Albany, we wandered around Last of the Mohicans territory a bit and toured the ruins at Crown Point on Lake Champlain. The forts whose remains are found on this strategic knob of land have very interesting stories and were occupied by both French and British forces during what we call the French and Indian War.

You can see the British flag above their section of the historic site in the photo above. These ruins look more like a real fort than the French ones, and are even undergoing some refurbishment works (see the photo on the right).

remains of "His Majesty's Fort of Crown Point"

tourists at Crown Point

earthworks at Fort Crown Point

close-up of Crown Point stonework; they had plenty of stone at hand to work with!

There's a reason the French fort is just piles of rubble: they blew it up when they retreated, to deprive their enemies of a structure at this important point on the Lake.

ruins of the French Fort St. Fredric

The handsome bridge in the background of this and some of my other photos leads out of New York to Vermont, across Lake Champlain at almost its narrowest point (it's probably a little narrower further south at the more famous Ft. Ticonderoga).

We also took a few minutes to visit and climb the handsome lighthouse (still in New York) just across an inlet from the forts. The views are great from up there, and the narrowness of the lake shows why a light was necessary. Long-time readers might remember that we are quite fans of lighthouses, so this structure, the only one we saw on our trip, was a must-stop.

from the viewing platform almost at the top

Crown Point lighthouse

We saw some scientific history, too. Lovely Saranac Lake (which I'll show you more of next time) used to be quite famous as a place whose pure air and restful ambiance was inspiration for research into a cure for tuberculosis and other lung ailments. The museum where we learned about this is the Saranac Laboratory Museum, right in the middle of downtown.

A lot of famous, and not so famous, people came there for relief from the TB-encouraging environments of the cities. Including one of my favorite historical baseball players, Christy Mathewson, to keep up the baseball-related reason for our visit here. His lungs were damaged by mustard gas when he was serving in World War I.

In addition to the actual laboratory where a great deal of TB research was done in the early 20th century (see the picture above), the museum has information, letters, and moving reproduced recordings that tell the often very sad stories of the patients who came to Saranac Lake. On a lighter note, but still quite interesting, there's a room with exhibits of all kinds of medical curiosities, including this mysterious device..."What is it?"

My final historical note is also from Saranac Lake. When we took our surprisingly strenuous hike, the trail led us right by this lovely cemetery:

And cemeteries, especially in long-settled parts of the country, always offer a fascinating historical perspective. We were particularly puzzled by a little cluster of what looked like Norwegian flags in a section of the cemetery. Reading the memorial that they surrounded solved some of the puzzle, but still left me wondering. As many World War II memorials as I have seen, this one is still unique.

Someone in Saranac Lake is perhaps related to some of these seamen? Whatever the impetus, it is a lovely memorial. And notice the pebbles on top of the headstone; I learned about this custom in the final moving scene of Schindler's List, but I doubt there are many Jewish Norwegian seamen. But the presence of the pebbles makes this memorial extra special.

California coast: Point Reyes

The Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County is a wonderful place, of great scenic, historical, and geological interest.

We made our plans to see earthquake evidence, views of the beaches, and another lighthouse. And while we weren't completely successful in this multi-quest, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to this area.

First up was their "Earthquake trail," a short loop that offers not only informational displays about the area's geology, but also some concrete evidence of the 1906 quake's power.

In the photo above you can see how a fenceline was displaced several feet by the movement of the fault in that large earthquake. The blue post is one of several that march along a hillside, marking the active fault location!

This is a little disconcerting! But we were also reassured by one of the displays we saw.

According to this, the National Seashore area (see the red line pointing to it) might be the safest place to be in a big quake! Look at all that bedrock!

One reason why this little spit of land is different from the surrounding land is that it's part of the Pacific Plate, not the North American Plate that we spend most of our lives on.

So during our hike out to the bayshore, we were tromping along the Pacific Plate!

Joan takes the lead, no matter which plate you're on

After our hike, we took a long drive out to the westernmost point of Point Reyes, where the lighthouse is situated.

Unfortunately, the further out towards the point we traveled, the thicker the fog.

It made for an interesting, atmospheric drive, but we were beginning to worry that we wouldn't be able to see the lighthouse.

And we weren't.

However, the spit of land where it's located is scenic enough, even at short range, that we were glad we'd made the trip.

you could *hear* the surf when you got close to the edge

this mosaic on the walkway seems to be swimming toward you out of the fog

Perhaps on a future trip we'll be able to see this lighthouse, but we read that the area is foggy at least two thirds of the year! So perhaps the odds aren't too good.

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Next up, I'll depart a bit from scenery and show you some west-coast-only signs. As I've said, we found that directional signage in the Golden State leaves a lot to be desired, but we saw all kinds of other amusing and unfamiliar signs, enough to inspire me to amass a photo collection of them.

California coast: lighthouses

We stopped at 3 lighthouses along the rugged California coast. And although they are fascinating historical sites, they are definitely needed here for navigational safety.

First up was the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse, in Mendocino County, just south of Fort Bragg. I took the picture above as we were walking from the lighthouse point back to the parking area. I was so pleased to have caught the light beam in my picture!

The Point Cabrillo complex consists of several historical buildings in various states of restoration. One, the assistant lighthouse keeper's residence, has been completely turned into a museum that offers a fascinating glimpse into what life here was like 100 years ago.

this fabulous old stove is what they cooked on

Some of the other buildings on the site have been converted into vacation rentals, an imaginative way to bring in funds needed for restoration and maintenance. And wouldn't it be a great place to spend a week!

You can't go up into the lighthouse at Point Cabrillo, but the building that houses it is open, with informational displays and a small gift shop (where I indulged myself and bought a t-shirt).

it was a *little* foggy

And, as you saw from the first photo above, the lighthouse is still a functional, important part of California coast navigation.

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Our next stop down the coast was a more famous and older lighthouse at Point Arena, also in Mendocino County.

This site is much more developed, and the walk to and around it is more scenic than at Point Cabrillo, so I took a lot more pictures here.

Another plus for this lighthouse is that you can go up to the top!

They also have continuous docent talks in their little museum, where we learned a lot of general and specific lighthouse history.

In the museum, they house the large, double-bulls-eyed Fresnel lens that used to beam the Point Arena light signal 20 miles out to sea. What a beautiful piece of optical technology!

As we learned on our tour, Point Cabrillo currently uses a similar lens, although it's not as big.

However, the Point Arena light, which of course still functions, is a newer model and amazingly smaller. The current light, seen here closeup from atop the lighthouse, is only a little bigger than a carryon bag, and uses a THIRTY WATT bulb, but still can be seen 20 miles out!

We also saw a great, specific example of why lighthouses are needed along this coast. Inside the museum, we heard about a major shipwreck on a large rock off the Point Arena coast. Then, from atop the lighthouse, our guide pointed out the nasty submerged seastack that was responsible.

You can see it in the picture below, 'way out to sea, where the surf breaks in a very unexpected spot.

This rock is apparently several acres in area, and only 10 feet or so below the surface of the water. Talk about a hazard to navigation!

Fascinating stuff! And also quite scenic.

Here are some shots taken around the area, mostly from the top of the lighthouse:

where the museum and that beautiful lens are located

a typical scenic view from the top

sea lions out on the Point Arena rocks

that garish splash of pink is flowers!

windswept trees on the walk from parking area to lighthouse

The Point Arena lighthouse was on this spot in 1906 and the lighthouse keeper was actually up inside it and felt the structure sway north, then south, then north again several feet (!) in response to the big quake in San Francisco.

The spiral staircase, similar to the one we ascended to get all those fabulous views, provided enough stability that the lighthouse didn't collapse and the keeper was unhurt.

However, the structure eventually had to be rebuilt, as the damage was severe enough that it was unsafe. So we did not climb the original edition of the Point Arena Lighthouse, but the one that's only 105 years old.

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We visited our next lighthouse the next day, but I have to be careful to say we "visited" it, not we "saw" it. We had been lucky with the fog for the whole trip, as it only drifted in occasionally to lend a little atmosphere to our photos.

But on the day we visited Point Reyes National Seashore it was completely socked in.

However, we still saw some great things there. And I'll tell you about them next time.