More NY history

Monday was a free day for me, so I got out to check a few of my travel goals off my list. Things like "Visit the Erie Canal," "find a local coffee roaster to bring back beans for M," and "take pictures with Buckley at obscure places." I was able to cross all of those off in one day by heading to the Finger Lakes region. First stop:  Finger Lakes Coffee.

Second stop: Cumorah, an obscure  hill where  an  obscure farmboy is said to have dug up a set of golden plates that contained a history of  the Americas after a bunch of Israelites landed there (twice.). Don't worry, most of the Israelites killed each other off. Except for the ones that are Native Americans.

Moroni's statue on the Hill of Cumorah monumnet

We went to the Smith house also, where I walked through the "Sacred Grove" (where the farmboy saw either God, God+Jesus, Angels, or a pillar of light, depending on which version you read). We saw a real, live New York snapping turtle, a woodpecker, squirrels, and a chipmunk. No, I did not see any visions. 

We finally went to Palmyra itself, went to a print shop, and saw the Erie Canal. The canal was a wonder of early 19th century engineering. It linked the Hudson River with the Great Lakes. Where it goes through Palmyra, it appears basically like a narrow river  without a current. A tow path follows the canal, and still acts as a popular long-distance walking path.