Caching in Marcellus & Skaneateles 5/29/2008

We loaded some caches into the GPS for a trip to Marcellus and Skaneateles as it was going to be a beautiful day. We made our first stop at a cache located on a yield sign and then it was on to Marcellus and a stop at the driving range. I decided to go hit some golf balls seeing as I hadn't done anything with golf since we moved to MB and got into geocaching. I hit 2 buckets of balls and it really wasn't to bad although I know I will be sore tomorrow. I plan on playing some golf with the boys and with a friend of mine from FL when he gets up in Camillus for the summer. Next it was onto our next cache in Marcellus Park along one of the trails which we found quickly, then it was on into Skaneateles and caches in 2 of the small parks along the lake. It really was a beautiful day on the lake as the water was so blue and the temperature was just right. As we walked through Shotwell Park Mom was remembering when she lived in Skinny (nickname for the town) with Nan and her grandmother and she used to help Uncle Barney raise and lower the flag, which you will see in one of the pictures, in the park along the lake every day. Then we went to a cache located behind the new ice skating rink deep down in the woods and it really was chore to tramp through the woods to find it.
Then we did a multi-cache located in a small cemetery where Mom's grandmother is buried and we stopped and paid our respects to Nan and her Mom and Mom had made an arrangement of lovely flowers to leave on her grave stone. We drove around Skinny for a little while remembering all the good times we have had there together, as it was in Shotwell Park that Mom and I got engaged. We saw her favorite old house in the town "The Cove" Circa 1852 which was built by Reuel Smith, a wealthy Massachusetts importer. In 1852 he built an architecturally distinguished house, designed in the Gothic Revival style by Alexander Jackson Davis, who designed at least one other building in the village. The Reuel Smith House has been designated to the National Registry, the plans are in the Library of Congress, all made possible by the local owners. She just loves that house as you can by the picture why. We also saw "Roosevelt Hall" built by Richard DeZeng, an engineer and canal builder retiring from Oswego, NY in 1839. Acquired forty years later by another of several members of the Roosevelt family, Samuel Morris Roosevelt, the Greek Revival house became known as "Roosevelt Hall." Roosevelt Hall, originally the DeZeng House furthermore may be the work of his partner, Ithiel Town. Frederick Roosevelt, cousin of President Theodore Roosevelt, built a fine house on the lake in 1879, said to be designed by Stanford White (although the architect was in Europe at the time). The building reputedly was constructed in New York City, dismantled and relocated in Skaneateles. Many mnay good times in that little village and we made many memories there together.
Our last cache in Shepard Settlement for a cache located in the cemetery there. Shepard Settlement is a farming hamlet in the northeastern part of the Town of Skaneateles in Onondaga County, New York. Named for the first settlers, this was the second community founded in the Town of Skaneateles, after the Village of Skaneateles at the northern end of Skaneateles Lake. Other early settler families with numerous members in the immediate include the Chapmans, Bishops, Horsingtons and Hares. The settlement was along Stump Road between Hoyt and Foster Roads on the west and Shepard Road on the east, centered roughly where Chapman Road ends at Stump Road. The Hamlet was 2.6 miles WNW of the Village of Marcellus and 4 miles NE of Skaneateles. The various amenities of a rural community, such as a church and general store, have ling since disappeared, leaving only Shepard Settlement Cemetery on the northwestern corner of Stump and Hoyt Roads to establish the community's identity. We found the cache in the cemetery quickly as it was a fake rock hidden in the rock wall along the back of the property.
We drove back to the coach and we both showered and had lunch and Mom was doing the cache logs when we noticed a car stop out front and a young girl with a baby get out of the car and we asked if there was a problem and she said she had run out of gas. I put what Tim had in his lawn mower gas can in her car but the car still wouldn't start so I went to Hess and got a full can of gas and put about half of it in the car and got her on her way. She only had $10.00, so we didn't take any money for the gas, and told her get her baby to the doctor as he wasn't feeling well at all. Hope she made it to the gas station. Mom then went to pick up Cody and bring him back to the house and after she got back we went to the high school to watch Nikki play her lacrosse game. It was their "GRUDGE" match against the other middle school in the district which by the way Nikki's team won very handily. After the game we headed back to the RV and dinner and we watched some TV and headed to bed. Time to say adios until tomorrow and we love you all.


Picture List:1-The Cove Circa 1852 Mom's favorite house in Skaneateles, 2-The flag pole Mom used to help Uncle Barney raise and lower everyday, 3&4-Roosevelt Hall, 5-Shepard Settlement sign, 6-Entrance to the Shepard Farm, 7,8,9,10-Shepard Settlement Cemetery, 11,12,13-Some of the older grave markers in the cemetery dating back to 1822, 14,15,16,17,18-Shotwell Park in Skaneateles, 19,20,21-Skaneateles Lake.