Tuesday, August 8th
We had a little rain overnight but it seems to be fine now. After complimentary
continental breakfast at the Quality Inn we depart heading north on Rt. 9 and take Rt. 314 towards Cumberland Head. This is the road to the ferry crossing to Grand Isle, VT. Just a tad before the ferry a road goes off to the right. At the end of this road is Cumberland Head Light. This road used to connect with Rt. 314 but was closed off at this end as so many folks were “sightseeing”. This may have been a private road but that does not deter
us. George Clifford (more about him later) said that it would probably be ok to stop at
the end and take a few pictures.
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Now this light is probably the 2nd most famous of the Lake Champlain lights as it is
pictured on the cover of the Cliffords’ book “Women Who Kept the Lights”. Whether
these Cliffords are related to George I have no idea. Have to call him again on another
matter so will ask. However, the photo on the cover of the book is backwards. This light station was established in 1836, the current 50’ limestone tower (75’ focal plane) and house dating from 1867. Its fixed white light in a 4th order lens was visible for 15 miles and served until 1934. The most famous keeper here was William Tabberrah who served for 33 years. He was given the job because he was a disabled Civil War veteran. When he and his wife moved in they had 2 young children. After he became keeper they had 6 more! In 1903 he decided to have a bullet removed from his hip. This was a bad idea as he died from infection. His wife Emma became keeper and served for another 15 years.
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Church bought the light in 1946, restored it and raised their family
here in the same manner as the Tabberrahs. After Mr. Church died, Mrs. Church stayed
on at Cumberland Head until her death some 50 years after they bought it. The light is
now owned by a local business man/entrepreneur who I was told “has a lot of zeros after his name”!
More pictures here:
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=39476&a=7863378 Along the road we discover a bonus lighthouse!
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We return to Rt. 9 and continue north to Point Au Roche Rd. bearing left along the lake and watch very carefully for the Point Au Roche Lighthouse. This light is a bit tricky to find as it is well hidden from the road by trees. We pull off into a circular drive and hide the car behind a bush. The light is Coast Guard Property but it sits on only 50 square feet of land and you have to sort of sneak across private property to see it.
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Point Au Roche Light is the second of the “Three Sisters”, octagonal blue limestone
towers constructed in 1858. This one is also 50’ with a focal plane of 59’. Also
displaying a fixed white light in a 6th order lens it was visible for 13 miles. In 1934 the majority of this station’s land was sold off including that portion on which the attached keepers house sat. The new owner moved the house slightly to the north.
Tasteful additions to this small dwelling have been made using native stone. The garden between the circular drive and the light is where this house once stood and the grounds are beautifully maintained by the current owner.
This light remained in service until 1989, making it the only one of the Lake Champlain
lights to have been occupied by the Coast Guard. The light has been replaced with a
lighted buoy on La Roche Reef. It has been abandoned and the town of Beekman is
interested in acquiring it and preserving it. It is simply beautiful.
More pictures here:
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=39476&a=7917219 At this point we head south again back to Plattsburgh to check in with Captain Frank
Pabst, founder and proprietor of Juniper Boat Tours (since 1976) to see if he will be
going out that day. Captain Frank and his wife are going through the mail, while
answering the phone to give details of their “Dinner Cruise” - “mountains of food cooked on board while anchored in a secluded cove followed by music and dancing all for only” some god awful price! Captain Frank also conducts two hour narrated historical cruises at 1pm for $8.00. This is more our speed (I.O. can’t stay awake until 10pm) and the price is right. This would take us much closer to the light on Valcour Island. However, the prospects of having enough folks interested for Capt. Frank to go out (only us and another couple so far) coupled with the fact that it is only 11am make us decide not to wait around 2 hours and not go anywhere.
The “Juniper” acording to Mrs. Pabst (the Captain having departed on his motorcycle)
had been a ferry boat formerly used at Essex. Together we determine that this was
probably the boat that I had crossed on many years earlier with my folks.
Here she be:
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I also noticed that Captain Frank had a light on his property. Mrs. Pabst said, “Oh that used to be at one end of the breakwater. When it was just about ready to fall over they gave it to Frank.”
Here it is:
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One more time here:
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=39476&a=775388&p=26437477&Sequence=1 As we had made room reservations on North Hero Island we head back north stopping at
Rouses Point for lunch. After lunch we cross the street and walk between a couple
buildings for a break and a view of the lake, chatting for a bit with a few friendly
residents of apartments in these buildings who share a waterfront lawn and garden. They
have the same beautiful view at a fraction of the cost as many homeowners. From their
lawn we catch a glimpse across the water of Windmill Point Lighthouse.
Now Rouses Point is the last town before Canada so we hang a right on Rt. 2 to cross the bridge to Alburg, VT. As we start to cross we catch a glimpse of the ruins of Ft.
Montgomery (1816). The story is that after the fort was completed it was discovered that
it had been built in Canada (by the U.S.)! After a series of negotiations it was agreed to move the Canadian boundary. It was hereafter referred to as Ft. Blunder! On the far side of the bridge we also see a section of railroad trestle. The railroad was the means of connecting NY and VT through the Alburg Peninsula (which comes down from Canada) and the Hero and Grande Islands before Rt. 2 was built. It operated until sometime in the 60’s. The Hero Islands (North and South) were named for Ethan Allen and his brother Ira of Green Mountain Boys fame.
We drive through Alburg and cross another bridge and arrive on North Hero Island.
Watching carefully on our right we spot the Holiday Harbor Motel where we have reserved a room. The room is ready for us and by the looks of it it has been ready for quite a while. This is a very old motel in two sections. We have a room in the “new”
section which probably dates to the 50’s. The older section appears to house fisherman. The office has live bait and the whole place has a very fishy smell. The new owners of three weeks say they are going to “fix it up”. It does not have ac but it does have a fridge and a two burner hot plate. There are numerous dishes, each one different.
But the view, what a view! This place is right on the lake with a nice breeze which is
appreciated as it is now very hot and we have no ac!
We now head south into town to check out Hero’s Welcome which is a large general
store, souvenier shop, etc. The original building dates to 1899 and the store was operated by the same family for 90 years! Souveniers purchased include two books. “Once Upon A Rowboat” was written by Peggy Hanford Whitson who decided to row the entire circumference of the lake in a 10’ boat. She started after age 50 and did it in shifts. Quite interesting. I also bought "The Story of the Trapp Family Singers" by none other than Maria herself. Hey, this *is* Vermont. I.O. buys muffins for the next day as the pickings for breakfast don’t look too good. And we *know* that Holiday Harbor is not going to be serving up any continental style!
There’s only one more item on my agenda for today. We go to check out Herrmann’s
Royal Lipizzan Stallions which are just down the road a piece.
Here’s one of them:
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And a couple more here:
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=39476&a=7921420 You can read their story here:
http://www.champlainislands.com/visitor/lipizz.htm Actually diner choices seem to be limited here also. As we had a nice dinner the night
before we opt for a place called “Birdland” which is part of a housekeeping cabin type
establishment. My hot turkey sandwich was fine. I.O.’s fish dinner was frozen. If he
wanted fish he could have caught one back at the motel....
After dinner entertainment was conversation with our neighbor in Room 2 who was in
search of a place to spend his retirement, in around 10 years time. Very nice man
though.
Time to call it a night. Tomorrow we have a date with Lucky and Rob!
