June 04 Sidney

No complaints today.  We are happy and suspect that you read enough whining yesterday.  Rain was forecast for today but the storms came through early, dumping lots of rain last night.  We were blessed with a beautiful day.  We cycled mostly on very rural roads with little traffic.  The roads were lined with spring flowers, mostly phlox and poppies.  We also enjoyed colorful azaleas and rhododendron and the fragrances of lilacs and verbena.  For Jeff, it was the gift of a second spring season.  Our ride was relaxed and over gently rolling hills and along the Susquehanna River.  So far the river is still small but offers boating and water sports (see picture of the canoes and kayaks).

We went through several small towns with historic houses and shopping areas.   

What was to become Oneonta, NY was first settled around 1775.  The town was formed in 1822.  There we cycled through the Walnut Street Historic District, and saw the noted Wilber Mansion. “Built in 1875, it was at first a simple, flat roofed structure. In the early 1890’s, the building was renovated in the High Victorian style with fanciful decorative motifs; an imposing turret, deep wrap around porches, a carriage porch, and stained-glass windows were all added.” (see picture). During our tour we were stopped by Malcolm (see photo) who inquired about our ride and told us that he cycled across the United States in 1989.  He indicated that his next dream adventure is to kayak down the Susquehanna River and mimic our ride.

Our destination was Sidney, NY.  The town was named after Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith (21 June 1764 – 26 May 1840). A British naval officer serving in the American and French revolutionary wars, he later rose to the rank of admiral.   There we saw the Andrew Mann Inn that was built in 1787 and converted to an inn in 1795. The inn sits next to the Susquehanna River and served early travelers on the Catskill Turnpike Stage Coach Line.  Currently the Inn is in the early stages of being restored (see photo).

Map - 49.7 miles

Pictures  To see the captions on our pictures that have captions:  tap/click on the picture then tap/click on the "i" in a circle above or beside the picture.  It took us a while to figure out how to see the captions in the blog but I suspect many of you are more computer literate than us. 



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