June 06, Sayre, PA

Before leaving Binghamton, we toured the downtown area.  There was absolutely no traffic on the cool Sunday morning which made it perfect time for exploring.  “The first known people of European descent to come to the area were the troops of the Sullivan Expedition in 1779, during the American Revolutionary War. The city was named after William Bingham, a wealthy Philadelphian who bought the 10,000 acre patent for the land in 1786,” From the days of the railroad, Binghamton was a transportation crossroads so our first stop was the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad passenger station.  The station was built in 1901 in the Italian Renaissance style (see pictures). 

Our next stop was the Broome County Courthouse.  “It is a massive 2+1⁄2-story structure, built on a raised foundation, in the form of a Latin Cross and topped with an elegant copper dome. Originally constructed in 1897–1898 in a "T" shape, the south wing was added in 1916-1917 to form the cross” (see pictures).

 We also toured the downtown area and liked a large wall mural that was worthy of a contemplative stop (see pictures).  We then moved to the historical residential district that was worthy of far more pictures than we could commit to. 

 Leaving Binghamton we were on designated cycle routes and saw lots of cyclists.  On some sections of the roads we saw more cyclists than cars. We met several people along the route but were disappointed that most of the cyclist we passed would not even acknowledge our greetings.  We did talk to Mike who became a “bike widower” when his back started acting up.  He was patiently waiting for his wife to finish her ride.  While Jeff went into a store for cold drinks and Joe waited in the parking lot, a 5 year old boy on an E-bike stopped to talk to him.  He was delightful, full of conversation and demonstrated the mobility of his bike. 

 Our ride was flat EXCPT for the mile long climb that started near mile 25.  While we had a 3 mile drop on the other side it was not worth the climb.  We did make some side trips to take more pictures of buildings along the way. We also stopped to see the train station and Lehigh Valley caboose that are in Sayre.   Despite the hill, we had a wonderful day.

 Today's pictures

 Todays Map - 44.9 Miles

 Map - Total Trip to date - 294 Miles (up to Sayre, PA)

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