GORGEOUS LITTLE ISLAND RV PARK ON LAKE ONTARIO

A short drive (less than 100 miles) from Tom’s house brought us to Tanglewood on the border of Mass. and New York states. We had reservations to attend an open rehearsal of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.. Zoe loves open rehearsals because she likes to hear the corrections the conductor makes to the orchestra. At first we were disappointed because the named conductor, Seiiji Osakawa, was not conducting as printed but the Austrian conductor, Hans Graf, did an excellent job. The program was Richard Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, Mendekssohn’s Symphony No. 4 in A, Opus 90, Italian, and Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Opus 26. Midori was the violin solo on the Bruch. The Bruch is one of our favorite pieces and so we have heard it played by many different artists but Midori brought a new, sensitive approach to it. It was a wonderful concert in a beautiful setting. A delicious lunch in town topped off the afternoon.

We continued on then to the shores of Lake Ontario at Henderson Harbor, an island reached by a causeway. The lake is so huge that it is like the ocean. After a storm the waves hurl against the rocks just like the seashore. There are beautiful sunsets here and one night we even saw a schooner in full sail on the horizon.

Nearby Henderson Harbor is the village of Sackett’s Harbor. This is a sweet little town that was the site of a historic battle in the War of 1812. At the start of the war, five British ships were stationed off the coast of Sackett’s Harbor against only one American ship. Farmers on the shore grouped together with a cannon and destroyed most of the British ships. The only British cannon ball to make it to the shore was promptly picked up by the farmers and loaded into their cannon. The shot broke the mast of one of the British ships. A lovely park with a monument is now on the site that also was the location of further fighting during the War of 1812.

We had the additional surprise at the RV park of four RVs of women who belonged to RVW and just happened to come to this park. Small world.