Lunch at a Castle

Today we had a relaxing morning with a later than normal breakfast. Then we simply could not ignore the dirt any longer on isinglass and windows so we cleaned while the morning was cool. As most of you know the isinglass around the sun deck is old and scratched up but it did look a bit better with the cleaning. Walter had scrubbed the decks down a few days ago and they still look good. Now I would like to clean the fenders (boat bumpers used in docking and especially in locks) that got chewed up in the locks yesterday... not sure we will get to that before the next stop at Port Henry. 

Diesel here is very expensive and the guy is not really making a lot of $ on it.... this marina has new owners and they are trying hard to make it all work.  We would like to help them out but can save as much as $45 dollars for a tank of fuel up the way.

Our Adventure continued today at the “Castle” we saw and photographed high above Lock 12. Apparently walking was the only way to get there so off we went on our climb. Walter had written down directions from the Internet. But not all the streets were marked so we had to guess and actually walked further than necessary.

We had left the Town of Whitehall far Below

 A House we saw on way up to Skene Manor... we hoped someone would fix it up

We asked a man walking along how to get to the Skene Manor as the Castle is really known.  It had warmed up a lot by the time we entered the driveway.  

They serve lunch in a what was the original kitchen and front sitting room...now called a “tea room”. They plan on restoring it all back to the way it was built but this is all being done by volunteers and they have to wait on donations. We ordered sandwiches and WATER... 50 minutes later our food came to our table! The poor volunteer waitress was over stressed with a large crowd they didn't expect. As long as they continued to fill my water glass I was happy.

After lunch we got an exceptional tour... we think because we kept asking questions that we got into parts of the manor that others don't see... and we were the only ones touring at that time. This manor is on the national registry of historical places and was built between 1874-1875. There had been three large homes like this and two were destroyed.  The town decided they would buy this place...got it for a good price as the owner didn't want it destroyed either. They are SLOWLY restoring it.

It is a Gothic style castle made of gray sandstone quarried from the rock of Skene Mountain by cutters from Italy.  It was NY State Supreme Court Judge Potter's home until he died.  

Our View as we approached the Manor

Side Carriage Entrance

There have been several owners and one was a clock maker and he put a large clock on the center top of the house outside. We got to see the “weight room” where the large weights would have hung and then we were shown the narrow winding staircase that went up to the fourth floor tower where someone would have to climb to wind up the weights... a tough job according to one elderly Whitehall resident who used to help do this when she was a child.

It was too dark in most rooms for picture taking but here is one  shot that came out well. 

Beautiful Bronze Hinges on the Heavy Wooden Doors!

We did a little laundry in the afternoon and relaxed at the boat watching  a few boaters coming and going through lock 12...mostly south bound.

We have heard how beautiful the scenery is around Lake Champlain... can't wait!