The antiquing was limited to one enormous location that was a bit overwhelming. There are few bargains to be had these days, when anyone can do a quick search on eBay or elsewhere to see if something has some value to someone. There were a couple of old AM radios that were in very good shape that probably were good deals, but I didn't want to carry them home.

The highlight yesterday was the tour of the former Seneca Army Depot. As often as we've been here, I'd never really looked into it, other than hearing about "white deer tours." We signed up for the bus tour and it turned out we were the only ones. Good for us, but kind of a shame because it's a fascinating tour.

Mitzi came for the deer, I came for the history.

We saw a lot of deer, most of them brown. They're accustomed to the bus and not super shy. I should have mounted the 40-150mm/f2.8, instead of the 12-100mm/f4. I needed more reach and more aperture. But, again, I wasn't really that interested in the deer.

Briefly, the decommissioned facility consists of 10,000 acres of fenced property. The white deer aren't albinos, they just carry a recessive gene that doesn't produce brown hair, so they're ordinary white tailed deer and the other deer don't know the difference. Since they're fenced in, hunted in limited numbers and well fed, they pretty much thrive in there.

The depot itself was constructed in preparation for WW II. The federal government essentially kicked around 150 families off their land, with only a few weeks' notice to clear out. Five hundred concrete ammunition "igloos" were constructed in a relatively short time. The manpower necessary to complete the project created problems of its own with inadequate housing and sanitation.

The bus tour was scheduled for 90 minutes, but our guide took us around for over two hours. We were able to get out and enter one of the igloos, which was fun just for the acoustics. There's also a beaver dam on the property, and an eagles' nest that seems to have recently been abandoned after being occupied/used for almost two decades.

There is a lot of history in this region, and I've enjoyed getting to learn about some of it. If you're ever in the Finger Lakes, this is a worthwhile tour.

Don't quite know what we're up to today. Packing at some point, but we'll probably get out and see something. I know Mitzi wants to buy some wine.

After some clouds and rain earlier in the week, the last two days have been wonderful. Sunny, relatively cool with low humidity. I'm going to miss this place next week when we're back in the swamp.

Literally.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:31 Saturday, 20 July 2024