Rochester/Canandaigua (Oct. 16)
Leaving Pulaski, we headed around the south shore of Lake Ontario. We stopped at a KOA half way between Rochester and Canandaigua in the Finger Lakes region. This is pretty far to the north and east of Ithaca. We had visited Rochester a couple of times when the kids were small to visit the science center. But we had never been to Canandaigua or downtown Rochester.
On Tuesday we visited Canadaigua. It is a cute tourist town at the north end of Lake Canandaigua.
After lunch in town, we went to the lake front and walked along the town pier and the lake front park.
The most unique feature is this colony of historic boat houses.
Although they look like cottages, the information plaque states that no-one is allowed to live in them. However, several of them do look like they have kitchens and sleeping rooms, so perhaps this means that they can be used for vacations, but not full-time.
They are pretty small, as the lower level is the boat garage. Lake cruises (and of course dinner cruises) are available aboard the Canandaigua Lady paddlewheeler.
On Wednesday we were invited to dinner at the house of our friends Sally and George, whom we first met when she was a graduate student at Cornell. We decided to go into downtown Rochester for the day first.
Rochester has an interesting history as a center for abolitionist and suffragette activity. 
However, despite the Genesee River running through it, the downtown appears grimy and uninviting. (It looks better in the photos than it does in person.) It may be thriving – there are not any derelict buildings or empty storefronts – but there is little street-level commercial activity or restaurants, and there are few people on the street. Chuck has a “red zone” app that delineates the dangerous parts of cities, and much of the downtown was flagged as bad. We decided not to explore too much. We had a quick lunch at a picturesque little Greek place, and headed for the Susan B. Anthony Museum.
Susan B. Anthony was a leading figure in the suffragette movement and was friends with Frederick Douglass, a leading abolitionist. This sculpture of the two of them enjoying a cup of tea is in a park across from her house. 
She shared a house near downtown with her mother and a sister, while another sister lived next door. The two houses are now a museum.
They are furnished with some of her possession, and photos taken while she lived in the house were used to reconstruct its look. A knowledgeable docent took us through the house and gave us the details of her family and political life.
Anthony had a paying job with the Abolitionist Society and often hosted Douglass. She delivered the eulogy at his funeral. However, they had a falling out over the 15th Amendment, which gave the vote to men of all races. She did not want to pass a voting rights bill that excluded women, but later conceded that it was important to pass it, since women’s suffrage still seemed to be far away.
Anthony was also friends with leading suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Cady, who had seven children, was not in a position to travel. She wrote most of the speeches and Anothony delivered them. Neither lived to see women get the vote. (Anthony did vote in a federal election – for which she was arrested. She did what she could to make a hugely public scene but although she never paid her fine she also did not go to jail. The law was not clear on whether her vote was actually illegal at the time.) She died in 1906 – several years before US women finally got the vote.
We then went to Sally and George’s house for dinner. George made an outstanding vegetarian meal – particularly impressive on a week night. His research is working on the proteins whose degradation with age cause cataracts. It all sounded fascinating, but unfortunately it is unlikely to yield a cure soon enough to save me from surgery. Sally and I had caught up on her biostatistical work when we met in Baltimore. We also caught up on their kids, who are doing well. As per our usual habit – we forgot to take any pictures.