St. Ann's Tower, the tallest building in Irondequoit, came down with implosion at 9:06 Saturday morning. Anna and I went on a bike ride as close as we could get to it, and pointed our cameras at the tower. Believe it or not, it was a very quiet process, from half a mile away we couldn't hear a thing from the falling building, and only a few dull thuds from the dynamite!
With what's left of summer days, I will build a secret base A complete departure from what I normally do -- I actually took pictures of people! And why not, we actually got this thing off the ground again. Concrete Discussion Group is back, and better than ever! Our first adventure together brought us to Iola, a place where we've all spent too much time already, so we got a bit more creative. (Only capitalism was harmed in the production of these photos) Jake-- Anna--
From the turn of the last century, the economy of New York's North Country has been based on three industries: mining, tourism, and paper. The trees of the vast Adirondack forests, and power from the fast-flowing rivers, were perfect for giant paper mills to develop, to the point that most paper in the United States in 1900 was made in New York and Maine. Rising demand and falling supplies of trees led to Canada taking over this position by the 1970s, then a precipitous drop in demand during the Information Age and into the present day led to the closure…
After Benson Mines, this one was something of an impromptu explore halfway through a trip. We missed the exit onto 3A and took an unplanned detour into Carthage, when what to our wondering eyes should appear but a disembodied smokestack looking for its factory We chased it through the village, and finally figured out it was on an island, which would take some searching for. The island itself ended up being completely overgrown in eight-foot tall grass, and filled with a minefield of old foundations. Adding to our woes it just happened to also be 94 degrees with the sun…
There isn't all that much of a story here -- these pictures are from Benson Mines, in the north country of New York. I've been here quite a few times, but it really doesn't get old, being just about the easiest place I've ever explored too.
As many of you know, two weeks ago, on June 23rd, I was hit by a car for the first time. Well, sort of hit anyway, the car just clipped the back wheel of my bike enough to send me careening into and over a guard rail, and landing in a lump on the shoulder of 490. The bike was a wreck, basically totaled, after having it for all of 10 minutes; I'd just bought it from Jason at a Euro 2012 soccer party. I didn't know I was a wreck yet. It didn't hurt *that* much for some reason,…