Corning Museum of Glass and Watkins Glen

Friday, 19 July

In planning today, we took into account the comment from one of the golfers we met yesterday about attending the various demonstrations.  As the museum opens at 9am, we decided to arrive when they opened.

So Sprinty was on the road just before 8am to make the hour long drive to Corning, NY.  An advantage to arriving early was ease of parking.  We settled Sprinty in the oversized vehicle parking, where the tour buses usually park.  And by arriving early, we had our choice of where to park.

Upon entry, we were given a schedule of the various programs.  As the first tour was not until 11am, we commenced attending demos.  The first demo was “Flameworking” where the artisan used a torch to take glass rods and make a small glass elephant.  As she worked the glass, she carefully explained what she was doing, and the techniques needed to make the legs, make the legs the same length, make the ears, the eye, and the trunk.  All the while, we were watching through filter glass which made the details more clear.  There was also a camera which projected her work on large flat-screen monitors for anyone who could not get up close.  But at 9:20, we were two of the five watching the 20 minute demo.

Next we attended the 9:40 “Hot Glass” demo in the small hot shop.  A master glass blower made a colored vase while his assistant carefully explained the process.  The making of the vase was constant motion requiring teamwork for a successful vase.

The next demo was at 10:15 titled “Breaking Glass.”  Having broken glass many time, literally and figuratively, we were not sure what to expect.  The lady who did the Flameworking demo also did this demo.  And the Breaking Glass demo was more descriptive as the demo had a group of visually impaired kids attending.  She explained how the process of stressing the glass adds strength to the glass.  And demonstrated what happens to the glass when the different types of glass are broken.

After lingering the some of the exhibits, we assembled for the tour.  The docent took us on a rather quick tour of the various galleries.  First gallery was “Contemporary Art & Design” which displayed 100 pieces of contemporray glass selected by four curators.  Items displayed changed, so visiting the museum in the further will have different pieces.

Next the docent took us through the “35 Centuries of Glass” gallery where pieces of glass over 2,000 years old were displayed.  He shared how various cultures developed different techniques for making glass, and doing various things in glass.

After lunch in the on-site cafe, we attended the “Hot Glass” demo in The Amphitheater Hot Shop.  This venue was considerably larger than the other hot shop, and included a large group of Chinese attendees.  So the explanations were done in English and Mandarin.  The master glass maker also made a vase.  While the project was the same, we enjoyed the differences in presentation.  

With some time before the Optical Fiber demo, we attended another Hot Glass demo in the smaller venue - same master glass maker, slightly different project.  This time the narrator added some things that were not in the first presentation.  Successful glass results from mastering the three T’s:  Temperature, Time, Teamwork - get any of the three just a little off, and you wind up with a floor sample.  He timed this piece of wisdom as the master glass maker was twirling the newly completed vase around to use gravity/centrifugal force to elongate the vase.

The final demo we attended was the Optical Fiber demo.  As we waited for the demo to start, a short video was playing which explained how fiber optic cable was developed.  The demo used actual laser, moving water and other visual elements to make the physics of light traveling through glass understandable.

We left after 5 hours.  Our tour docent said that it would take three days to take in the entire museum.  We have no doubt that is true if one is in to art and history of glass and peered at every item on display, attended every demo and took a making glass session.  Being more interested in recent developments in glass and the demos, our interest was satisfied.  We are not much for spending large amounts of time looking at relics.  Although we spent 5 hours at the museum, there were other things not done, like attending the demos where the master glass makers were given more time and allowed to create.  And actually making something from glass.

After leaving the museum, a check of the weather showed a line of thunderstorms arriving in the region in about two hours.  We we meandered to Watkins Glen State Park, near Watkins Glen, where Sprinty will spend two nights.  Mast as we got Sprinty settled, the rain started making us glad we did not try and get golf in this afternoon.

Saturday, 20 July

When we we checked in at the campground yesterday afternoon, one of the park staff shared some advice about hiking the Watkins Glen Gorge trail.  He said to go early or go late.  They get lots and lots of tour buses, and the trail is narrow in places.  If five buses all arrive about the same time, then 20 people are trying to walk up and down the narrow trail.  He also suggested we start at the main entrance, and hike to the Mile Point Bridge, then return via the North Rim (aka Indian Trail).  He said that there was not much to see after the Mile Point Bridge and you avoided the 180 stairs at the end.  From our research, we knew we could walk one-way up the Gorge trail, and take a shuttle bus back for a small fee.

We mostly took his advice - choosing to park at the parking area near the Lily Pond (and swimming pool) near the south entrance.  Arriving at 8am, we had our choice of parking places.  We hiked down the trail past the Lily Pond and crossed the Gorge on the suspension bridge.  We then made our way down to the Gorge Trail and hiked up the gorge to the Mile Point Bridge.  Just awesome.  Talking to a few of the locals out for exercise, they reinforced the need to get an early start as later it would be just too crowded.  (Later on, the lady at Watkins Glen Visitor Center echoed the advice, sharing that someone compared the hike to standing in line at Disneyland).

It was fitting that I wore my Hocking Hills State Park tee shirt (thank you Matt & Lori) on this hike.  Watkins Glen Gorge is like Hocking Hills Gorge on steroids.  Just magnificent.  Reminded me of our visit to Moab where the lady at the check-in desk shared that Moab was OMG country.  Upon seeing a beautiful sight, one is drawn to exclaim “OMG!”  Then you go down the trail just a bit and there is another OMG view.  Then another.  Watkins Glen Gorge is kinda like that too.

Just a few of the many pictures from the hike:

We finished the hike (Apple Health App said we walked 2.4 miles) just after 9am.  Already quite warm, especially after climbing the steps out of the Gorge.  We then drove to the Watkins Glen Golf Course to see if we could get on to play golf (the alternatives were 30+ minutes drive south).   Watkins Glen Golf Course is a 9-hole course located about a mile north of Watkins Glen, and on the hill overlooking Seneca Lake.  When we arrived, there was only a two-some on the course.  As the weather app indicated possibility of thunderstorms at 1pm, we decided to pay for nine holes, and decide about playing a second nine when we finished the first nine.

As we were practicing our chipping and putting, we saw a very large group starting to gather, and decided to get out in front of them.  We both started off a little shaky, and stayed close.  Both of us struggled with the greens which were not rolled and much slower than we have been playing on.  On the ninth hole, Darrell finished up by a stroke, and made the turn one stroke up.  Playing the second time, we knew more of what to expect.  We did not expect to bump into the large group on the third hole - yup, in the time we played nine holes, the group had managed to finish only two holes.  Learned at the turn it was a bachelor party, and we are pretty sure their golf was just a reason to drink beer outside on a hot day.  They were amazingly nice to let us play through.  Darrell managed to play the second nine just a tad better to take honors for the day.

Watkins Glen Golf Course is a pretty basic mom-and-pop golf course set in what likely used to be a farm.  The views of Seneca Lake were very nice.

The temperatures were hot and humid (like most of the country), so we headed into the village of Watkins Glen hoping to find a frozen coffee beverage.  We already knew there wasn’t a Starbucks.  We wound up getting a caramel frozen coffee at Dunkin Donuts.  

As we walked back to Sprinty, we passed the Worlds Smallest Diner.

Back at the Visitor Center, we found a nice collection of hiking trails and bike trails in the Finger Lake region - and learned we missed some interesting hikes near Keuka Lake, Mount Morris and other places we passed in the last few days.  Just an example of you can’t do everything - which leaves reasons to visit the region again.