As
I stopped My McVansion and took this picture I could visualize a scrawny,
pimply-faced, 15 year old boy enjoying one of the thrills of his life. That
thrill was skimming across the surface of this bay at about 30 miles per hours
on water skis, towed behind a sleek tow boat. That scrawny 15 year old boy was,
yours truly, ME!
This
is Little Sodus Bay a small bay off Lake Ontario, one of the Great Lakes,
protected by sandbars and man-made rock jetties. It would have been the summer
of 1960.
The bay, with an average depth of 30 feet, is surrounded by the small
village of Fair Haven, New York, permanent population, about 750 souls. At one
time it was a small shipping harbor serving north central New York state with
trade going across the lake to Canada. After the shipping trade waned, Fair
Haven became mainly a resort area serving Syracuse, Auburn and other areas in
the central New York region and provides for great swimming, boating, fishing
and other water based activities.
As
you can see, Main Street of the small village is one street and about two
blocks of hodge-podge buildings mostly from the late 19th and early 20th
Centuries. There are no traffic lights and a minimum of Stop signs. Main Street
is also the main "blue" highway carrying commerce and tourists to and
from the village. The other homes in the village surround the bay and appear
mainly to be summer homes and rental properties for tourists. There is only one
small hotel with eight rooms and no significant motels within a reasonable
distance.
Yes!
This was a wonderful stopping point where I was able to enjoy reliving some
wonderful memories of my youth, my family and some family friends from our
church back in Clifton, New Jersey who owned a summer home in Fair Haven.
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