Bath, Crash, Glass

There comes a point in every party when it's time to crash. We crashed in Bath, NY. since it is home to Camping World - and we wanted to have some work done on the RV.



Bath is in the area of New York known as the Finger Lakes Region. It's also wine country. There are vineyards everywhere. They have been growing grapes and making wine here for more than 150 years. There are bodies of water surrounded by rolling hills and little villages. Each has it's own flavor and each is unique in its own way.



We checked into Hickory Hill Family Camping Resort and were assigned this huge beautiful campsite. There was absoutely nothing to dislike about this park. Most of the people staying there were from the local surrounding area. They check in just because they like it there.

Another view of our campsite:

Finnegan and I did the "crash" thing while we were at Hickory Hill. Talk about lazy... It took 4 days of this kind of behavior until I felt like I could get moving again.

When we finally got moving, we spent the day in Corning - about 18 miles from Bath - and home of the Corning Museum of Glass and the Rockwell Museum of Western Art.

That's me in the first gallery we visited at the Museum of Glass. It was a special exhibit of art glass.

While we were enjoying the gallery, Maureen and Alan Grinsfelder walked up to us. Now what are the chances that we would both arrive - coming from different directions - at the museum within 15 minutes of each other and be in the same gallery!?!? What a delightful surprise! We planned to meet for lunch and headed into different galleries.

Most of the following photos were taken in the History of Glass exhibits. Here they have historical pieces beginning with examples of Egyptian glass from about 1500 B.C., European glass from the Middle Ages, glass from the Islamic world and the Far East, art glass from around the world, both antique and modern. It's all here, and there's no way one can absorb all there is to learn in just one visit.

Below is a photo of just one of the cases exhibiting paper weights. Each is more beautiful than the one beside it.

An example of art glass:

A Tiffany stained glass panel:

A close-up of an etched clear art piece:

A glass chess set with Jewish and Roman Catholic figures:

Modern art pieces:

A 2 ton crystal table:

Ed photographing the glass table in the history gallery:

Ed loved the carved European glass:

Samples of American cut glass and the tools used to create it:

American cut glass:

All Tiffany:

These are just some examples of what we saw. They weren't necessarily our favorites but they do give an idea of the breadth of this museum.

There was a highlight for me. It's in this case:

It stopped me dead in my tracts and got me right down on the floor to photograph it.

This punchbowl is exactly like the one that was given as a wedding gift to my maternal grandparents in 1911. We have it in our home. The cups were gone long before my parents entrusted the bowl to me, so I never had any idea what they looked like.

The Corning Glass Co. is not just the museum. There also the factory. We went to the Hot Glass Show which is held overlooking the factory. Ed descended the steps and took this photo.

We watched a master glass blower create a beautiful vase. His assistant is helping him attach the handle. He made it look so easy...and then it shattered when he put it into the fire to finish it up. Even masters have failures... We ended an absoutly perfect day with Maureen and Al at our place. They joined us at the campground for an impromptu dinner. We had crockpot meatloaf (an experiment that was a success), hotdogs, salad, corn on the cobb, sweets for dessert, and a great time with good friends.

More later...