Syracuse, New York

After wandering around the many trails of the nearby Beaver Lake Nature Center; getting rained on many times during the day; and then staying up half the night listening to the vicious wind and rain of a passing storm; I was rather reluctant to head back onto woodland trails with more rain forecast for the morning so, instead, I decided to head into Syracuse to visit their zoo.

That was the plan until I took a wrong turn and ended up heading into downtown Syracuse instead.

I eventually arrived at the Clinton Square which was, at one point in time, a part of the active Erie Canal at this point in Syracuse, but is now part of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor and used for public gatherings in the summer and for outdoor skating in the winter.

The Clinton Square is the location of the Soldier & Sailor monument paying tribute to the Syracuse troops and their participation in the Civil War. According to one of the plaques in the square, Professor Coe of Rome, NY used the location in 1871, to launch his balloon “New World”.