Today's Ride - more than you ever cared to know about Verona and Sylvan beaches

[Johnny Come Lately Name]

Oneida Lake: about 26 miles long, 6 miles wide. Runs east/west - this is taken from the windy (east) end. Average depth ~20'. (40' in the channel because they dredge). Because it's so shallow and runs east west, it doesn't take much of a breeze to start up a chop. I've been told the waves are only 9' apart - as opposed to 11' apart on most lakes. I haven't heard about any bloated boaters lately but invariably when tragedy occurs, it's alcohol/human error related. People often complain that the lake gets rough fast and there's little warning, which is bullshit. The prevailing winds come from the west and if you're paying attention, you've got at least a half hour to get the hell off the lake. (It's the "paying attention" part that gets 'em). Besides, at no time are you ever more than 3 miles from shore.

From the south, you first pass (through, in this case) Verona Beach State Park. The south end is picnic areas. When you see People of Walmart buying picnic gear, this is where they're headed. Yay. ?

The north end is a campground. If you've ever wondered what Weekend With The Clampetts would be like, come here and experience it. I'll pass. (Don't tell the Roubaix, but I was secretly wishing I was on the Slate, when riding through here - sand, mud, potholes, gravel, broken pavement).

Once you cross the Barge Canal, you've transitioned from Verona Beach to Sylvan Beach. Both areas are a mix of fairly well off summer people, day-tripping Tourons and White Trash year-rounders. Middle class is almost nonexistent. 

Sylvan Beach originally became a "fashionable resort" back in the late 1800's. The Oneida Community had a summer place here called Joppa. Others soon followed suit and it grew in popularity enough that the O&W built a railroad spur just for Sylvan Beach. During big events like the Hop Pickers Picnic and the Colored Picnic (?) they actually ran special extra trains.

Where the Barge Canal enters the lake is a popular spot for boaters to tie up. Some are there all weekend. (Cheaper to tie up and party than pop for fuel for some of those thirsty bastards.

There's an amusement area and arcades dating back to the 1930's. I think they slap a fresh coat of paint on every spring so if you were to cut into it you could count the layers and date the ride. The rides are fairly lame and include a roller coaster that doesn't even make teenage girls scream.

Just north of the amusement area is the beach/bathing area. Now if you guys are thinking this might be a good place to oogle, unless adipose tissue and bad ink are your thing, you'd be better served to give this a pass. They just issued a statement that they will be cracking down and enforcing the "no alcohol" policy. We'll have to see how THAT works out....

This is Main Street Sylvan Beach. The businesses pretty much all change hands seasonally. People get a wild hair that they're going to open a "__" and make a killing, then when it goes over like a fart in church, the place comes up for sale. It's a rite of spring to see what new place is opening in the place where 35 businesses have previously failed. About the only place that seems to be perpetual is Eddie's Restaurant. (Behind the red Jeep). People drive for miles and wait in line to get in. Why? I have no clue. It's generic, Sysco food. I lived a mile from there for 15 years and only ever got takeout from there when the ex wanted it, which wasn't all that often. (There are a couple of other restaurants that are better).

This place is a complete freak show Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day - to the point where traffic is backed up for miles in both directions. (And since they've seen fit to close several bridges in the surrounding area, there is no way in hell they'll ever get a fire truck or ambulance through there on a holiday weekend. They'd have to drive about ten miles extra, to get around).

When the railroad closed in the '30's it started the decline. For a while during the 50's and 60's it was a place to see and be seen, but with the exception of the aforementioned weekend shit show, it's fairly quiet. (Hence the failing businesses - duh). Come here in the winter, and you'd swear it was abandoned.

Today, it's nice and quiet, which suits my purposes. I'm going to get while the getting's good - especially since I've got a Cuban sammich and a beer waiting for me.....

 

 

 

 

 

[Ralphie ★]

Cool that you have your own little Gitchigoomie.  Nice travelogue.

 

[Further]

I grew up 20 miles from there and never visited. Wasn't a hot spot when I was a kid. We always headed north.

Great tour. If I lived there now I'd probably visit. Is there a perimeter path? 

[Johnny Come Lately Name]

26 minutes ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

Cool that you have your own little Gitchigoomie

There's usually an Edmund Fitzgerald or two every year. One time some drunk idiot hit the end of the breakwater at full tilt, in the dark. His 19' long boat suddenly became a 19' TALL boat and he and his passengers fell on to the jagged rocks. It didn't end well.

Another time, they had been looking for a missing boater. I was walking in the water out front of the house. I stepped down and the bottom "gave" under my foot and came back up again. I freaked the fuck out.

Turned out it was a tire, buried in the sand. 

Once, there was a notice that the family of a paraplegic  who had drowned in a boating accident were looking for the cane he used to use. Said paraplegic wasn't wearing a lifejacket. ?

[Johnny Come Lately Name]

15 minutes ago, Further said:

Great tour. If I lived there now I'd probably visit. Is there a perimeter path? 

This was just part of the east end. I didn't include Edgewater a little further to the north. Probably should have. (If you want to sell a place in Edgewater, you have to do it in September. In the winter, the wind howling through there from 26 miles away would nix a sale, as would the high water in the spring. During the summer, the wind pushes all matter of flotsam and jetsam into that corner, where it sinks and biodegrades. When the lake turns over, it smells like Satan's ass crack).

There is a loop I sometimes do around the whole lake. The north shore is more picturesque and quieter, traffic-wise, but the pavement is absolute shit. Several folks from the forum have done this with me.

[Kirby]

Very interesting.  I love getting these little tours of areas where the Forumite live and travel.  Thanks.

[Johnny Come Lately Name]

12 hours ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

Cool that you have your own little Gitchigoomie.  Nice travelogue.

 

Heh, re-read this and was reminded of one time when the Gales of November came early.

Late fall and someone who was sailing from Lake Ontario to North Carolina got caught in some rough weather and their pumps failed. The boat started taking on water, so they headed inshore, where we lived, and ran aground. (It's really, really shallow for a long ways out). They waded through the freezing water to my ex inlaws' back door and knocked. They were explaining the situation to my ex MIL and all the while they were talking to her, they were trying to edge past her because they could see the wood stove, over her shoulder! ?

[Johnny Come Lately Name]

11 hours ago, Kirby said:

Very interesting.  I love getting these little tours of areas where the Forumite live and travel.  Thanks.

It's a blessing and a curse having lived here as long as I have. I know where all the bodies are buried. (Literally, in some cases)

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

12 hours ago, F_in Ray Of Sunshine said:

I know where all the bodies are buried. (Literally, in some cases)

He's not fooling.  He really does know.

 

[Johnny Come Lately Name]

10 hours ago, Thaddeus Kosciuszko said:

He's not fooling.  He really does know.

Maybe not, in that particular case - as I said I heard rumors they don't really know where he was planted and rumors that the highway crew ran into the grave site when widening the road.

[Randomguy]

It is cold out, and I wish it was summer all year 'round.

[Ralphie ★]

Verona beach sounds more like Florida than upstate ny!  I guess I am thinking of vero beach. But Verona sounds more Florida-ey.