A visit to upstate New York and Vermont – Star Trek Original Series Set Tour

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When I mentioned to a colleague that we would be visiting Ticonderoga, NY she suggested that we might want to check out the Star Trek Original Series Set Tour. I’ve been watching Star Trek since I was kid, and my friend’s husband was an even more devoted fan than I am (he seems to be able to remember every episode in great detail, which is something that I’m a long way away from being able to do). So he got tickets for us.

The tour’s website provides the following description:

Star Trek: Original Series Set Tour is Located in Historic downtown Ticonderoga, New York.

When the STAR TREK television series was canceled in 1969, the original sets were dismantled and largely destroyed, only a few small items of the actual sets remain today, and those that have survived are in private collections. Trek superfan James Cawley began the process of rebuilding the sets just as they would have been seen 50 years ago when the series was being filmed, a 14 year journey has culminated in the most accurate rebuild of the original sets, and is now open and welcoming STAR TREK fans from all over the world!

Our sets are complete recreations built using the original blueprints, hundreds of hours of serious research and thousands of photographs – both period images and images culled from extensive review and capture from the original episodes. The sets will NOT and were NOT designed to move from one city to another and are fully licensed by CBS. The Star Trek: Original Series Set Tour Invites you to come see the Desilu Studio as it looked during the years between 1966-1969 while Star Trek was in production.

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This “Batmobile” stood outside the entrance to the tour. We later discovered that it had been built by the person who also owned to tour.

The picture at the top of this post, and the next three pictures were taken in the lobby while we were waiting for the tour to begin.

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The next three pictures show the transporter room, featuring my friend’s husband and (in the second picture the two consoles used in the original series)

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In the next two pictures we’re in sick bay.

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The famous curved corridor.

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The conference room featuring a Vulcan lute (sometimes referred to as a Vulcan harp, Vulcan lyre, or Vulcan lyrette) was a twelve-stringed musical instrument played on the planet Vulcan that was tuned on a diatonic scale and noted to be very soothing.

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A couple of artifacts featuring a skull and a Tricorder.

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Captain Kirk’s room

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The Engine Room (I’m not sure about the first picture below, but I think it was the engine room. The second one certainly is.

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On the bridge

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All in all, it was much better than I thought it would be and I really enjoyed it. The highlight of the tour was being able to sit in the captain’s chair on the bridge of the starship “Enterprise”!

Taken with a Sony RX10 IV

A visit to upstate New York and Vermont – Lunch at Eddie F’s New England Seafood Restaurant in Saratoga Springs

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We’d spent most of the day at the Saratoga National Historical Park and we didn’t get back to Saratoga Springs until late afternoon. We were hungry and there were lots of restaurants to choose from. Unfortunately, it was quite difficult to find parking. Thankfully, my friends remembered a restaurant that someone had recommended. It was a little outside the main shopping/eating area so there was a chance that we could find parking. The restaurant is called Eddie F’s New England Seafood Restaurant, and we found parking immediately. There are two locations: Clifton Park and Saratoga Springs. As I’m writing this the website is featuring the Clifton Park location, which is not the one we went to.

One review described the Saratoga Springs location as follows:

Eddie F’s New England Seafood Restaurant serves outstanding seafood dishes, including their signature lobster roll, which is praised for its freshness and flavor. Other favorites include the New England Clam chowder, fish sandwich, lobster Mac and cheese, and shrimp basket. The restaurant offers a fun and welcoming atmosphere, with both indoor and outdoor seating options. The staff is friendly and attentive, and the food is consistently fresh and delicious. This local gem is a must-visit for seafood lovers.

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My friends and their dog, Juno.

I enjoyed the food, but by that time I was so hungry I would probably enjoyed have anything.

Taken with a Sony RX10 IV.

Encounter at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

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The weekend before last I was in Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow. They were well into their preparations for Hallowe’en. Of course, Hallowe’en is a big event in Sleepy Hollow because of the connection with Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”.
I walked through Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and was waiting for my ride when I came across this very pleasant trio outside the Administrative Office/Chapel.

We chatted for a while, and I discovered that their names were (from left to right) Danita, Luna and (believe it or not) Darryl. While they all looked great, Luna looked fantastic (particularly in her second picture).

Apologies to Danita. I missed focus on her closeup picture.

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Luna
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Luna
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Darryl

Taken with a Kodak P880

Self Portait

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I like black and white photography. In many ways I see things in black and white. Maybe it’s because I grew up in a time before color photography became important. Most of the photographs and movies I saw when I was young were in black and white. Yes, I know that color moviews had been available for quite some time, but the ones I seem to remember were all black and white.

Of all places, this was taken in the men’s room in the building where I work with the Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society. The day before I’d been watching a YouTube video about high-contrast black and white photography. As I was leaving the men’s room, bright light streamed in through a high window and fell on my face. It occurred to me that if I could get the exposure right, I might get something interesting.

Many might think that I carry a camera with me wherever I go. But that wouldn’t be true. I don’t usually carry one with me to the men’s room. However, I did have one in a bag, downstairs where I work so I went down to get it.

This is the result. I quite like it.

Taken with a Sony RX100 M3.

Hallowe’en’s coming

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After my lunch at Susuru (See: A Ramen restaurant in Tarrytown) I walked through Tarrytown and into Sleepy Hollow, where the Hallowe’en preparations were well underway.

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Of course, Hallowe’en is a big deal around here because of the connection between the village and Washington Irving’s short story: “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, which is set there. Although since “Legend” was written in 1820 much has changed, many of the locations mentioned in the story can still be found.

If you haven’t read “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, or would like to read it again I can heartily recommend: The Historically Annotated Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which contains the full text of the story along with annotations by Sleepy Hollow’s Village Historian, Henry Steiner.

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Taken with a Kodak P880