We are half way through the state of New York. The landscape is still beautiful and green but the sky is darkening and we’re getting a bit of rain and wind.

New York

We drove 200 miles and had enough of this so we pulled into a Walmart parking lot near Binghamton NY to ride out the weather. There is a tornado watch until 8pm.

Walmart for the Night

The tornado watch was cancelled early and the rain stopped. We learned there was a carousel in the park next to us so we walked over there to see it. According to their brochure, of the fewer than 150 antique carousels remaining in the United States and Canada, SIX are located right here in six parks throughout Broome County, donated between 1919 and 1934 by George F. Johnson, a corporate leader of the Endicott Johnson Corporation and his family. He believed carousels should be enjoyed by everyone and insisted that the municipalities never charge money for a magic ride. All six carousels here are listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places. They have undergone extensive restoration. This one we saw was gorgeous!

We didn’t get to see all six because of the weather and that they all operated on different schedules. We just got lucky that this one was right by us and it was open. So we got a free ride!

The Fred Johnson Park Carousel, Johnson City NY

• Lodging:  free
• gasoline:  $100 @ $2.79