Last week we finally visited Brockport, which we’d been meaning to do for several years. Brockport is home to a S.U.N.Y. campus, of course, but it also bills itself as “the Victorian village on the Erie Canal.”

*And a very pleasant place we found it to visit. Even with the campus, it makes a compact village, divided by the canal, with the north side (what little we saw of it) appearing to have been largely developed in the mid-20th century.

*We were glad to find that there are several municipal lots with free parking, so we pulled up right off Main Street, overlooking the canal and hard by the welcome center. For future reference, we saw that you can borrow bikes here, and use the canalside bicycle path. This was a sunny but breezy April day, so I decided anther time would be better.

*So we strolled the few steps back to Main Street and turned south to our destination, Lift Bridge Bookstore. This was really the purpose of our trip, since we’ve encountered the Lift Bridge folks several times at the Rochester Children’s Book Festival, where they are the sole vendor.

*And, Lift Bridge lived up to our expectations! We spent quite a while prowling and browsing, while I jotted down titles for future reference. The store includes a large children’s section, and Joyce bought a picture-book biography of Roger Tory Peterson. When she inquired about a particular book that was out of stock, the staff opened up the day’s shipment to check for her.

*Though I had several titles in mind, one kept calling to me all through the store. So as we were getting ready to leave I took a deep breath, and bought “The Blood of Emmett Till.” This has been on my to-read list for some time, despite my own P.T.S.D. I’m reading through it now, and it’s rough, but it’s incredibly important. I’m going slow, but I’m doing it at last.

*Joyce had spotted the Red Bird Cafe so we walked there (a block back toward the canal) for quiche (me) and a sandwich (her). Then I walked her to the quilt shop, about-faced, and went to the comic book store… Collector’s Corner. Here I met owner George, who’s wearily getting ready for Free Comic Book Day (first Saturday in May – drop in on him), and after thoroughly working my way through the whole store I got Al Williamson’s “Hidden Lands” and “Road to Perdition Volume 2: On the Road.”

*Back on the sidewalk I made the faux pas of walking while studying the mural on the facade of Lift Bridge books across the street, and almost ran down an older gentleman stepping out of a coffee house. We fell into conversation as we walked, and when he learned that he lived in Bath, he told me that the first mass he attended after his wedding was at St. Mary’s church… small world.

*Joyce was just checking out when I arrived at the quilt store… perfect timing. Brockport’s downtown is a National Historic District, and we walked south on Main Street taking in the shops, the 19th-century churches (including an Episcopal Jubilee Center), and the very interesting fire house, with its large September 11 statues.

*Then we reversed field and retraced our steps, down to the lift bridge itself and across the canal just to sample the north side a little bit. Brockport has two lift bridges within sight of each other, giving the small town an enjoyable blend of technology, transportation, architecture, history, retail, and higher education. One historial marker describes Brockport as “a museum without walls.”

*When we got back to our car we saw a cooper’s hawk sailing along above the canal. A drive toward Lake Ontario took us through the orchards of the fruit belt and a countryside more rural than we’re used to even in Steuben County, but much more of it is in cultivation, rather than woodland. It’s also far, far FLATTER than we’re used to in Steuben.

*We didn’t see much of the S.U.N.Y. campus, so I may be doing it a disservice, but it struck me as being rather featureless, much like the campus of my own beloved Rhode Island College. They have similar histories, starting out as normal schools or schools of education and blooming in the postwar decades into full colleges, and a let’s-get-the-job-done architectural feel. I felt right at home.

*Besides the Red Bird we had a range of choices for our evening meal: coffee houses, pizza places, Texas hots, a soul food place. We selected the Brockport Diner, which was packed on Friday night – Greek spaghetti for Joyce, a mini fish fry for me. And since I never did get to the lower level used-book section at Lift Bridge, we’ll be back for more – maybe this summer.