The Orangerie: The Lake

I just returned from a week's vacation, spent on the shore of Lake Ontario, about mid-way between Henderson Harbor and Sackets Harbor, New York (My family and I have been vacationing near this spot for more than 40 years, on-and-off).
This year, while Syracuse was posting record-high temperatures, we enjoyed cool breezes, warm water and sand beaches.

Panorama of Henderson Bay (click for larger view).

   I live just 15 miles from the Pacific Ocean, but I rarely go to the beach. Having grown up frequenting lakes instead of the ocean, I prefer freshwater. The United States has about 5241 miles of freshwater shoreline along the Great Lakes, referred to by some as the "Fresh Coast". You can't see to the other side, so the view is as good as the ocean, and you don't need a shower after you swim, to deal with the smell and the salt.
   More great Great Lakes photography here, at The Fresh Coast Project.
   Some years ago, my family regularly rented a cabin from a friend who was a neighbor of my aunt and uncle, but they stopped renting the place around 1981, and after that, we would camp in nearby Westcott Beach State Park, along the same stretch of beach. In a chance encounter last year, while camping in the park, I met a woman whose family owns a cabin just up the beach, and she offered to let us stay a week this year. My brother, with his wife and daughter, and my sister, with her husband stayed with me; my parents, as well as other relatives and friends, came up to visit occasionally throughout the week. We are already looking forward to nest year.
Our little stretch of shoreline is fortunate to be slightly sheltered in a large bay with shallow warm water and sand beaches, and is about 20 miles from the start of the Saint Lawrence River. This view is old and familiar to us, but we never tire of it. We learned camping, swimming, boating, sailing, fishing and water skiing here on the lake: countless hours on the water watching how it moves and changes as the wind and light shift throughout the day, and as the weather and storms come directly in from the west, off the open lake.