Gooooood Morning Gardeners of all kinds! And good morning to all you who just like to visit here every Saturday. All are welcome. We publish at 9am EST.
Since it’s just snowy and cold here in Central NYS, I thought I’d pull out a diary I’ve had sitting in draft mode for, oh, since about Fall of 2020. Back in mid September of 2016, Mr. CNY and I took a day trip on the Erie Canal, starting out on the Seneca River just north of Syracuse and ending at Seneca Falls, home of the Women's Rights National Historic Park. I have included some links to fill out the visuals as the tablet that I took all the photos with quit working before I could download all of them. This one is the Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor site. There is so much online about the canal’s history and I encourage you to check out what interests you. And from an agriculture perspective, think of all the needed tools, equipment, etc. that would have been transported by this important economic transportation route of the time. Maybe even seeds!
A little backstory is in order and then off we go!
The trips were run (the company has since been sold) by a family whose children I went to school with. Their father started out by running the mail boat that delivered to summer camps and also lunch cruises, both on Skaneateles Lake. Dinner cruises were added. In the warm months, the boats passed by my home on the lake and it is a big summer memory of my growing up. The dinner cruise would pass by on its way back to dock in town around 9pm. We could hear the boat (sometimes two) as it was coming from the south so we would run out to the front yard. It really was exciting!
It doesn’t appear that the particular Erie Canal Cruise Mr. CNY and I went on is run anymore. I see online that the original dinner cruises are run by the current owner. Here's a tourist site with a really nice group of photos of what the boats look like All are a bit different. But, wow, what fun, right?
The trip started off at 8:30am. We arrived at the boat dock on Seneca Lake north of Syracuse. It was a cool, misty morning but the day turned beautiful and warm as the trip progressed. Here’s the boat that greeted us as we walked down to the dock from the parking lot….
And a view down the river. The boat would start up and do a U-turn and head that way…..
We were also greeted by BRUNCH! I don’t know if I tilted the camera or the boat was tilting. To the right of the coffee/tea, etc table is a counter area that was the bar if you wanted wine or beer at lunch. Down a hall to the left of the coffee/tea, was the bathroom. We were also provided a nice lunch of sandwiches and salads and then the two young fellows who were the crewmates came around with trays of crackers, cheese, etc. mid afternoon. There was a group of maybe 15 of us on the trip and everyone was friendly. It was hard not to be relaxed!
These photos are from early in the trip. The Erie Canal was eventually shifted from part of the original canal route to run partially through the Seneca River for a large section in Central NYS in the early 1900’s. We traveled on both the river and parts of the old canal.
The boat was heading through a lock in the next two photos. It is quite something to arrive in a lock, have the gates close behind the boat, and then feel it rise or fall so you can go through the set of gates. I think this was the first lock we went through.
Going under a bridge at some point in the trip. We could move around on most of the boat. Here I was at the very front.
There is also an outside upper deck which I, unfortunately, don’t have a better photo of. Even though it was mid September, the foliage had not changed much at that point in the fall.
We saw many Blue Herons, Kormorants, a few Bald Eagles, and some Osprey as the day went along. One bit of “creepy nature” on the trip. We had just started out from the boat dock and headed west on the river. I was watching for birds with another passenger. We were standing in the bow of the boat. I saw movement on the water’s surface to the right near the shore. I thought it was maybe a muskrat. I pointed it out to the passenger. All of a sudden, a big head popped out of the water. NOT A MUSKRAT! It ws a huge carp, ducking under the water and leaping back up again. The boat captain said carp will do that. It was quite something to witness several times during the day.
Speaking of the captain (one of the children of the family that started the business), he was amazingly knowledgeable and had a great sense of humor. He kept us well informed as we proceeded along.
This is a still in use utility boat along the canal. I thought it was really nifty looking!
Near 4pm, we were nearing Seneca Falls, the end of the trip (we were bused back to our starting point.) and could see Trinity Episcopal Church growing larger to the west. Unfortunately, I lost those photos but here’s a link with some beautiful photos. The church itself is very historic. Lovely stained glass windows.
We were tired but had a memorable day with wonderful people. There are other companies these days who do canal trips. I would highly recommend one. It’s a great piece of history!
Thanks for visiting the SMGB today! And please post your garden (and house plant!) photos. Outdoor photos of trips you have taken would be fun to see, too.