Historic Palmyra and Newark, NY, not NJ

Tony M in peaceful Palmyra

 Palmyra, the Queen of the Erie Canal (why queen I don't have a clue), has a welcoming dock with complimentary  power and water in a man-made basin.  This town of about 8,000 had an abundance of tour buses that intrigued us until we found out about the strong Mormon influence and history connected to it. In 1820 John Smith had a vision of God the Father and Jesus Christ in a grove beside his family home near Palmyra that led to the founding of the Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Palmyra was hosting the world famous Hill Cumorah Pageant, an outdoor theatrical production accounting the rise and fall of the ancient inhabitants of the North American continent and the visit of Jesus Christ  It has a cast of over 600 performing on a seven-level stage; hence, the bus loads of folks coming to Palmyra to see this free performance.  There were lots of Mormon related souvenir shops with tons of Mormon Tee shirts and books but Pete declined.the Tee shirt I wanted to get for him.  

The original print shop for the book of Mormon

                                                                  

Some residences along Main Street

More Mural Madness!!

 On the main intersection of Main and Church Streets in the Village is a Ripley's Believe It Or Not.  The four corners at this intersection each have a church on them- a Presbyterian, a United Methodist, a First Baptist and a Zion Episcopal.  Its supposed to one of the most photographed spots in rural America and we added to that fact! 

The Village is very proud of Palmyra Village Hall  built in 1867

There were four museums in Palmyra but since we were getting museumed out by this time, I chose to only  go to the Alling Coverlet Museum (notice Pete didn't choose it) for its collection of hand woven coverlets from the early 1800's.  It was interesting until we got asked to leave because they don't think dogs enjoy looking at coverlets- they never asked Buddy what he thought!

With that, we moved on to Newark, NY who pull out all the stops for boaters.  Not only do they offer free dockage with power, water and WiFi but they have a FREE washer and dryer for boaters' use.  I wonder if the taxpayers know about that?  We were the only one  there - is anyone else cruising?
We did sneak in another museum-this one the Hoffman Clock Museum we found in the town library.  Beautiful clocks were plentiful with many from CT-made us a little more homesick.

Tony M on wall in Newark

Buddy cooling off-he thinks he's swimming

a Newark park

More  churches but this one is without a steeple

Newark Visitors Center

Detailed mural that goes from Visitor's Center to under bridge

and around the bridge's embankment

Their generosity is appreciated.

Onward to Lyons...

Pittsford and Fairport (again!)

In Pittsford sharing power with a houseboat

Spencerport is a tough act to follow but Pittsford tried its best.   Located seven miles southeast of Rochester,  Pittsford is a small village (1500 people) and less than a square mile. 
The present charm of the Village's waterfront is due to the survival of historic canal warehouses, mills and silos, many of which have been renovated for boutiques and restaurants.  It had lots of energy and gave us a sense they wanted us here.  Pete got his buzz cut haircut and an earful of local gossip from the female barber who had inherited the business from her barber father. 

The Erie Canal brought industry and commerce to Pittsford

This exceptional front-gable 2½-story Queen Anne style civic building was constructed in 1890.  The Town Hall’s  facade features a mix of materials including brick, terra cotta, Medina sandstone and slate.  The building originally contained a large auditorium which was used for movies, shows and other community events-much like our Newtown's beloved EdmontonTown Hall

The flour mill and grain elevator are the most important character defining elements of Pittsford’s canal waterfront. This complex consists of a three-story wood-frame flour mill, and a 130 feet tall concrete grain elevator. The flour mill was constructed next to the canal in the mid-nineteenth century. The flour mill was expanded in the early twentieth century for additional production area and office space.

More Mural Mania!!!

We were trying to hit all the towns on the way East we had missed on the way West but Fairport was so nice we decided to stay there again.   We stayed in Fairport for just a night and enjoyed its charm one more time.

We kept seeing this canal boat all over this area!

A mural on anything that doesn't move!

Lock 29 - one of the worst locks on the Canal

We're off to Palmyra!!!  Stay tuned!

An unplanned Detached Retina

Spencerport deserves its own entry for what it did for us and that it has its own story.  We had read that it is a great place to stay so we knew we couldn't pass it up.  We contacted Bob and Sue (the awesome masterminds who lovingly put everything into making Tony  M- AKA Tom-Kat- the great boat it is) to meet us in Spencerport for dinner on Tuesday night.  We had a terrific meal at Grandpa Joe's -the food and company were outstanding.  Bob and Sue reminded us that if we needed anything, not to hesitate to call them as they live a short distance away in Rochester.  Little did they know we would be taking them up on their offer twelve hours later.

During Tuesday Pete had noticed black spidery floaters and he was losing vision when he looked down toward his nose.  He was hoping it would improve in the morning but his vision was worse.  He knew he needed to see an ophthalmologist.  Online we found lists of eye doctors in Rochester but didn't know where to start calling.  Maybe Bob and Sue could give us a suggestion?  They came up with a doctor Bob's mother had used so we called them and they had a 10:30 cancellation.  Sue picked us up and brought us to the office which is called Retina Associates (how perfect is that!).  Dr. Hall, a retina surgeon specialist,  examined Pete's eye and discovered the detached retina, recommending a freezing procedure with injected air bubbles to keep the retina in place that could be done in a half an hour in the office.  We went back Friday for a laser procedure that made sure the retina is attached to the eye.  He was pretty uncomfortable after the laser and keeping his head tilted but realized the discomfort was minimal compared to what it could have been.  There has to be a guardian angel watching over us-He/She is doing a great job...how else can you explain how smoothly this situation was addressed...within four hours from calling the office to getting back to the boat after the procedure, Pete was on the mend!  I can't express how fortunate we feel!!  And of course, Bob and Sue played a major role in this success.  Thank you, Bob and Sue, you folks are AWESOME!

Hometown Hero flags fly from lampposts

Tug pulling a barge -very unusual to see these on the Canal

Home Sweet Home-Spencerport Depot, a transplanted Trolley Station

Spencerport's sense of humor

Spencerport let us stay free for eight nights because of the nature of our problem or else we could only stay two nights.  You can't believe what a great town this is.  I would move here in a heartbeat if the winters weren't so miserable.  The people are caring to the point where the director of the dock brought over a Get Well note for Pete while others who heard about him stopped by to check on him.  One morning we heard a knock on the boat -who was it but the garbage collector wanting to know if we had any garbage he could take for us!  The homes are modest and very well cared for with flowers abound.  The bicycle/walking trails are well used and we made great use of them.  There is a REAL grocery store, laundromat and delicious restaurants a block from the boat.  It was hard leaving such a unique town.

Jim, Barb, Pete, Bob & Sue celebrating Pete's success and enjoying each others company

Sue's delicious cookies that didn't last 24 hours!

Bob and Sue, Jim sand Barb joined us for another fantastic meal at Grandpa Joe's.  Can we take this place
with us?  We said our sad farewells to these wonderful folks- we feel like we've known  forever-we hope our paths meet again soon.

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Niagara River to Holley, NY

The calm Erie Canal

As we continued our trip on the Erie Canal toward Waterford from Tonawanda, West to East, we decided to stop at the towns we had skipped on our way West.  We bypassed Gasport and stopped at Middleport for a quiet night.  Middleport is a village of about 1300 people and most seemed to be somewhere other than in their little town area.   We did get to chat with some locals who told us about the local chemical company that had arsenic spills that got into their ground.  OOPS! Don't know if that's such a good place to raise a family!

On Middleport's free wall

From Middleport we traveled to Holley, a "bustling" town of 1800 folks, where farming is the main source of income.  They do have a beautiful waterfall we found and then found it from above.

Holley waterfall

Parking in Holley could be a problem!

Holley's bathroom and shower facilities for boaters-not too shabby!

Holley's Wall

Thanks Middleport and Holley for your generosity and for welcoming us to your communities.

Lockport to the Niagara River - The end of the Erie Canal

                 Lock 35 on the right and the old Lock on the left where we are tied up for the night

Lock 34 and Lock 35 in Lockport are the last locks on the Erie Canal and we were very glad to know we had at least completed them for now.  Originally there were two sets of five step locks at Lockport.  This allowed boats to go both east and west at the same time. Today two modern locks (34 & 35)have replaced the southern five locks.  The original northern five locks are still in place but are just used for overflow.  This overflow area is where we spent the night.  It was tricky getting into the space because we had to back into the narrow chamber but the captain made it look like he had done it a thousand times before.
We spent a peaceful night tied up to where barges were coming and going 180 years ago - a living history experience!

Looking down the original northern five locks

Looking up the original five locks

A million and a half gallons of water are released every time the lock is emptied!

Tonawanda is the last town on the Erie Canal.  We tied  up to the north wall on the N. Toawanda side because we heard they don't have a dockmaster so no one collects the $20 dock fee.  WRONG!   A very young dockmaster came a- knocking on our boat to collect the money...oh, well, you can't win all the time!
There are lots of restaurants here and we chose a Thai restaurant called "Yummy Thai" and it was all of that! We skipped the carousel museum as we are getting museumed out by this time!

Tonawanda's use of canal boats

Now a pizzeria

We left Tonawanda, heading west into the Niagara River, took a left turn toward Buffalo ( a right turn would bring us to Niagara Falls and we didn't want to do that!).  We thought we would try to make it to Lake Erie just because but the six foot waves made us reconsider our options.  So we took a little spin in the river and headed back down the Erie Canal--only 342 more miles before we get to Waterford!

The end of the Erie Canal

Now we will turn around and see the Erie Canal from another perspective - west to east!!!

Brockport, Albion and Medina

Jim, Pete, Joanne, Barb, Kate, Sue, Bob

 What could be a better visit to  Brockport than to connect with Bob and Sue, the original owners of Tony M, and their friends Jim and Barb. They met us in Brockport and we had a great meal and lots of conversation about our Loop trip and everything else.  They are terrific folks and we truly enjoyed our time together.  Sue also came to our rescue and brought me to the grocery store to reprovision with lots of goodies.  Thanks for everything!

Bet you read about this in our fifth grade social studies book!

Cyrus McCormick established a factory in Brockport where the first 100 wheat reapers in the world were built starting around 1874.

These may be the last pay phones in America!

Brockport town wall

I remember that saying!

Brockport sculpture

The State University of New York (SUNY- Brockport) is located in this community, making it a college town.  There is young energy here and the town is full of cafes, pizzerias, restaurants and shops. The boater facilities were great with lots of information coming from the volunteers that man it.  They even offer the use of bikes to tour the town.


Our next stop was Albion, a VERY sleepy little town whose downtown needs a major revenue boost.  There were many empty shops and no restaurants-the nearest was a mile away! We learned that there is a Walmart in Albion--could there be a connection between the empty downtown and Walmart?  Churches are plentiful in Albion-we counted 15- many denominations, many beautiful buildings.

A variety of architecture in Albion

One of many Albion churches

more Mural Mania!

You can see why these bridges need to be lifted for almost all boaters to get under!

We were warned that overnighting boats' lines are untied in Medina by local kids but we didn't have any trouble here.  We saw the beautiful sandstone buildings Medina is famous for.  Medina Sandstone was used
in buildings all over the United States, Cuba and England and we can see why it was so popular- it makes for a beautiful building!

Medina' s architecture

Medina Sandstone

Another Mural

Medina Police Headquarters with Medina Sandstone

and yet another!

Off to Lockport and the last locks on the Erie-yippee!