Erie Canal at Lockport, NY--September 13, 2012

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On Thursday, September 13^th we left 4-mile Creek State Park on Lake Ontario and continued along highway 18 until the junction of highway 78, which we took due south to the town of Lockport. Apple orchards and produce stands in abundance. Stopped at one and got a few apples and some squash. Corn didn't look nor taste as good as the right- out-of-the-field-picked-that-morning-sweet corn in PA.

In the town of Lockport we found the depot for the Erie Canal boat tour and went in to check departure times. Unfortunately, we just missed the 12:30 tour and the next departure was at 3:00. We bought our tickets and decided to go back up the hill along main street and find a place to eat lunch. Found a Chinese buffet that was ok. Guess we are really spoiled by the one we like out in Stone Mountain that has many, many items and always seems to be fresh.

The tour was two hours long and went both east and west along the canal, going through the lock each way. A young man narrated the journey and provided pre-recorded canal-boating songs. We found the trip to be an enjoyable and informative time, but it took us a while to get "I've got gal and here name is Sal; 15 miles on the Erie canal" out of our heads.

The Erie Canal was 363 miles long connecting the Hudson River at sea level with the Niagara River and the Great Lakes at 570 feet above sea level. It was dug by hand between 1817 and 1825. Stone masons built several walls along the banks as shown in the photo. They did not use any mortar, which attests to their craftsmanship. 83 locks were used to raise and lower boats on the canal and at Lockport 5 locks were used to raise the boats up the 49 foot Niagara Escarpment. For more information, see www.lockportlocks.com

The whole Erie Canalway is now part of the National Park service and in the summer you can rent houseboats and travel the whole of the canal system. The old tow road along the canal is mostly used as a bike and hiking path now. For more information, see www.eriecanalway.org

After the boat ride, we drove out of Lockport, through miles of apple orchards and farm land on route 31 and then turned north on route 63, to locate a private campground, Niagara Hartland RV Resort, out of the town of Gasport as it was now late in the afternoon. The “resort” was off the road and a little run-down, but the showers and laundry were clean, and the cost was very reasonable.

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