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Published: July 11th 2017
Since we last posted, we are a whole 46 miles closer to home. That is less distance than we have cruised in one day on some parts of this trip! However, we did make the detour into Seneca Lake which added some travel miles. And we are making sure to take a day or two off in between our travel days so we don’t wear ourselves out – ha ha.
I know I have said it before, but cruising the Erie Barge Canal is quite an unique experience compared to any other part of our journey. It seems there is a small town every 10 miles or less, and we have been stopping at almost every one of them. While it might seem redundant after a while to explore town after town, each place has its own individual highlights and “claims to fame”. So, I will just try to give a few highpoints from each place.
Watkin’s Glen In our last post, we were headed down Seneca Lake to Watkin’s Glen. This was a 35 mile, 5 hour day, one of the longest runs we have made in a while (earlier in the year, this would have been
a short day!). If you ever have the opportunity to visit Watkin’s Glen in New York, I would highly recommend it. The natural gorge and waterfalls at the Watkin’s Glen Park are absolutely “gorge”ous… There are miles of trails that wind around steep cliffs edged in lush greenery and through the gorge, taking you along eddying waters and behind waterfalls. It is one of those places where the world seems at peace; the noise of every day life falls away and you can hear yourself think (that is if you want to hear yourself…there are moments it would probably be better if my gray matter was just quiet – lol).
We spent an afternoon hiking the trails and the next morning, before leaving, I took some time to go back and soak in some more. It is truly an inspirational and uplifting place; a natural basilica for the mind and soul. I wish I was more poetically endowed to provide a worthier written description, but I guess that means you just have to go experience it for yourself.
The town itself is a charming “tourist” town with it’s requisite decorative storefronts featuring canopies strung with chimes sheltering baskets
of souvenirs. Sprinkled in between are restaurants, ice cream shops, wine boutiques and cafés featuring local, homemade products. We also found out that there is a very famous racetrack a few miles away. While we didn’t make it out to see a race (because of timing and transportation issues), if you plan a trip to see the gorge, you might want try catch a race or two at the same time.
Cauyga-Seneca Canal After leaving Watkin’s Glen, we headed back into the Cayuga-Seneca Canal which would eventually take us back to the Erie Barge Canal. The canal itself is lined with cottages and small docks, which meant we had to move slowly along most of the 10+mile section. (Another thing I have learned this year – considerate boaters slow down when passing docks so their wake doesn’t cause any damage. Even with a small wake, you can really send a docked boat rocking and rolling when you are in a narrow waterway.)
Along the canal, we made a quick overnight stop at Waterloo where we gustily ingested one of the best pizza’s we have had in a while. I try, but my cheater pita/tortilla BBQ pizza’s don’t
cut it compared to a luscious pie!
The following day we returned to Seneca Falls for a couple days to hang out. While there, we finally had the chance to get to know a couple, Rich and Susan, who we had seen numerous times along the canal over the past month. After a nice chat during the day (which was interrupted by a deluge of rain), we invited them over for a Japanese curry dinner that evening. They came bearing gifts: hot artichoke dip, chocolate, wine, and a dessert! Such tasty generosity and wonderful company! They are a lovely couple and we thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them. However, they left early the next morning and we didn’t even get to say a proper goodbye.
That is one of the harder things about this lifestyle. Sometimes you meet people you feel instantly connected to and yet you realize you may never see them again. But then again, maybe you will. Hey, uncertainty in life adds to the intrigue!
Clyde After rejoining the Erie Barge Canal, we headed to the small hamlet of Clyde. To be honest, we did not end up going into town; we had
a lasagna on the BBQ and a good book on the go. But we did take time to walk the trail along the canal, investigating the local fauna and playing a guessing game as to what plants might be edible (no, we didn’t actually test any of our theories…might be a good idea to do some more research first. And some of you know how short my attention spam is for research…lol). There is something alluring to us about the idea of being out in the wild and surviving off the earth; perhaps this is a prelude to another adventure down the road!
In Clyde, we met another adventurous young whipper-snapper; septuagenarian Henry who is close to completing the “loop”. As a solo boater (except for his sidekick, Mickey the Sea-cat), he was eager to have someone to share stories with and he was full of interesting anecdotes. I really admire this man, not only for undertaking this journey by himself, but for his fortitude, positive attitude and determination.
Lyons Next on the list was Lyons, the
Former Peppermint Capital of the World. In the early to mid 1800’s, Lyons was one of the largest growers and
producers of peppermint products, most notably essential oil. While they no longer grow much peppermint, they host an annual
Peppermint Days festival in July. Must be a pretty big deal for this town as almost everyone we chatted with mentioned it with enthusiasm! Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay the extra week to partake in the festivities.
Most impressive to us was the extensive hospitality of this tiny town. Each day of the three days we were there, we had volunteer “greeters” come knocking, just to introduce themselves, share information about the town and find out if we had any questions. Apparently, this volunteer committee is 40+ people strong and they have someone scheduled to come down to the dock every day of the week just to welcome incoming boaters!
Newark Best thing about this town? Not only do they offer free dockage with power and water, showers and wifi (common in most of the towns), but they have
FREE laundry! Give it up for washing machines! (Do me a favor, the next time you climb into a bed with clean sheets, take a moment and a deep breath… hopefully you will come to appreciate these wonders of the
Biking in Lyons
This is how we do it....these bikes have seen many a load!modern age as I do).
Newark also hosts free canal-side concerts every Friday evening during the summer. So we were able to enjoy the beautiful harmony of a band called Frankie & Jewels and get a little dancing in as well.
Fairport On Sunday, we arrived in Fairport, one of the most popular stops for boaters according to our “Skipper Bob” waterway guidebook. It is a trendy little town; reminds me of one of those chic, upscale Toronto neighbourhoods where the buildings all reflect a similar style (visions of gingerbread house villages danced in my head). It features a wide arrange of dining and the busiest ice cream shop I have ever seen. We tried twice on Monday to try get Lukus an ice cream but the line up was outside the door. And the next morning, people were already slurping their cones at 10am – Fairport people sure love their ice cream!
After spending one night there, we decided to continue heading down the canal. While the town itself has a charming aura, it was a highly active area and probably a little too “trendy” for us; low-key boat bums that we are…ha ha. And
the constant traffic, both pedestrian and vehicular, meant lots of noise. But, I can understand how it would be a favored stop for others; just all depends on what you are looking for.
Pittsford We arrived here yesterday afternoon in Pittsford, another more “upscale” town. The free dock is beside a beautifully landscaped greenspace and across the canal is an eclectic collection of restaurants, shops and businesses. After a short 4 mile bike ride this morning, we popped into Aladdin’s for an early lunch of baba ganoush, tabouleh, dolmades, tourlou and grilled octopus, mmmm….
Current plans (subject to change of course, as par for this crew) are to stay here another night then to continue on to Spencerport. While most of these stops offer an abundance of dining establishments, it is still challenging to find places to get provisions. Spencerport offers a grocery store a few blocks from the dock, so it will give us a good chance to stock up again.
The days are quickly going by; and although we are moving slowly, we are still gradually nearing the moment when we “cross our wake” and complete our “loop”. 160 or so miles to go.
P.S. We are slowly starting to think ahead to when we are back home and just thought we would put a bug in our friend’s ears. We would like to find a reasonable place to rent in Port Dover, either year-round or at least for the coldest winter months (Nov – Mar?). If any of you happen to have any ideas, we would love to hear from you.
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Tom Whitney
non-member comment
SWAMPED
Good Morning: I do hope you are either tied up somewhere or you are far enough away that the rain we have been experiencing for the last hour and has no sign of letting up is not affecting you. Welcome home almost. Take your time getting here it is no fun this morning!