Sunday, June 17, 2012

From the Erie Canal into Lake Erie

Yes, we finally completed the cruise through the Erie Canal - 342 miles at about 5-10 MPH, 9 days, 35 Locks, 15 Lift bridges, several Canal Gates (usually open for us) ... and we entered Lake Erie.  Here are a few typical pictures of our Canal Trip: 

Tied to a dock in a small town, NY (actually ... where we stayed in the hotel for one night - enjoyed the day off and the comforts of land living.)  this is just a regular bridge...

Typical Lift Bridge - It raises straight up, so we can pass under.........
(You see our TV antenna, since this pic was taken from the boat.)

Yes, we've seen lots of families of geese along the way!

And ducks...

The locks at Lockport, NY - old locks on the right, carrying the water outflow.  Two Lock gates on the left - that's where we're headed.  These were our very last Locks this trip!!

Buffalo, NY - after this city, we are on Lake Erie.

Cleveland, Ohio - We cruised inside the breakwater, saw the stadium and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and just decided to stop and check it out.
 

The Hall of Fame - it was very interesting, especially the history and early years of Rock and Roll, which we can relate to! 

Ah, yes - the good ole 50's.  I was especially interested in Carl Perkins of "Blue Suede Shoes" fame.  He lived a few blocks from us in Jackson, TN.  He had a big influence on the Beatles and they recorded some of his songs.  Later in life he was the opening act for Johnny Cash and played guitar in Cash's band.   He recorded with Sun Studios during the period that Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Louis where also there.  He always had great stores to tell about the early years in Rock n Roll.  The ex wife of the first guy I hired in Jackson, married Carl's son.  Real small town stuff.
Also, they were having Marine Week at the Cleveland waterfront (unbeknown to us) and as we were leaving, we were caught in the Marine invasion they were staging at the Burke Airport there.  We had a police escort out of the harbor!!  A display of many flags on the Harbor peninsula...


And so, now we are in Vermilion, Ohio (west of Cleveland) and heading toward Toledo, where we will probably rent a car for our trip to IA/MI.  So we will be gone for 2-3 weeks before we return to finish the LOOP trip.  Until then...Happy 4th of July!!


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