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!!

Hudson River and the Erie Canal

We headed up the Hudson River and were seeing piers and towns and trains for quite a way up the Hudson River.  Then we cruised under the George Washington Bridge and it appears we have left the city behind. 

Westpoint Military Academy - we didn't stop there.

Didn't dare stop.  After the Naval Academy, I didn't want to take a chance on losing my co-captain. 

Houses along the Hudson River - it is so wide, it almost seems like a lake.

Lighthouses are really little houses here on the Hudson River....

A castle of sorts, I say..........

And here we enter the Erie Canal - just beyond Troy, New York.

Tied up for the night along the wall, on the Canal at Amsterdam, NY. for free! (had electricity, too!)

Going through locks - 35 of them, to be exact!  Average about 6 per day.

Canal gates....

Bridges...

Scenery......

And sunsets......

Sylvan Beach, NY - a unique vacation spot where the canal enters Oneida Lake on it's eastern end.  We spent a night tied up there.  It is a pleasant resort village that has a 50's style amusement park with rides arcades, etc. and a nice beach.  Caught another sunset, across the lake. 

The impact the Erie Canal had on making New York City a major world class port is often lost on us who grew up in the Midwest.  In the early 1800's roads were poor or nonexistent.  By building a waterway from Lake Erie to the Hudson River, a transportation system was created that allowed products from the upper Midwest (Ohio, Mich, Ind) to easily be moved to the Atlantic for use on the East Coast or exported to Europe.  Transportation time was reduced from 7 weeks to 7 days. 

We are 2/3 of the way across the Erie Canal and plan to complete travels there in about 3 days. 

 Then we will be on Lake Erie, before arriving near Detroit, MI for another hiatus at the end of June and 4th of July holiday, if all goes as planned...  Hey, we're getting close to finishing this up!

New York, New York

Forgot to tell you - we did spend Memorial Day in Cape May, New Jersey - interesting historical vacation area for the wealthy in the 1920's.  Here's the light house and beach.


On to New York Harbor... Bridge at The Narrows... we're getting closer...

Then we see the Statue of Liberty (the statue and base are under repair) as we pass by.

New York Skyline - which buildings do we photograph?  There are so many!

(Empire State Building in the background.)

New York Harbor- so many boats!  Watch your move...

Ellis Island - what a story of the immigration event!

We had a slip at Liberty Landing for several days.  From our boat we could see both the Statue of Liberty and the lower Manhattan skyline.  The ferry to the financial district left from our marina .

The first place we went after crossing the Hudson River by ferry from our marina (Liberty Landing, New Jersey) on our day of sightseeing was the 9/11 Memorial, which was a very somber visit with hundreds of people of all ages, from all countries.  In the background is the construction of the new World Trade Center building to replace the twin towers that were destroyed.  It is over half way up to the 72 floors it will be, when completed.  Construction workers everywhere!  And security!

 There are 2 pools with 30 foot waterfalls on the footprints of the original Twin Towers, with tributes to all the people who lost their lives on that memorable day.

Touring the memorial made 9/11 much more personal for those of us who watched it on TV from a thousand miles away.  It's a very moving experience.  

Then after lunch at a typical NYC Deli, Don got a hold on the bull, Wall Street in the financial district.

I thought the Wall Street bull was my friend, but he let us down in May.  I talked to him about that but he must not have heard me as the 1st of June wasn't any better.

Took the subway (can be a challenge to Midwesterners until you figure out the system) to Times Square - Talk about overload - lots to see, hear, and do!  Even the McDonalds has a flashy marquis!

And, again, people everywhere!

From Times Square we walked to the Rockefeller Center and the NBC

Studios.  I wanted to get there early in the morning and watch the Today Show but it just didn't work in our schedule.

New York City never sleeps, we're told.

We decided to stay on one more day and go to Ellis Island.

Inside the Ellis Island Memorial Building - this is where Don believes possibly 3 of his grandparents came through when they immigrated to the US from Holland. 

 (Theresa's grandparents were born in the USA.)

So, we were ready to depart on June 2nd, when the staff at our marina says we should stick around a bit - many famous people will be taking the ferry from New York to our marina for a shuttle to this famous International Polo match in the Liberty Landing Park, next to us.  So we went over to check out how the rich and famous spend a Saturday afternoon, after we had watched many of them walk by our boat on the dock.  (Really couldn't identify anyone, specifically.) 

We were told that Madonna would be there and possibly she would come by boat to our marina.  I doubt I would recognize her if she had all her clothes on, so we left.  The site was surrounded by a double chain link fence but we heard later that for $50 we probably could have crashed the party.  There were no stands to sit in.  Everyone sat on blankets around the field and drank wine.

Goodbye, NYC - it's been quite an experience!  Something happening all the time, foreign   languages spoken everywhere, many policemen and unexpected events popping up at any time

or any place!       Like the guy dressed as a pirate, serenading us all on the crowded subway ride back to the ferry boat or the 3 weddings we observed (just walking around town) or the marathon race we encountered while walking the waterfront at Battery Park.

George Washington Bridge - officially out of New York City, but still seeing lots of buildings and commercial development.

We're heading up the Hudson River on north to Troy, NY, where we will get on the Erie Canal, so we'll still be in New York State for awhile.

Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Leaving Washington DC was kind of a let-down, even though we are anxious to move on.  Services on the Potomac River were very scarce and unreliable.  Boats docked at Solomons Island - met "Pumpkin" here and also at Delaware City Marina later...

 On our first day after leaving DC, we had a hard time finding gas.  The first marina we checked was closed (even tho' it was before 4:00, and the info we had was they were open till 5:00.
Then Tuesday morning, the first marina we stopped at said they didn't pump gas on Tuesday! (So, keep in mind getting to these marinas in the first place, is a challenge -winding into little creeks, back and forth avoiding shallow water). 
The next marina had only diesel gas at the fuel dock, so we had to go back, under the bridge, to the gasoline dock, where it was a challenge to tie up to their dock.  We did get gas!  And stayed for lunch at the seafood restaurant, where Don had a great Hot Beef sandwich, while we saw older ladies eating mounds of oysters and crabs (shells everywhere!).   Lots of local (Down East)  happenings here!

On to Annapolis, MD, where the US Naval Academy is.  Lots of good looking Midshipmen everywhere - on the street, restaurants, shopping.... they're very polite and regimented!

Our marina was on the "Ego Alley" - where boats constantly paraded in and out of this harbor showing off their boats or "bow bunnies", whatever the case may be.  Maryland Statehouse in the background, shops, historical row houses and the Naval Academy within walking distance.


Bow bunnies?  I just remember seeing lots of good looking boats.

We toured the Naval Academy - Wow! What an operation!  Lots of history and very impressive buildings, including the Chapel - isn't it outstanding!  And the brief organ concert we heard was out of this world!
Very impressed with the Naval Academy.  They have 20,000 apps. per year and only 1200 are accepted.  20% are female   They get a free, top quality, education and $1000 a month for expenses.   They are not permitted to marry until after graduation and must live in the dorm all 4 years.  They graduate as Navy officers and are required to serve in the Navy or Marines for a minimum of 5 years.  Many make it a career.  Jimmy Carter graduated from here. 
 

History everywhere........


Look at this - I've got my own Midshipmen!

Hey, I'm flattered.  It took 4 young, buff and good looking Midshipmen to replace me.












Saw this Delaware version of the Coast Guard, I guess, in the C & D Canal (Chesapeake & Delaware).  Now we are in Delaware waters.

Anchoring out here was very peaceful.  Not much traffic and calm seas.


Delaware City - Memorial Day weekend celebration - Steel drum music at the marina, Car Show and crab legs at Crabby Dick's in the Delaware City Hotel!

 Don's favorite!  and there's lots of seafood in these parts........


I get hungry just looking at this picture.



Passing Atlantic City - Casinos - didn't stop, though...

A little about the boating part of the trip.  From Annapolis we went north on Chesapeake Bay to the  C & D canal, crossed to the Delaware Bay and then south to Cape May, NJ.  This is open water and we were out of sight of land for about an hour.  At Cape May we went out into the Atlantic Ocean until Atlantic City .  The ocean was getting a little rough for us so we took the inside route(ICW) to the Messiquin inlet were the ICW ends.  From there it was back on the ocean to New York harbor.  The tide was going out when we went through the inlet to the Atlantic and we had the roughest ride ever, 6' to 8' waves.  We made it with out a scratch but everything in the cabin pretty much came dislodged.   We're writing this in New York City and next time we'll talk about our experiences here.  db
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