The next morning we left Indianapolis and headed to Ohio to
visit Capt. Larry’s nephew and family. It was great to see them, and we spent
the day catching up with each other and enjoying some really wonderful meals. The
next day we left for Niagara Falls. It was a much shorter visit than usual, but
on our way to visit Capt. Larry’s 94-year old aunt, we decided to retrace our
route along the Erie Canal that we navigated in our boat on our Great Loop
adventure in 2011.
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| The American Falls |
We had befriended a boater couple, Don and Kathy from St. Louis
that we kept in touch with and who visited us twice when they came to Florida,
and we had learned that they would be on the canal again at the same time we
were.
Arriving at the falls, we found a room within walking
distance and headed over to Niagara Falls State Park. We viewed the falls from
Prospect Point and decided to walk the bridge over to Goat Island. Neither of
us had ever been on this island, and we enjoyed viewing the falls from a different
perspective.
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| Luna Island |
Our map showed another island, Luna Island that was accessible by
another bridge. We followed the path that paralleled the river rapids to the
edge. The photo opportunities were great as water fell from both sides of the
island’s point, but we were getting wet from the mist. Below us were people on
a walkway in rain ponchos viewing the falls from below.
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| Upper Falls |
We walked back to our
room and called Kathy and Don to see where they were and if we were going to be
able to rendezvous with them. We’re in luck. They were sitting on the Niagara
River getting ready to cruise the Tonawanda Creek and the western end of the
canal. They’re plans were to leave the next day and try and make it to
Middleport, NY—an all day's travel for them, but only about an hour’s drive for
us to cover the 42 miles.
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| Falls from Luna Island |
That was about right, as they rule of thumb in
boating is your daily distance by boat is approximately that which you can
drive in one hour. But for us, that meant we would essentially be spending an
extra day in the same spot which would probably result in a change in our canal
plans.
We arrived at the Middleport wall and reminisced when
Bavarian Cream was tied up here. The images
from 2011 came rushing back.
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| Locks 34 & 35 |
We lunched in the picnic area along the wall and
decided that we should host a dinner for Don and Kathy. If we could get our
lawn chairs out and be waiting on them with drinks for happy hour, they would
have a hoot!
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| The Last Rambler into dock |
We headed out to find a grocery store to pick up what we needed. Driving
to neighboring Medina, only 4 miles down the canal, we found a grocery store
and bought what we would need for dinner. Jane thought we should get a nearby
motel so we could stay late with Don and Kathy.
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| Reunited! |
We found the only motel in
Medina and got a room for the night. Heading back to Middleport, we arrived
just as our friends were tying up their boat to the wall. What a reunion! We reminisced,
drank, laughed, and ate and had the pleasure of meeting their granddaughter,
Molly, who was an absolute delight. Capt. Larry and Jane put on a pretty
impressive dinner which was enjoyed by all. We traded more stories and reminiscences
before heading to our room in Medina.
Over breakfast the next morning we reevaluated the remainder
of our canal trip. We had two days to get to Concord, NH. Both
wanted to return to Lyons, NY, and visit the former mayor who now serves as “The
Ambassador to the Erie Canal for the Port of Lyons.” He had paid us a visit in
2011 and took pictures of Bavarian Cream
docked at the wall for the town’s website. The weather didn’t look very
promising with rain forecast all day long. Capt. Larry was also considering the
feasibility of traveling the eastern rim of Lake Ontario and proceeding up
along the St. Lawrence River and possibly viewing the Adirondack Mountains.
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| The unique bridge at Fairport |
Jane dearly wanted to
go to Fairport and return to a craft shop where she had purchased an ungodly
amount of lace and fabric scraps and remnants for her sewing projects when we
came through there in 2011. But in that 5-year period the supply was depleted.
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| Fairport Town Hall |
We
would just miss the Fairport Canal Days that would run June 3-6. Our friends,
Don and Kathy would be here tomorrow, but finding docking space along the wall
would be a challenge. Finally, 0900 and the “to die for” fabric shop opened. We
were on a schedule, so Jane hurried into the store and got the staff to help
her get the things she needed. It’s 0920 and Capt. Larry is getting ready to
extract Jane, when she suddenly appears in the mirror with a bag of lace and
fabric that should take her through the next lifetime.
Leaving Fairport, we headed up the
interstate toward the eastern shore of Lake Ontario. We got on a road that paralleled
the shore, but only caught an occasional glimpse of the lake. Further north, we
followed a route that ran along the St. Lawrence River until we arrived in
Messena, NY.
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| US Olympic Training Headquarters |
We found a motel for the night and went out for a Chinese dinner. The
next morning we followed the river, encountering the 10,000 Islands section and
enjoying the views. Making our way to Malone, NY, we took a road into the Adirondack
Mountain State Park. We headed for Lake Saranac and then on to Lake Placid,
home of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics.
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| Lake Placid Training Facility |
At Lake Placid, we visited the Lake
Placid Olympic Training Center, and were really impressed by the training
facilities.
Leaving New York, we headed for
Lake Champlain and Vermont. Capt. Larry told Jane that we he wanted to see Lake
Champlain. But as we arrived at the lake, he asked Jane if she had been here
before. We crossed this same route and bridge in 2008 when we did the
motorcycle trip. We spotted the gas station that we used and then crossed the
bridge into Vermont. Taking a slightly different route, we followed a finger peninsula
between the water that would eventually take us into Burlington, VT. Finally making
it to Burlington, we decided to head on east to Barre, VT, home of Ben and
Jerry’s ice cream where we spent the night.
The next morning we headed for
Concord, NH, and Capt. Larry’s 95 year old aunt (we thought it was 94 yo but
learned differently when we arrived).
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| The oldest and youngest generations |
How great it was to see relation that he
hadn’t seen for over 20 years. Cousins, second-cousins, third-cousins…how the family
had expanded. Aunt Alice is the sister to Capt. Larry’s father and the last member
of that generation. We had brought a lot of old family pictures that couldn’t
be identified and Aunt Alice was pulling names out right and left to help us
out. We had a nice visit with her and her family and returned to our hotel for
the evening.
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| Capt. Larry, his cousins and Aunt Alice |
The next morning we returned to take her to breakfast before
heading on to Maine and our Canadian Maritime Province adventure.
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