Jim’s 75th. Lenox, MA (Aug 20-22 )

We left the boat in Schenectady, rented a car and drove to Lenox, MA to visit our friends Dan and Madeline Hajjar.  They have a family cottage on Laurel Lake where they spend each summer.  We have been there several times before and always enjoy the area and the company.  Situated in the heart of the Berkshire Mountains, the area is well known for its natural beauty, arts and entertainment, and availability of good restaurants.  Beginning in the 1800s it attracted many luminaries from the art and literary world as a place to spend the summer.

Our long weekend there consisted of fine dining, kayaking on the lake, visiting the art fair in Stockbridge, and enjoying a ride on the newly refurbished carousel in downtown Lenox.  The visit culminated in a birthday celebration for Jim at a good Italian restaurant, but not before spending the afternoon at the Hancock Shaker Village.  This is a remarkably well restored and preserved village showing Shaker life in the mid to late1800s and on into the early 20^th century.  The Shaker cult was devoutly religious, devoted to efficiency and innovation, and progressive in their farming methods.  If they had changed one central tenant in their creed they would probably still be around in greater numbers today.  They were committed to celibacy.  (Not sure how they thought that was going to work long term.)

 

Debby and Jim on the Carousel

Eastbound on the Erie Canal (Aug 11-19)

TRUE LOVE
Debby manning the lock lines in the rain.

Leaving the 1000 Islands, we looked forward to a leisurely trip east on the Erie Canal.  When westbound we were in a hurry to get to Oswego for the Harborfest, and bypassed several interesting looking towns.  Although the scenery along the way is beautiful, with rolling hills and large prosperous looking farms, the stops along the way proved disappointing.  The boating facilities are inexpensive and more than adequate, but the towns and villages have little to offer in the way of shops, restaurants and points of interest.  A road trip along this section would probably be more interesting as most of the good museums and sites of note were not within walking distance of our stops.  From what we have read and been told the western part of the Erie would be more to our liking, but it is inaccessible to us because of our air draft.

Locking thru with a cruise boat

One of many dams

40 ft Down in Lock 17
Highest Lift on the Erie
At one time highest lift in the world

Unique guillotine lock gate
Lock 17

Gate fully open

Typical Scene

Rare Calm Day

Castle Llenroc
(Cornell spelled backwards)
Private estate 30,000 sq ft
15 fireplaces, 10 bathrooms,
indoor pool and bar with portholes looking underwater into pool

Thousand Islands; Clayton, NY (Aug. 8-10)

In Pardise, On Paradise
Thousand Islands, St. Lawrence River

We were treated to good weather for the 42 mile run from Sackets to Clayton.  The waters of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River are crystal clear.  The first clear water we have traveled in since leaving Florida.  The fabled Thousand Islands (actually 1,834 of them) are as picturesque as all the stories say.  Although discovered by the earliest explorers in the 1500s, the Thousand Islands did not became a tourist mecca until the late 1800s and then only for the very wealthy.  It is said that General Ulysses Grant visited after his Presidency and extolled the virtues which led to the rush to acquire islands and build large summer homes and castles.

Clayton, NY is 15 miles downriver from Lake Ontario and is in the heart of the Thousand Islands.  At the turn of the 19^th century during the summer 20 trains a day deposited passengers who then boarded steam ships for transport to their homes or elaborate hotels.  Today it continues to thrive on tourism with the Antique Wooden Boat Museum being a large draw as well as numerous restaurants and shops. The Boat Museum is worth the trip in itself displaying pleasure craft of all sizes since the invention of the outboard motor.  One building is set up like a boat show of days gone by complete with prices for the boat at the time.

Debby liked the 1935 Ford Phaeton
more than the collapsible canoe tied to the side.

George Boldt's "HouseBoat"105'
Built in 1900

One of 100s on display

We took a commercial boat tour from Clayton to visit Boldt Castle, about 9 miles further downriver.  George Boldt emigrated from Prussia in 1868 at the age of 15.  He worked in hotels starting as a bus boy, working his way up to eventually owning the Waldorf Astoria in New York and a similar hotel in Philadelphia.  Being madly in love with his much younger wife in 1900 he started construction of a castle on Heart Island, so named as he reshaped it to look like a heart.  300 workers spent 4 years constructing the 160 room, 6 story main building along with power station, children’s play house and yacht house to keep his 18 boats.  Unfortunately in 1904 just before completion his wife died suddenly.  As the castle was to be a monument to his love for her he immediately stopped construction and never returned to the property.  The site lay dormant for 73 years until the state took it over and began restoration.  The opulence rivals Hearst Castle in California.

Childrens Playhouse
Boldt Castle

Boldt Castle

Power Generation House
Boldt Castle

Sackets Harbor, NY (Aug. 3-7)

After Harborfest we spent 2 more days in Oswego fixing a water leak from the ice maker and doing some major reprovisioning.   We then moved on to Sackets Harbor, a 42 mile trip to the eastern end of Lake Ontario.  Sackets is a very small village with a large amount of history and some remarkable restaurants.  During the War of 1812 Sackets Harbor was the home of the US Navy for the Great Lakes and the base for the Northern Army.  In addition, it was the major ship building port for the Great Lakes Navy.  A key battle was fought here that ended in a stalemate.  Today the village of one main street appears to survive on its reputation for excellent restaurants and its well protected tiny harbor.

Sunset, Lake Ontario, Sackets Harbor

Twilight, Lake Ontario, Sackets harbor

During our stay each night we had cocktails at Pin Tan Galley restaurant, the best in the area, and enjoyed the music of the owner, a very talented musician.  Throughout an evening he will play guitar, violin, banjo, keyboard, flute, trombone and two trumpets at once.

Andy Taylor, Owner of Tin Pan Galley

Not coincidentally, we met Steve Fortune, our friend from D.C.  Steve was raised in Watertown nearby and his family still has a lake side cabin just 4 miles from the village.  He was here with his brother and sister for a family reunion.  Unfortunately, his wife and Debby’s friend Georgia was unable to attend.  We enjoyed Friday evening together at the cabin and attended the lake side blues concert put on by the town on Sunday.  The Double Barrel Blues Band out of Syracuse was exceptional.

Double Barrel Blues Band
Free Concert, Sackets Harbor

Chris, Debby, Steve
Enjoying the concert!

On Saturday the town hosted a group dedicated to the restoration and collection of historic firefighting equipment.  Everyone has to have a hobby!  It really was quite fun to see this and imagine what it was like in times past trying to put out fires.

Fireman's Demonstration

1920 Firetruck

1935 Firetruck

19th Century Hand Drawn Hand Pump

1832 Jefferson Hose Carriage

1882 Remington-Howe Fire Engine

1812 Fire Pump

Oswego Harborfest (July 29-July 31)

Oswego, NY is a small seaport on the south east side of Lake Ontario.  It was first settled in 1722 by British and Dutch fur traders.  In the mid 1800s it played a large role in the Underground Railroad leading escaped slaves to Canada.  During WW II it housed nearly 1000 Jewish refugees in an old fort’s barracks.  For the past 29 years it has hosted Harborfest on the last weekend in July.   The city’s population is only 19,000, but Harborfest attracts 250,000 visitors from the US and Canada.

A total of 41 different bands perform at 4 different venues over the course of 4 days.  The venues are scattered between 2 river front locations and 2 town parks and are connected by a shuttle service.  Vendor tents are located at each of the venues.  And it is all FREE.  In addition there is a special park for children activities and a carnival.  It is perhaps best known for its fireworks display on Saturday night.  Fireworks are provided by the Grucci Family, probably the best known fireworks provider in the country if not the world.  They have done every presidential inauguration for the past 40 years as well as international events including in Dubai.

Fortunately our marina was located close to East Park which hosted the Jazz and Blues bands.  We were in time Friday to catch a 5:30 performance of Steve Grills and the Roadmasters.  We then went to GS Bar and Grill on the river for a drink, and who did we meet at the bar but the owners of Grucci Fireworks.   In the “small world” department the wife's name is Debby and her mother’s name is Rose (as is Debby’s mom), so there was instant rapport.  Grucci Fireworks, based in Long Island, is very much a close knit, family run business.  This event marks the end of their summer season and they use it to invite all their family and employees to participate and party.  It is clear however that Debby Grucci and her husband Frank run the show.

Debby, Debbie Grucci, her cousin Michael, Jim

 On Saturday we used the shuttle and visited the other venues.  At Breitbeck Park there were a number of New York State wineries offering tastings.  Needless to say we tried them all, but unless you like sweet wines there was not much to appreciate.  While in this park we caught a good country band, Dirtroad Ruckus.

Wine Tasting Tents

Dirtroad Ruckus

 We returned to East Park to hear the blues band, Rev Raven and the Alterboys, which were very good.  We then watched the fireworks display from the bridge of our boat at 9:30.  They lasted one half hour and were the best we have ever seen.  Afterwards we returned to GS as the Grucci’s  had invited us to join their party.  As it did not get started until after 11 we did not stay long.

Erie and Oswego Canals: Albany to Oswego ( July 25-29)

Often we get to a destination only to find that we just missed a significant event or performance.  While in Albany we learned that Oswego was having its 29^th Annual Harborfest the weekend of July 29.  It sounded like fun.  After determining we could get dock space on this busy weekend we decided to make a quick trip across the canals and wait for the return voyage to stop and see the sights.

The 363 mile long Erie Canal which joins Lake Erie near Buffalo with the Hudson River just north of Albany was first built between 1817 and 1825.  It s purpose was to provide inexpensive transport for goods from the interior of the country to New York City.  Originally it was a 4’x40’ ditch with locks measuring 90’x15’ and barges were towed by horses or mules.  Being very successful throughout the 1800s more canals were dug and the Erie Canal expanded to accommodate larger and self propelled boats.  The canal advanced settlement of the Northeast, Midwest and Great Plains.  It made New York the Empire state and New York City the country’s prime seaport.  Today the canal course differs significantly from the original. On the eastern half it now follows the Mohawk River through multiple dams.  Due to height restrictions we can only do the eastern half to Syracuse.

The canal starts at Waterford with a series of 5 locks called the “Waterford Flight”  that raise vessels 169’ in less than 2 miles, the greatest height in the shortest distance of any canal in the world.

One of Five 34' Locks of the Waterford Flight

Although not new to locks it took us a few passages to develop a system to control the boat in the lock chamber in high winds.  Thankfully PARADISE is equipped with both bow and stern thrusters, so Jim is able to maintain position without depending on Debby to hold our 20 ton vessel to the wall with a line.

Our first stop after 8 locks was Scotia, near Schenectady.  It is a very small village famous for Jumpin’ Jacks take out hamburgers.  Just a short walk from the boat we had to try them, and they 

were good.

Debby Placing Order at Jumpin' Jacks

Another day, another 8 locks found us in St Johnsville for the night.  We then pressed on to Sylvan Beach at the eastern end of Oneida Lake.  These were both long, and for Debby, boring days although the scenery was quite beautiful.  Sylvan Beach is a typical old style lake beach community complete with its own amusement park.  We plan to stop again on the way back.  On the 4^th day we took it easy and crossed the 21 mile long Oneida Lake stopping in Brewerton for the night.  On the 5^th day we went through lock 23 on the Erie Canal just north of Syracuse then entered the Oswego canal and negotiated its 8 locks to arrive at “Party City” for the weekend. 

Typical Erie Canal Scene