Pirate's Loot

The Beerys have arrived! They had a long drive from Ohio, but Dick and Sandy made it without incident to Rochester. We are all anxious to start our journey on Saturday. We are all feeling flexible considering that we may have to change our plans due to canal closings. We are all still very positive and very excited to get under way.

So in high spirits, Sandy broke out a large basket full of goodies. All wrapped and individualized, we took our time and plundered through the loot. And loot it was, there were pirate flags, and Fourth of July flags, sparklers, candy, swords, eye patches, t-shirts, flashlights, and more I can't even remember. Oh, what a treasure. We had a great laugh and decided most of it was indeed going on the boat!

Stormy Weather

Well, we are 24 hours away from getting onboard the boat, and things are looking interesting. Because of the horrible rains and flooding to the eastern part of New York, the Erie Canal has been closed down from Locks E-26 in Clyde, all the way to Lock E-2 near Albany, including Lock CS-1 on the Cayuga Seneca canal. Yes, this is the way we planned to go! Oh No!

We called Mid-Lakes Navigaiton, and they confirmed the report, but cheerfully told us that there was plenty of canal left to explore, and we may just have to delay our cruise to the east. They hope the canal will reopen before our week is up, but of course no one knows what the future has in store. The forecast for the week looks dry, so we can only keep our fingers crossed.

I have to get busy now looking up information for the other towns along the canal that I didn't expect to go to! Life is an adventure!

Theme Music

What would be a good theme song for this trip, was the question I was asking myself? Well, everyone knows the Erie Canal song. Who can forget Old Sal, and his fifteen miles on the Erie Canal. I'm sure I will know this one by heart before the end of the trip!

After a little searching, "When the Levee Breaks" by Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie, recorded in 1929, struck a cord. You can download this song free, or you can read the lyrics. The music not only reminded me of an old time blues song, but also a song you might hear floaitng down a lazy river. However, the lyrics rang eerily close the the events on the Gulf Coast last year, and recent rains here in New York as well.

Along those same lines, Dom sent me a great link to Bruce Springsteen's new album, "The Seeger Sessions". You can listen to the tune "How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live?" This song was written by Blind Alfred Reed and recorded a month after the crash of '29 that heralded the Great Depression. Springsteen has rewritten later verses that focus on the Katrina tragedy and sings, "There's bodies floatin' on Canal and the levees gone to Hell."

Perhaps too depressing for a vacation theme song, it does remind us that our fore fathers build this country with blood and sweat. This canal we are travelling on is an amazing engineering marvel, but only because of the hard back breaking work of the men of this country. Let us not forget our roots.

Anticipation and Preparation

The clock is ticking. Just a few more days until we embark on an adventure. What is this adventure? Well, just as the title says, this blog is about a week-long trip on the Erie Canal. Here are the details...
Who: John (me), Laura, Dick, and Sandy
When: July 1-July 8th
Where: The Erie Canal (starting in Macedon, east to Baldwinsville, south to Seneca Falls)
Vessel: A 42 foot Lockmaster packet boat chartered from Mid-Lakes Navigation (see floor plan)

Each day I will report in with our ship's blog. I plan to write, talk, and send photos to the blog so that all our friends and family can follow along on our trip virtually. So come on along with us!