In the morning, Captain Mark walked to Dollar Tree to get some Diet Coke, while Sidekick Sue did a little work to get ready for an HOA Zoom meeting the next day. Shortly after casting off from Baldwinsville, the Explorers saw some interesting contraptions, floating down the waterway, removing algae blooms from the water. It was finally a nice sunny day, so Sidekick Sue accompanied Captain Mark up on the flybridge for longer lengths of time.
Like the day before, the Explorers approached another low bridge and Captain Mark asked Sidekick Sue to climb up on the cooler and make sure there was clearance. And just like yesterday, the bridge was higher than posted. Sidekick Sue speculates that officials do that on purpose, because they know that some folks will push the envelope and try to “squeeze” under bridges that they shouldn’t…. therefore they set the the numbers artificially low to decrease incidences of collision.
After navigating Cross Lake, the Explorers stopped for a bit at a wall in Weedsport because it looked to be “somewhat” close to the bike trail on the old Erie Canal. They put their folding bikes together and rode through a place called Brutus which seemed to mainly consist of a race track. After about a mile of biking they joined the bike path along the old Erie Canal. The trail itself was not very sophisticated; it was really just a worn-out groove in the grass, with puddles every now and then that created mud puddles that threaten to suck their tires into the muck. Luckily, the Explorers had thick tires and managed to plow through without incident. In spots, the path widened a bit, sometimes with even a little gravel or asphalt, mostly near the road crossings.
After biking another 4 miles, they reached a great spot where one of the old Erie Canal locks was preserved. The vegetation was purposely groomed so that the Explorers could walk right down into the ditches of the former canal. The lock had two passageways, possibly the eastbound and westbound traffic each had their own lock instead of taking turns locking east and west. After a short visit at the lock, the Explorers turn around and biked the 5 miles back to their boat.
The Explorers cast off from Weedsport and headed to Seneca Falls. To reach Seneca Falls, a boater must enter a smaller “side” canal off of the Erie that connects to Cayuga and Seneca Lakes. It passes through the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge which is mainly a big swamp. The Explorers saw some majestic birds: white herons, great blue herons and a couple of bald eagles. They passed under two more bridges which required Sidekick Sue to once again climb up on the cooler for a bird’s eye view of whether the boat canopy would pass under the bridge. Both of them had a minimum of 2-3 foot of extra clearance, despite the warnings.
The Explorers parked on the dock wall in Seneca Falls. Most people in New York State know about Seneca Falls for two reasons…. it was an important location in the fight for women’s rights and it is rumored to have been the town on which Bedford Falls was modeled for the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”. The Explorers have been to Seneca Falls before by car, even attending the “It’s a Wonderful Life” Festival several years ago, the highlight being the night-time 5K run/walk through the town lit of by Christmas lights which followed a route through the neighborhoods where residents burned bonfires and handed out shots of Peppermint Schnapps.
The amenities for boaters are wonderful in Seneca Falls. The Visitor Center hosts a wonderful museum with exhibits about the canal, industry, women’s rights, historic route 20, and the changing waterway over the years. Under the Visitor Center is a special area with free restrooms and showers and a coin laundry just for boaters. The wall where boats can park has free electricity and water spigots. Seeing this wall on earlier trips to Seneca Falls was one of the sparks that motivated this adventure down the Erie Canal… the Explorers are delighted to have actually reached the town by water after dreaming about it years ago. Due to their love for Seneca Falls, the fact that they have been motoring every day for a week, and the need for clean laundry, the Explorers decided to take a little break and hang out in Seneca Falls for an extra day. The only negative attribute of staying on the wall was that their Starlink kept cutting out, presumably due to the trees lining the dock wall. They figured they would have time to turn the boat around in the morning or part on the opposite wall for better reception.
Because the Explorers decided to take the extra day in Seneca Falls, they reached out to a college friend who has a lake house on Cayuga Lake. She and her husband offered to come out and meet them in the afternoon of the following day. So the Explorers headed to bed to get an early start in the morning.
The next morning, they took a long walk around downtown Seneca Falls, enjoying the stores and landmarks dedicated to “It’s a Wonderful Life” including the Bedford Falls Bridge on George Bailey Lane and a collection of bell sculptures with sayings from the movie. They also walked by the famous statues of Susan B. Anthony and the Suffragettes and walked a short path along the canal dotted with mostly woman-created sculptures recognizing women rights or the history of Seneca Falls. On their way home, the Explorers found a liquor store to pick up some wine for the afternoon and visited a café that helped put together an offering of wonderful desserts to bring to lunch. In the remaining time before lunch, Captain Mark went on a 12-mile bike ride past Waterloo and heading toward Geneva, while Sidekick Sue took a shower and did some writing. Captain Mark showered as well, and the Sidekick Sue climbed out of the boat, onto the tall wall above to wait for her friends.
A short while later, Sue and Dave arrived. After a quick tour of the boat, they headed back to the lake house on Cayuga and had a delightful lunch, with wine and desserts. They all spent a relaxing afternoon sitting outside on the deck enjoying the views on the lake and the unpredicted burst of amazing weather. As the day wore on, they headed back to Seneca Falls for dinner at Parker’s Grille & Tap House. The beer was delicious and they enjoyed more conversation; they even got involved in helping their neighbors at the bar who had signed up for trivia.
After dinner, Sue and Dave dropped the Explorers back at their vessel. It was already dark and too late to try to move the boat to improve the Starlink reception. They still managed to watch an episode of Ozark while doing laundry at the Visitor Center. They may have even munched on a few left-over desserts from lunch. In the morning they will set out west towards Rochester.
The contraction that was “harvesting” the algae blooms.
The first chamber of a double lock heading into Seneca Falls.
Crossing Cross Lake
An old section of the old abandoned segment of the Erie Canal that still had some water in it.
Inside Lock 51 of the Old Erie Canal
Wise words from Clarence.
The Wayward Explorer on the wall in Seneca Falls
Sidekick Sue making friends in the sculpture garden.
Walking George Bailey Lane
Many of the industrial buildings have been knocked down. The Seneca Knitting Mills building is being renovated to be the new home of the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
Downtown Seneca Falls.
We owe a lot to the brave women that came before us and started a movement (which continues today).