How many of you sang those words in grade school?
Growing up in Troy, OHIO we sang it loud in music class.
After traveling up the Hudson River from New York we arrived in Albany, NY for a couple of days. My Son Garrett met us for the journey on the Erie Canal.
Built between 1817 and 1825, the original Erie Canal traversed 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo. It was the longest artificial waterway and the greatest public works project in North America. The canal put New York on the map as the Empire State—the leader in population, industry, and economic strength. New York’s canal system has been in continuous operation since 1825, longer than any other constructed transportation system on the North American continent. ( copy from the web ).
Locking with some fellow Wisconsinites.
Once we enter a lock we are required to wrap a line around this cable and use it to hold the boat from moving to much in the lock. The line slides up the cable while the lock fills. Our big orange fender balls keep us from damaging the hull of the boat.
The locks are well maintained.
A tug work boat used by the Erie Canal maintenance crews.
Soctia, NY, a small jazz performance we stumbled upon. We sat just behind the walker section.
Sights around Amsterdam, NY a one night stop over for us.
Erie Canal Lock 17 is located in Little Falls and is the largest lock in New York State. The lock lifts every passing vessel an astounding 40.5 feet, replacing four locks on the old canal by just one. Construction on this lock was challenging. Design elements called for a unique feature, a water saving side pool which would allow about half of water from a locking to be reused on the next locking. Couple this extra feature with its massive size, the need to build it in solid rock, and keep the old Erie Canal open, which this was built directly on top of, required massive engineering. This design included a guillotine style lower gate and a concrete arch of which the boats pass under — the only implementation of such a design along the canal system.
Garrett was teaching me how to use my drone to video us while we were moving using a flight program in the drone. We lost communications with it monetarily and the drone found a tree along the canal to land in. I estimate its about 200 feet in the air. We tried throwing a line around a branch to shake it loose, no luck. So the drone is wedged tightly between Lock 19 and Lock 20. The real bummer is the memory card has some great videos on it.
The blue float was to aid in retrieval should land in the water.
Garrett departed in Utica, NY after traveling with us for 5 days. The train station in Utica is spectacular, built in 1914. We are sitting on the original wood benches.
We always enjoy a little history on our trip.
SEASONS underway 