An Average Vacation

Tom and Penny’s vacation averages:

Average cruising speed on the Erie Canal: 7.7 mph

Average RPMs of Moxie’s twin engines: 1200 (for the guys)

Average gallons of gas burned per hour of travel: 5 (for the US economy)

Average # of bottles of wine consumed per day: 1 (for the winos)

Average # of pitchers of frozen drinks consumed per day: .8

Average # of hours spent napping per day: 1.2 (ahhhh)

Average # of hours Penny drove the boat per day: .16 (like, almost never!)

Average air temp: 87 degrees (ewww)

Average # of times per day that we said “Whew! It’s hot!”: 4.3

The 1 Hour Fish Sandwich Stop

Day 6 – July 7, 2011

We left Newark just before 10:30 a.m. for the last day of our trip.  Our plan was to stop in Lyons for Peppermint Days.  According to our research on-line, there are games, food, vendor booths, and music along with fireworks and a parade.  By 11:55 a.m. we were docking and getting hungry.  (The licorice and popsicles on the canal just didn’t cut it!)  We walked the 3 blocks to the park and found the whirlwind of activity pictured below:

Tom amid the mass of humanity in Lyons

The firemen had a booth with fish sandwiches, french fries, and drinks; and the gazebo was decorated in bunting.  That’s it.  The most action we saw was the trailer trash mom threatening to slap her son and telling him how glad she was to be rid of him that afternoon when he went to stay with his father.  We decided to try the fish sandwich and be on our way.  To the firemen’s credit, the fish was hot and delicious!  We ate it at the picnic table and headed back to the boat.  Total time at Lyons Peppermint Days: 1 hour.

In fairness to Lyons, most of the activities weren’t slated to begin until the following day.  The lawn chair drill team would have been fun to see, and local village promoter Bob Stopper also said the tractor square dance is also a highlight.  (Try to do-ci-do with a John Deere!)  Bob was also kind enough to take a picture of us together (the only one from our trip!)  We still look like typical American tourists, but there are memories in it!

Even 6+ ft Tom looks short in this, but Moxie looks HUGE!

At Lock 25 we were delayed for half an hour while the Lock Master dealt with a sticky valve.  He was apologetic, but Captain Tom kept us cool by hovering under a bridge while we waited.

Thanks for the shade, Tom!

This tug boat looks like it’s wearing a hula skirt!

Tugboat Fenders with a Hula Flair

Each Lock has a building similar to the one at Lock 25 at Mays Point (See below).  I haven’t been able to find mention of them on-line.  The ones I’ve seen are brick or stone painted white with blue trim.

Lock 25 Building

We arrived back at Hibiscus Harbor by 5:30 p.m.  Tom couldn’t wait to open Moxie’s engines up when we hit the north end of Cayuga Lake. He had been forced to stay below 10 mph for the last 6 days.

Potted Begonia on the Cockpit Table

The begonia above traveled the whole trip with us and is still blossoming!  We saw a larger boat with a Palm Tree on its deck.  The picture above (taken when we left 5 days ago) shows the view through the canvas and screen panels covering the cockpit.  They give us shade, protection from rain, and isinglass panels to roll down and catch a breeze.

A Bigwig in the Port of Newark NY

Day 5 – July 6, 2011

We left Fairport to begin the trip back home at 8 a.m. hoping to travel while it wasn’t so hot.  Unfortunately, we were heading into the morning sun!  Poor Captain Tom had to stand for 4 hours trying to get some air and shade his head!

Many miles of the Canal look like this!

We stopped at Midlakes Erie Marina for gas and to pump-out in Macedon.  Midlakes is the only place we found to get gas on our trip, so we filled up even though we had only used about 80 gallons of the 250 gallons in the two gas tanks.  Pumping out means using a huge stinky vacuum to empty the waste tank.  Not pretty, but essential!  The attendant was helpful and agreed that Lyons was not a great place because of the “criminal element.” 

At Lock 30, a group of kids getting a tour from the Lock Master stood beside us as we locked through.  They were interested in the boat and asked us if we had a stove.   Their reaction when we answered ‘yes and also AC, fridge, bathroom, shower and beds’ was priceless.

Locking through: Not many pictures of me in shorts are in existence! That shows how hot it was!

At Lock 29 in Palmyra, my fresh deer fly bites were distracting me as we locked through.  I was stomping like a horse since I couldn’t scratch and hang on to the boat hook at the same time!  There were a couple of stretches where the deer flies were really thick.  I must have killed a couple of dozen with the fly swatter to keep them from biting Captain Tom.

This dam between markers G753 and 755 (East of Palmyra ~1 1/2 miles) is NOT well-marked

By 12:15 we arrived at the Port of Newark.  A very friendly dock attendant/greeter came to meet us immediately and was a good source of information.  Besides free electric, water, and wifi, they had a locked bath, shower, and laundry facility for boaters.  When we signed in, we were given a key and shown the drop box to put it in before we left port.  I did a couple of loads of laundry while Tom made our last pitcher of Strawberry Daiquiri.  There was shade and a beautiful breeze most of the afternoon.  It clouded up and rained about 10 drops before clearing and getting hot again.

Port of Newark, NY

While we were enjoying our drink, the Director of the NYS Canal System, Brian Stratton, stopped by to say hello and shake hands.  He was touring the facilities along with Deputy Director John Callaghan and Newark Mayor Peter Blandino.  Newark is the only village in Wayne County that was established because of the Erie Canal. 

South side of Port of Newark (No services on that side but nice landscaping)

The water front is lovely with benches, swings for 2, pretty landscaping, stone pavers, and murals. 

There are restaurants nearby, a Rite Aid across the bridge, and putt-putt golf and an ice cream stand near the information building seen above.

We were too hot and tired to go out to eat, so we ordered pizza from Pontillo’s delivered to the boat.  When I called to place the order, the young man taking the order said he needed an address!  This was after I had already told him we were on a boat tied to the docking area across the canal from him.  I laughed and said that I didn’t know but that we were next to the Wayne ARC building.  This was good enough for him, and within 30 minutes we were eating pizza and BBQ wings.  According to the flier that came with the order, if you eat in the restaurant, you can get a Pizza Cookie: for $5.99, you get a “warm 7″ chocolate chip cookie with 3 scoops of vanilla bean ice cream topped with more chocolate chips.”  We’ll have to go back just to try that!  After dinner, Tom and I played Pitch, and he won again.  We slept like babies till 8 a.m. the next morning.

Fairport NY – Worth a Second Day

Day 4 – July 5, 2011

When I took my early walk around Fairport, I was enjoying the peace, admiring the tidiness, brick walkways, and landscaping. 

Public Area Next to the Erie Canal

 

Later Tom and I went to the Towpath Cafe across the canal from our dock space for coffee and a chocolate chip cookie.  There is an outdoor deck that is shaded, cool, and just feet from the canal.  It more than made up for the so-so coffee!

Towpath Cafe Deck

I did a little shopping while Tom surfed the internet.  (He used his own wireless card since wifi is not free there.)

Tom Surfing the Net on Moxie

I also found the Red Market two blocks away where I got another gallon of water.  (Even though there is potable water hook-up, we prefer bottled water for drinking and coffee.)  I was also looking for frozen drink mix but they didn’t have it.  The ower was friendly and told me that Georgetown Wine and Spirits delivers to the boaters.

Saw this cute cottage and garden on my walk. (The sun wasn't up very far, so it's a little dark.)

Main Street Lift Bridge steps down to the Canal walk

Moxie in the Morning Light

Nothing like exploring someplace while most everyone is sleeping!

Hot on the E-RI-E

Day 3 – July 4, 2011

Every day has been 85-90 degrees, and I do NOT fare well in the 80’s!  (Meaning, I get very grouchy!)  Thankfully, we’ve had a Westerly head wind while on the move.  When we’ve stopped, we’ve relied on the AC when the breeze deserted us!  We took the isinglass panels out of the windshield, so we can get a breeze if we stand up. 

Penny at the helm (luckily, Tom has to use the head occasionally!)

(Note: the date stamp was off by 12 hours on my camera, so some dates are not accurate!)

When we arrived in Fairport, we found a gorgeous spot with shade! Yayyyyyyyyyy!

Lovely Shade in Fairport!

Fairport NY Main St Lift Bridge

The Main Street Lift Bridge is unique in that all four corners are at different heights and the whole thing lifts like a platform.  We suspect the engineer who designed it was drunk.

 There is a lot of great architecture, well-manicured houses, and nicely landscaped gardens in Fairport.  The morning after we arrived, I took a 6:15 a.m. walk and snapped a few pictures.  They were a little dark, but I did get a good picture of Sal.

Got an Old Mule and Her Name is Sal…

The water front is great for tourists with its cafes, an ice cream shop, restaurants, trees and flowers, ducks, and Tuesday night “cruise-ins” with live bands.

 

Fairport NY Erie Canal

 

 

We ate at an Irish Pub called Mulconry’s where Tom had fish and chips and I had a “boxty.” It’s an Irish potato pancake folded in half with fillings such as flank steak and mushrooms. It was good and had lots of butter in the sauce (very salty!), and my salad had a nice mix of greens with a great peppercorn dressing. Tom’s fish was crispy beer-battered, and his fries were also good.   The food was piping hot and came with a thick slice of Irish Soda Bread.  The restaurant was loud like a pub but had a huge fireplace that would be cozy in colder seasons.

Mulconry's Irish Pub, Fairport NY

It wasn’t busy, but quite a few people chose to eat outside.  We were wimping out in the AC as usual.

 

 

 

Palmyra is Closed Due to Lack of Interest

Day 2 – July 3,2011

We reached the Port of Palmyra Marina by 1:15 p.m.  We were the only boat there.  It’s small, pretty, and has free water, electric, and pump-out, but no shade.  Since it was in the high 80’s, this called for a Pina Colada a la Tom and a siesta in the AC below.  Later we took a walk downtown scouting for some place to eat dinner and found EVERYTHING closed except for a couple of run down bars.  We ended up barbecuing on the boat and watching tapes of “Hoarders” until bedtime.

Palmyra’s most popular activity seems to be fishing.  All afternoon and evening a steady stream of fishermen (& women) wandered the dock laughing, talking, and fishing.  There were teenagers, families, and definitely a higher class of people than the “yellers” in Lyons. ( If Palmyra had an ice cream stand at the water’s edge, I bet it would attract a lot of people.) 

Across the canal behind the trees, we could see the top of a factory.  A constant loud, grinding, whistling noise came from that direction, and we wondered how the locals could stand living with it.  After 5 hours, it stopped.  A man who was there with his young daughter came and asked us about it.  We pointed toward the factory and said we assumed that it came from there.  He said he lived in town and had never heard it before, but he also wasn’t sure what the factory was.  Apparently it was some short term maintenance, and the silence after it stopped was heavenly!

Port of Palmyra Marina

William Phelps General Store & Museum - CLOSED

We WOULD have spent money there if we could find something open!

Penny’s Favorite Lock (or Swearing Like a Sailor)

After a breakfast of McDonald’s hotcakes and sausage, we left Lyons at 10:30 a.m. for our first lock of the day (Lock 27 at Lyons – 12.5 ft rise).  It was uneventful, but Lock 28A 20 minutes later was the site of a mishap that resulted in no damage except to my pride and sense of calm. 

Infamous Lock 28A - Lyons, NY

With a 19.5 foot rise, Lock 28A takes a little longer.  The canal line that I was holding was covered with slimy primordial ooze, and I was trying to hold on one-handed so that I could 1) hold the boat hook with my right hand and, 2) hold my camera.  When I set the boat hook down to snap a picture, the boat moved toward the wall and wedged the end of the hook under the sun-cushion rail.  I was afraid it was going to pry the rail out of the deck and tried to get it out one-handed.  No go. (Note to self: enroll in strength training class for aging boomers) 

By now the boat was alternately pushing into the wall and being pulled out into the center of the canal.  I didn’t want to grab the line with my free hand, hoping to keep it clean, but I nearly lost the line as my hand slipped on the slime.  The muddy water was running down my arm to my elbow, setting off my “yuck” meter.  Tom saw me struggling and asked what my problem was.  “The @#&! boat hook is jammed under the rail and I’m losing my grip (obviously!) on the rope!”  “Don’t worry about it,” said Captain Calm, “It’s just a boat hook.”  I sputtered back (Editor’s note: sweetly and respectfully, I’m sure!), “But it’s going to break the @#&! rail!”  After 15-20 minutes of excitement, we were safely at the top, where Tom easily pulled the boat hook out AND secured one of the garbage bags on the fenders to keep it from being sucked into the water intake for the engines.

Later we were treated to sites of a pink tugboat and some neat graffiti people. See picts below.

Pink Tugboat on the Erie Canal

Cartoon People in the Sticks

These were in the middle of nowhere!

 

 

 

 

 

The Baddest Part of Town

Day 1 – July 2, 2011

After we tied up to the town dock in Lyons, Tom made us a frozen strawberry daiquiri, we suffered the trauma of self-inflicted brain freeze, and had to take a nap to recover.  When we woke up, we were starting to get hungry, so we took a walk to look for a restaurant.  After a few blocks, we started noticing a few things: boarded up buildings, run down tenement houses, and a feeling of unease. 

Lyons Town Dock at Night

It was the kind of neighborhood where people yell instead of talking and the F-bomb is tossed around as casually as you would toss a pair of socks into the laundry bin.   (Tom thinks he might have seen a Jerry Springer van with a crew doing interviews.)  We scooted out (as fast as 50 year olds scoot!) and ended up at Smitty’s Place, a barbecue, burger & dog shack.  (My pork sandwich was really good, and Tom’s hotdogs weren’t bad.) 

If Lyons wants to attract boaters, they need restaurants and things to do close to the dock.  For a Saturday night, the place was dead except for an Amish horse and buggy tied up in the lot next to McDonald’s.  Can’t figure that one out.  Later, the cops we’re walking through the park across the canal with flashlights.  I bought a local newspaper the next day and saw that the cops had recently busted the manager of a nearby Sunoco station for selling drugs.

Smitty's Place - BBQ and Dog Shack

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name That Bloom - Pretty and unusual potted plants at Smitty's

 Does anyone know what these are?

15 Miles on the Erie Canal

Day 1 – July 2, 2011

Moxie!

We’re spending a week on the Erie Canal looking for adventure (or a nap, whichever happens first).  “Moxie” left Hibiscus Harbor at the north end of Cayuga Lake a

Approaching CS Lock 1 aka Mud Lock

little after 10:30 a.m. in no hurry and with no particular itinerary except to head north on the Cayuga-Seneca Canal then turn west on the Erie.  Lock 1, AKA Mud Lock, was our first.  With a drop of only 7.5 feet (from 381.5 to 374 feet above sea level), this is a pretty quick one, and we were the only boat in the lock.  The lockmasters are normally efficient and friendly and seem to welcome a chance to chat briefly. 

If you’ve never “locked-through”, it’s a learning experience.  Our routine is for me to ride the bow into the lock, ears flapping in the wind and tongue hanging out.  I may not look that way, but I’m enjoying it as much as any dog would!  As Captain Tom maneuvers the boat to the wall, my job is to use a boat hook to grab one of the lines hanging down the wall.  Tom is so good at handling the boat that I have it pretty easy. He gets to jump up from the helm and grab a line at the stern.  You can’t tie up because of the changing water level. It’s sort of like keeping a rubber duckie upright in a flushing toilet.  (Tom’s comparison, not mine!)  You have to keep the boat near the wall without grinding the boat or the fenders (which landlubbers incorrectly call bumpers) against the sometimes crumbling concrete.  Once the gate closes and the water level starts to change, you SHOULD be attentive to your duties. I like to keep my camera in my pocket and snap a few one-handed pictures, living on the edge as I do!  Boat hooks have been known to go in the water, but I haven’t lost anything YET.

After we turned west on the Erie Canal, we locked through Locks  25 and 26 before stopping in Lyons about 2:30 p.m.  The town dock was pleasant, offered electric and water hook-ups, and was empty except for us. (One other boat came in later: a couple who had started in Michigan last August, around The Loop to Florida, up the East Coast, and back through the canal system to the Great Lakes.)  For those who need them, showers and bathrooms are available in the fire house up the steps from the dock.  Friendly local “Jack” came by to welcome us and offer tips for our stay.  He was a little late to prevent us from our stroll through “The Baddest Part of Town.”

Vacation Self-Portrait for Couples

1. Take one cheap digital camera 

Sunglasses Make Almost Anybody Look Good!

2. Lean together in awkward pose

3. Sport goofy grin

4. Hold camera at arm’s length

5. Take picture

6. Turn camera on

7. Re-take picture

8. Check preview to see if sufficiently goofy

9. Post on blog