Living full time in our motor home allows us to be Ready To Go. . .on to the next adventure!

Golden Gate Bridge - San Francisco Skyline as seen from the Marin Headlands - California

Thursday, July 11, 2013

The Erie Canal–Canal Boats–Locks–and the Escarpment . . .what on earth?

As soon as I heard Lake Erie in conjunction with this trip,

I knew I absolutely must see the Erie Canal. . .up close and personal.

New York, Lockport NY, Erie Canal (13)

the nearest and best place to see it was Lockport New York,

located about 45 minutes from our RV Park in Niagara Falls. . .

 Trolley in front of the Visitor Center - $5 for a 1 hour tour

and of course any time there’s a trolley tour. . .we gotta be on board. . .

$5 pp for a one hour tour. . .leaving from the visitor center. . .

what a great way to get an overall picture and learn some history to boot. . .

 

Now, sharing a lot of details is not really my blogging style. . .

however I was absolutely fascinated by the story of. . .

New York, Lockport NY, Erie Canal, Dolomite, Escarpment (47)

DOLOMITE – look at this stuff. . .an entire wall of it

Canada, Ontario, Niagara on the Lake, Niagara Escarpment (18)

and that’s only the beginning. . .there are miles and miles of this stuff. . .

Canada, Ontario, Niagara on the Lake, Niagara Escarpment (22)Canada, Ontario, Niagara on the Lake, Niagara Escarpment (20)

I won’t even try to explain the Niagara Escarpment -

you can read more about it here. . .and see a map of how vast it is here. . .

but when the idea of a waterway (Erie Canal) was conceived. . .

reaching from the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River  to Lake Erie

this wall of rock needed to be gotten through. . .

I highly recommend you read much more of

the story of how it all happened at this website. . .The Erie Canal

New York, Lockport NY, Erie Canal, Dolomite (29)

anyway. . .to get back to why I was so intrigued by dolomite. . .or dolorock. . .

is that when they were digging and blasting the canal. . .the rock was free to the community. . .

you could have as much as you could haul. . .

2013-07-11 001

so there were buildings, churches, homes of every shape and size built of the stuff. . .

and they were all really, really fascinating to me. . .I know. . .to each his own. . .right?

the five original Canal Locks

this is the “Flight of Five” the way the canal originally looked. . .

there are some excellent depictions and video clips if you click the link. . .

New York, Lockport NY, Erie Canal, Canal Boat (39)New York, Lockport NY, Erie Canal, Canal Boat (15)

I wanted to see real canal boats operating on the canal. . .

but alas. . .this was the best that I could do. . .

New York, Lockport NY, Erie Canal (8)

we did get to see the locks in action. . .

Locks in Action - Tour Boat traveling through Locks

and some boats passing through. . .

New York, Lockport NY, Erie Canal, Sign (11)

we enjoyed our day in Lockport and learning more about the Erie Canal,

and it’s importance in the History of Transportation as featured on the History Channel. . .

New York, Lockport NY, Erie Canal, (Name of Church), Stained Glass Windows, Tiffany, Pipe Organ (37)

an added bonus to the day. . .in the First Presbytarian Church. . .

located directly across from the Visitor Center

was an entire collection of stained glass windows designed by Tiffany’s of New York. . .

no pictures could depict how glorious they were. . .

this clip and this link can only give you a small inkling of the beauty. . .

I hope if you ever visit Lockport, you will make it a point to enjoy the tour. . .

David Janice Mexican Food 

and as an absolutely perfect ending. . .we met Margery and Paul

in Niagara Falls for some pretty yummy mexican food. . .

I told Margery, that being a Texan. . .

eating mexican food away from “home” is always a bit dicey. . .

but it was a great choice. . .as you can see. . .

I’M the only one at the table with anything that looks the least bit healthy. . .HA!

too bad I look like a stroke victim in the picture. . .oh well. . .what’cha gonna do?  LOL. . .

Til next time,

Janice and Dave 

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