Burlington to Schnectedy... you can't get there from here

There aren't major highways between Schnectedy and Burlington... I guess that lake and the mountains get in the way.  We decided to go back along the other side of the lake.  It looked like, if you took the ferry, you could more easily reach a main highway.  Besides, wouldn't you want to ride a car ferry across Lake Champlain?

I could have titled this day "Battle of the GPSes"  (or is that GPI?)  We have decided our "good" GPS (a few years old) is doing nutty things so we also programmed our old (built into the truck) GPS AND my cell phone.  (Remember when the GPS was a new toy and hardly anyone had one?)  There seem to be numerous ways to get where we wanted to go, but none of them were particularly good... so we decided we'd follow "best 2 out of 3" routes.  

We finally got off two lane roads and onto the highway when the "Activity Director" (me) decided we really should go see Fort Ticonderoga.  It was about 30 minutes back off the freeway and back to the lake.  Rob initially balked, but he knew I was right (I usually am).  When will we ever come this way again?

The day was lovely and the setting, high on a point of land, overlooking the lake, is spectacular.  The fort isn't a National Park which surprised us, as it was so important in our history.  First it was a French fort.  Then the Brits overtook the fort during the French and Indian wars.  The fort was only lightly protected by the Brits but had a lot of cannon and munitions.  So Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Men joined forces with Benedict Arnold to capture the fort and move the cannon to Boston.  Somehow they got all these cannons to a hill outside of Boston, without the British finding out.. and Washington was able to capture Boston.  

The fort and surrounding grounds were purchased by a hotelier who had an inn here, and decided to reconstruct the fort as tourists were coming to see the ruins.  Eventually the fort and the family home and gardens were donated to a non-profit, and the non-profit does a fabulous job of making history come alive.  We were there on a weekday and there were "re-enactors" all over the place...all in tri-corner hats...even the guys working in the woods cutting brush out were fully dressed in uniform.

This is an earthen oven.. there are numerous small holes where loaves of bread were placed to bake

Inside the fort there were a couple of buildings like this.  Inside were museums or artisans demonstrating how things were done back then

A Who's Who list

The Adirondack mountains are exactly as you picture them from movies and TV.  We passed many gorgeous mountain lakes, and saw a lot of summer camps.  I smiled to think of all those summer camp movies!  Tiny towns on twisty roads...not many cars or people.. it felt like an undiscovered Lake Tahoe.  A wonderful vacation spot!

Sidetrip to Vermont

You probably don't associate Vermont with boating. We didn't.  We reached this sign and had to turn left or go straight.

We turned left to do the Erie Canal because many years ago I had seen a photo article on boating on the Erie and it planted this whole idea. Also, there is a restriction on "portapotties" in Ontario Canada so we couldn't legally go into Canada and down the St Lawrence.

But, since we were so close to Lake Champlain, and since Vermont was one of those states I had never visited, we docked the boat for a few days and took a road trip.  It was raining anyway.  In fact, its so rainy and cold that Rob has made the comment:  "Vermont looks so pretty.  We should come back in the summertime". (Recall that we are here in late July)

We looked for the Stafford Inn, owned by Dick and Joanna Loudon because we really wanted to meet Larry, his brother Daryl and his other brother Daryl.  We didn't find the Inn but along the way we did see the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory and also signs for the Ben and Jerry's factory.  Gorgeous farms and rolling hills... what we could see anyway.  I couldn't see mountains anywhere, though (because of the rain).  Since we missed out on meeting Dick, Joanna and crew, we settled on the Inn established by the Hamptons (aka Hampton Inn) just outside Burlington.

The next day was gray but at least not raining so we headed downtown to the lake and the Church Street Marketplace.  The area is gorgeous, even on a gray day.  Beautiful, well maintained, old homes and shops.  The college is very close to downtown and it has kept this very historic downtown vital and fun.

Here are some pictures of our day.

Lake Champlain

A yummy lunch (Rob had a watermelon beer; I had Vermont hard cider)

Love all the church steeples

The pedestrian friendly outdoor mall and restaurant row... 

Our new motto?

Cherry Garcia Street:  We were good and abstained... knowing that the Inn of the Hamptons specializes in homemade cookies in the evenings.

Waterford Flight and Mohawk River

I couldn't help feeling today was the beginning of the end, because this is the last "leg" of our crusing adventure.  We were on the Erie Canal at long last.  This is the day we've been training for.  We were a bit intimidated.  Today we were going up the Waterford flight, a series of 5 locks over less than 2 miles, that raised our level by about 165 ft! (And that's just the beginning.. we'll be doing 15-20 locks before we are done)

It was a gray morning and most boaters seemed to be hanging out thinking they were waiting out another storm.  We decided to proceed as we weren't actually anticipating a long cruise... about 3 hours to get us up to where our car was parked in Schenectady.

We donned our gloves and older clothing, knowing that these locks were going to be covered in greasy grimy gopher guts..

So, here we went, into the maws of the lock:

Check out this picture....  

Pretty good reflection, huh?  Yuck those walls were slimy!  Today I earned my field promotion from "Activity Director and Co-Purser" to "First Mate".  I'll gladly take a demotion tomorrow, Cap!


The locks might have been slimy but the river itself was lovely and peaceful.  We only passed two boats all day and shared a lock once.  The water was like glass in most places.  These pictures don't do it justice, primarily because it was a cloudy day, but it was a very pleasant run.

We approached the last lock and saw this massive white wall, wondering what it was... Most locks just spill the water, creating a little man made waterfall.   This lock is next to a very large dam and power plant.

As we reached the top of the lock, we could look across and see the rushing water.  This particular dock attracted observers as well... but by this time we had our act together and looked like pros.

Hudson to Erie Canal: Waterford NY

It rained last night but the forecast was fine so off we went... in very short order we reached Albany.  Some interesting architecture but we were happy to move on up the river to more sylvan views (I had to look up sylvan.. it means wooded)

We faced the first lock after the town of Troy NY.  This is called the Federal Lock and its the first lock we have had to do totally on our own (the prior ones at Dismal Swamp were in the company of fellow helpful C-Brats, and besides, they were far less "industrial sized".

(isn't that reflection off the window neat?)

Then we arrived at the town of Waterford, entrance to the Erie Canal.  It is a lovely waterfront area and we'd arrived just in time to catch the Sunday farmers market... fresh cherries, corn, plums and apricots were going to be our dinner and desert tonight (with probably some digestive distress at bedtime).  We were VERY disappointed at the Waterford visitors center... we were thinking it would have been more like a formal museum (like the Dismal Swamp visitor center), with Erie Canal history etc.  It was just a small room with some marketing literature for places along the route.  Docking at the wall is free, and ALL the reviews say this place is great... but the bathrooms were creepy and we didn't like it much.  We hate to dis the place, but we can't understand the great reviews.

We walked a few blocks into town and passed some formerly charming homes... a few had been renovated, but mostly it was a sad little downtown.  We did have a FABULOUS lunch at McGreavy's Pub (which was updated and very nice), and then walked around the harbor area to take pictures and view the lock:

Waterford Lock (see the spillway along the right side)

Spillway "waterfall" and bike path along the canal... This bike path goes all along the canal for many miles

The Waterford wall and park area

Hudson Day 3: Jamacan Jerk at the Shady Rest Marina

Today was a perfect day on the Hudson, the water was flat and the it was a flood tide (so, in our direction). We passed many beautiful estates, including the Vanderbuilt mansion, which is now open to the public.  Still many undivided zillionaire estates here.

Some very different lighthouses along the way:

We stopped early to dock at the Shady Rest Marina to take advantage of the pool and other really nice facilities.  We were happy to discover that today they were hosting the Jamacian Jerk Off (a BBQ contest between various yacht clubs and groups of individuals, benefiting  the Alzheimers Association). For $10 bucks we had all you can eat BBQ chicken, brisket, hamburgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob and dirty rice.  Not to mention the $5 margaritas... and a great band.  Everyone had an awesome time!

Hudson Day 2: Hyde Park and FDR home and presidential library

We arrived at the Hyde Park Marina which is just a tiny marina for small boats (we qualify).  It has no facilities besides a bathroom and a shower... BUT it is only a few miles from the family home of FDR.  According to Google Maps we could easily ride our e-bikes to it.  The dockmaster saw our funny little bikes, with the 12 inch tires and said "no way" can you climb that hill.  So he took us up up up this hill in his truck.  That was really appreciated.  MAYBE the ebikes would have gotten us there but it was certainly questionable.

First off, we sat and had a heart to heart with Franklin and Eleanor about our current political climate

Then we joined a ranger for the tour of the home... which had been in FDR's family for a couple of generations.  We even saw the room where he was born.  This was actually his mother's home and she ruled here but FDR loved it so that he visited here as much as he could . Eleanor didn't love it too much (two strong women living in the same home was a problem), so they built a cottage about 4 miles down the road for her to have her own retreat.  Interesting marriage for sure.  I've read several books on these two and they sure were fascinating personalities.

View off the back patio... out onto the Hudson in the distance.. way DOWN the hill

Even the barn was ELEGANT

Burial site in the rose garden next to the home

We then toured the presidential library which was designed and built by FDR towards the end of his second term... thinking he would retire then.  Inside we saw many exhibits of all of his challenges but what was especially unique was seeing his actual office where he worked during the rest of his presidency.  He invented the idea of a presidential library and all presidents since him now have them.  The exhibits were fascinating and very well done.  It makes me want to visit other presidential libraries.

Then we gritted our teeth for the death-defying ride down down down the hill... brakes engaged the whole way.  With 12 inch tires, our center of gravity is a bit unusual on these bikes.  At least that is my excuse why I found it a bit too thrilling.  We survived and it will be another memory as an adventure in and of itself.