Day trip: Niagara Falls

As nice as Pirates Cove Marina is; we were ready to do something more exciting than boating green waterways and living in a damp boat due to all the rain. We rented a car and drove to Niagara Falls, NY.  Sadly we left our passports at home and weren't able to go to the Canadian side.  But we spent a day and a half enjoying the state park and a nice boutique hotel with spa tub and fireplace. AHH! We could see the fireworks from the lounge at the top of the building. The town (at least the town nearest the park) leaves much to be desired.

Today, of course, it decided to rain during the daytime instead of just at night  But we figured we'd be wet anyway from the falls and the mist.. so we set forth.  We weren't the only brave souls and it was still fairly crowded.  But not too crowded.. mostly foreign families and tours.  Every language imaginable!

The park is nice but many walkways, and the visitors center had construction going on.  But facilities aside, the park is lovely and, from the boat ride, you get a fantastic view of both the American and Canadian falls.

Everyone's seen pictures of Niagara Falls... and our photos aren't great because the day was gray and rainy.  If the day had been sunny, we might have gotten some rainbow shots.  Hopefully, though, you will see that this is scenery well worth the trip.

On "The Maid of the Mist Boat Ride... better than Disneyland by a long shot!

Maid of the Mist

American Falls with Horseshoe Falls in the distance

Bridal Veil Falls on the Cave of the Falls Walk... the falls come rushing right through your feet... which is why you get "free" sandals to take home

Sylvan Beach to Clay NY

Days along the Erie have been basically the same. Rob took lots of pictures of cool working boats, which I liked too (despite the fact that the colors are Blue and Gold (UofM colors)/

 We started seeing houses and boat traffic as we got closer to Oneida Lake.  It's so much more interesting when you can view backyards, lawns, porches, decks... and boats.  Lots more pontoon boats in this section... including many with little enclosed cabins for sleeping... some also have canvas enclosures.  I've not seen this brand of pontoon before and it seems like a perfect Erie canal boat to me.  You could do a lot of exploring AND have quite a bit of space on a boat like that.

We spent a night at Sylvan Beach on Oneida Lake.

Unusual pontoon boat

Sylvan Beach has miles of lovely sandy beach... It's an old beach/resort town with a permanent (but small) amusement park at one end.  We had a fun dinner at a very large 50's style diner (and I don't mean it was 50's decor, but that it was probably built in the 50's).  The place was packed and the food was good.

Nice beach at Sylvan Beach... Those are boats anchored close to the beach; people swimming off them

The next morning we cross Oneida Lake which is a large lake but very shallow.  Everything I've read says for boaters to pick their conditions.  It was a calm trip for us.  About halfway across the lake, though, the water got greener and greener.  Right now there is a huge algae bloom problem on Lake Erie (Toledo residents can't drink the water)... so, even though we're not close to Lake Erie, I'm thinking we will see these conditions for the rest of our time on the Erie Canal.

We stopped for the day at Pirates Cove Marina which is in Clay NY.  Its a really friendly place, with a pool and restaurant.  I took advantage of the pool while it was still sunny and hot.  That night there was a live band playing at the restaurant...but we had a big storm and didn't venture out.  

It has rained nearly every night on this leg of the trip (since NYC) and we're getting really sick of it.  At least it has only been at night!  Rob purchased an umbrella somewhere along the Hudson, and I was sure that once we started carrying an umbrella, we wouldn't need it anymore.  That talisman didn't work!

Canajoharie to Illon (Locks 14-18)

We woke up to the strangest scene... clouds on the water?  ice?  It was frothy bubbles headed downstream from the dam.  They weren't there the night before, and they dissipated within an hour.  But it was a surprising way to start the morning!

Just when we were thinking that the day would be the same as yesterday, no houses to see, no interesting birds or wildlife, very few boats on the water and lots of locks...  As we finished Lock 16, the lockmaster told us a big cruise ship was coming in behind us.  He recommended we pull over along the wall on the other side of the lock and climb up to watch the cruise ship.  Besides, he said, you probably want to get behind this ship along the way.. you probably don't want to be in the locks going west with them.

So we climbed up on the lock, watched the big Blount Cruise Ship come through.  I talked to one of the crew.  There were 52 passengers and they were cruising from Rhode Island to Chicago.  Then they were doing the reverse trip with the next set of passengers.   I recalled meeting a C-Brats couple who had retired after being captains on these boats for years.  The boats were similar to the European River Cruise ships but didn't look nearly as nice.

While I was talking to the crew person, Rob followed the lock master around asking him questions.  He was great!

Built exactly to the width of the lock

After the cruise ship passed we climbed back into our little boat, and at the next lock, lock 17, we waited a long time for the cruise ship to get in and out... because this lock was HUGE and a lot of water had to fill and drain out of it.  Suddenly we were hailed; someone calling a C-Dory!  We didn't see them at first, but behind us was a Ranger Tug 29.  He, of course, knew C-Dorys.. (a predecessor to Ranger Tugs) and we chatted back and forth for the rest of the afternoon.

Lock 17 raises the water level by 40.5 ft.  It is the largest lock in the NY canal system and it is one of the largest (tallest) locks in the world.

We shared this huge lock with the Ranger Tug.. they had bow thrusters.. no fair!

The next lock was smaller but at a prettier town... "Little Falls,, NY".  The landscape had changed to become more hilly...and very rocky.  In fact there were people rock climbing in the park there.  It must have been a huge project to cut into these rocks and divert the falls to a power plant here.

Rock Climbers

At various points along the way we came upon these Guillotine Gates.  They are not part of the locks but a separate water control system between the locks.  It looks exactly like a big Guillotine and it is a bit freaky passing under them.

We said goodbye to our Ranger Tug companions and went on to the little town of Illon NY.  There is a small marina/RV park here which is really very nice....except that the water in this section of the river is full of flotsam and jetsam... just filled with pieces of floating trees, slimy water and floating junk.  Hopefully this is just a part of the river where this stuff gets "stuck" and we will move onto prettier water tomorrow.