HELLO SYRACUSE

After a 49 mile day it was nice waking up knowing that we weren’t going anywhere. Bob attended to the engine adding oil, tightening belts and checking other levels. I went for a walk in the cemetery that is adjacent to the canal. Lots of old tomb stones, including many from the Baldwin family for whom the town is named. Interesting that there are many family sections and then the individual stones only have the first name of the individual on it – many times even without dates. There was one in particular that caught my eye. It just said “Nettie, wife”.

Hugh suggested that we have a field trip into Syracuse. There is a canal museum and Lakeview Amphitheater (much like Blossom) that was hosting Phillip Phillips and the Goo Goo Dolls. We figured, why not? So first we had a short dinghy ride (we wanted to check out the motor and make sure it was working after trailing us for 11 days) which went great.

We Ubered to the canal museum which was a pleasant surprise. Even though we have been traveling on the canal and reading about it for more than a week, we learned some new things and the hands on displays were engaging. The museum is built in an original “weigh lock” building from the original canal – which ran right through Syracuse.

They had a life size replica canal boat that you could walk through. We learned that Syracuse was the heart of the fledgling American banking system in the early 1800s – a response to the need to deposit the significant proceeds from canal tolls.

We then walked on to Clinton Square – Governor Clinton, the visionary behind the canal concept was in office at the time the canal was built and the canal is referred to as Clinton’s ditch. It was a bit depressing as there were not many people out even though it was a Friday afternoon - and the square itself, other than the Civil War soldier’s monument, leaves much to be desired. It was the site of one of the locks in the early days of the canal. There were plaques that described the pivotal role Syracuse played in the underground railroad.

Walked on to a more hip area (can’t remember the name) for dinner at a a brew pub (Empire Brewing Company) which was ok and then on to the concert. This Uber thing has gone very well and is very reasonable. It is relatively new in the small towns and yesterday two of the three Uber drivers were women – very interesting. They seemed to love doing it and having the interaction with their riders. The concert was great - good people watching and a nice break from being on the boat. I loved seeing Phillips, since we watched him win American Idol. The venue was just like Blossom – we had seats inside the pavilion – the lawn area was pretty full for the concert. Ubered back to the boat.

We will spend one more night in Baldwinsville because we want to cross Oneida Lake on Monday when the wind forecast is for 2-4 knots. The books all say that Oneida can really kick-up and get ugly if it is windy – 5-6 foot waves. We don’t want to take that chance. There is a walking tour of Baldwinsville and I am reading a great book “Before I go to Sleep”– enough for now. Hope you enjoy! Bob added a short paragraph in the Tech section about the locks.