073: Erie Canal Part 5: Back Again

 Lockport is the end of the road as far as locks managed by the New York Canal System, though not the end of the Erie Canal.   We decided to begin our journey back to the east to catch some towns that we passed by, but not before Nancy got a picture of me with statues of former lock staff from the early 1900’s, can you tell which one is me?

The next day we headed east to Holley, but first we did a short stop at Medina, tying up to the free wall (power, water, bathrooms, pump out).   Medina has two main attractions: the historic downtown of late 19^th century buildings and the Railroad/Model Train Museum.  Either one makes it “stop worthy” but both together make this a must stop.  Many of the buildings feature the sandstone that this area is famous for, and the Museum has great train artifacts and one of the finest model train layouts I’ve ever seen.  Just fantastic.    After our visit we had lunch at the wall and did a quick pump out before heading out again.

 

We passed by a small barge doing tree/log removal from the EC, and we thanked them for their service!

 

We pulled up to Holley’s free wall  which is part of lovely park.  One of the nicest settings on the EC for tie up.  After getting Hygge squared away we took a short bike ride to the Holley Canal Falls Park which is officially one of our favorite spots so far on our trip.   

The next day we continued East and made it to Fairport.   Like Pittsford, Fairport’s tie up wall is in the center of the Village action, there is just more of it (action) in Fairport.   There are lots of restaurants, bars, and shops all within easy walking distance.  

 

Sals:

We reluctantly left Fairport the following day for a short run to Newark.  We briefly considered a day stop at Palmyra to visit some of its museums, but we needed a “downtime afternoon” to get caught up on laundry, and boat chores, so we motored by it.  We did take the time to pull up to a small floating dock to explore the remains of the original Lock #60.

Newark  was the perfect stop.   We got our chores done and caught the first night of “Music on the Erie" and listened to an eclectic blend of rock and roll and outlaw country music.  And as a bonus, we got another visit from the indominable Bob Stopper who took a picture of us at the wall, and leaving the lock the next day:

 

We left Newark the next morning and headed back to Baldwinsville thus ending our two-week side trip.  As a bonus, we got another concert, this time at their lock-side park.

 


In summary, we really enjoyed the Western Half of the Erie Canal, it has more of a “Low bridge, everybody down, Low bridge, we must be getting near a town, You can always tell your neighbor; you can always tell your pal. If he's ever navigated on the Erie Canal” feel to it than does the Eastern Half. 

Dave

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