Erie Canal - St. Lawrence River

Here is our route from Little Falls, NY to St. Lawrence River near Alexandria, NY. This blog stops at Cape Vincent, NY the first stop we made in the St. Lawrence River. More to come…

The body of BIG water is Lake Ontario.

Friday, July 5. We decided to stay one more day at Little Falls to do a grocery run, laundry, pump-out, and add water. It was a hot day so we used the marina’s lounge for air conditioning.

Saturday, July 6. We left early and went through locks 18 - 22 and arrived at the Sylvan Beach free wall-43NM. Again—hot! We walked to a nearby restaurant-Crazy Clam. As it was on the water -right by the entrance to Lake Oneida, I thought it would cool down. Nope! We melted.

Sunday, July 7. We moved our boat under the bridge after a boat left to take advantage of shade. Darth planned on changing the oil later in the morning.

Shade arriving later in the day.

We received alot of inquiries from fellow loopers asking if there would be room for them to stay at the wall. Since this was the end of 4th of July weekend, we thought they would all have a spot. We joked that I was becoming a human traffic cone. In the end, all boats that wanted to stay were able to.

After all were settled, Darth and I walked to the Canal Cafe and sat with Betsy & Joe (Lady Bets)—they were already at the bar. This was a yummy Italian restaurant that served wine in a chicken.

There is a story about the chicken pitchers—dating back to the early Renaissance period in the Republic of Florence. Two italian families were rivals. The Medici were the most wealthy and powerful family in the republic, with their only rivals being the Pazzi family. The Pazzi were trying to take power the only way they knew how – by getting rid of them all!

The Pazzi decided they would succeed the night of a party the Medici threw—and sneak up on the family after they fell asleep.

They would have succeeded, except they had to cross a yard full of roosters to get into the village, and at the sound of the intruders, the roosters began to crow in such a frenzy that it woke the Medici family and their guards!

The Medici’s ordered their artisans to create ceramic copies of the roosters to be used as wine pitchers, and gave the pitchers to all the peasants of the village as a symbol of good luck in warding off danger. That’s why it’s now an Italian tradition to give a rooster pitcher to friends or family as a symbol of good luck and to protect them from danger!

We learn so much on this trip!

Monday, July 8. This was a very calm morning at the Sylvan Beach dock, we pulled out early to get the best water as we went across Lake Oneida.

We love early morning cruises. We were heading north, destination was only 19 miles away to Ess Kay Marina in Brewerton, NY.

I didn’t get everyone by a long shot. This was a huge docktail/pizza/whiskey tasting looper gathering. The next day, some of us would be heading north on the Oswego Canal, while others will head west and continue on the Erie Canal.

Tuesday, July 9. We left Ess Kay Marina and headed North up the Oswego Canal to Phoenix, NY.

After arriving in Phoenix, NY we walked up to the local ice cream shop —of course! This is lemon cheesecake, highly recommended by the young lady serving.

In Phoenix, the city dock is ran (with supervision) by the BridgeBrats. A young boy about 8 ran to the dock and offered to catch our rope. I thought maybe he was with his parents until another boy about 10 came up as well. Then a gentleman explained the BridgeBrats program to us.

This program was started 15 years ago by a beloved community member Cathy Lee, who passed away earlier this year. The kids learn leadership and teamwork skills as the older kids teach the younger ones the importance of keeping the park grounds clean and welcome visitors.

This is the book exchange library constructed to match the dock house. Phoenix does not charge to dock here—although donations are accepted.

Wednesday, July 10. Soooo Tornado watch is one level(we have seen before)—this says Tornado Warning. We walked to nearby boaters to find out exactly what does this mean—It means there was a tornado spotted. Gosh I feel for folks that deal with these—the uncertainty would not be easy.

Thursday, July 11. We began our day with lock 2 just down from the Phoenix dock through lock 8 and stayed in Oswego, NY. Long day.

Friday, July 12. We had an easy day cruising our first Great Lake. Lake Ontario to Cape Vincent, NY up the St. Lawrence River. 43NM altogether.

We found out we arrived during the annual French Festival. Originally we hoped for a spot on the town dock but it was full, so we took a spot on the free fishermens dock. The woman sitting on the dock was painting.

The Village of Cape Vincent was incorporated with a population of 1218 on June 14, 1853, making it one of the younger communities in the State of New York. We walked the streets and there are many picturesque homes along the way. This was one of the prettiest small towns we have seen so far on our loop.

The ladies in the water are at least our age. They swim every day in the summer off the dock we were staying at. The water is clear and surprisingly warm. Yes, I took a dip as well. : )

Saturday, July 12. We walked to the pancake breakfast offered at the Community Church. It was part of the French Festival’s festivities of the day. We took in everything!

Back at the boat we were greeted with another local.

Taking a selfie I’m trying to show the crowd attending the parade. Chairs were lined up and down the street —some were 4 rows deep.

One of many marching bands.

Spiderman—on the drums.

Too many parade shots? This was the Chamber of Commerce volunteers that organize the French Festival events.

Our boat neighbors. We enjoyed their company and got a tour of their sailboat. It’s surprising how big and roomy it was inside.

The folks from the town gathered along the dock to watch the fireworks —we really loved this stop.

And finally a quick update to Mr. (last blog). Mrs. has been keeping us posted via a central site. Mr. is showing positive signs with progress of recovery. It’s just very slow. Mrs. is hanging in there and I will close this blog with her words again. Hug your loved ones.