Having learned to pay better attention to contradictory and
sometimes minimal navigation aids we stopped for a pump out and diesel in a
fairly narrow channel but managed to spin the boat in reverse into the dock
without hitting anything. I did fail to previously mention one of our scarier
pump outs and diesel ups at Waddels in Tonawanda where depth perception
prevented us from realizing that his dock was in a ‘u shaped’ trough with a
floating boathouse behind us and pylons for a bridge in front. Adding in the 30
knot winds forcing us on the dock and a right handed prop that pulls us left in
reverse, we had an extremely exciting time de-docking and came within two feet
of creating a new window for the houseboat.
Then while we arrived late in Baldwinsville
Friday night, we met some nice local folks on the dock in a trawler (Captain
Mike and Admiral Becky) who helped with our docking lines and then we had a
terrific dinner at the Lock 24 Grill just a short distance from the dock, and
then this morning a true experience at the B’ville Diner
. One of the things we
have noticed is the generally reasonable prices at restaurants (a surprise for
us considering it is ‘east coast’), which has made us realize how expensive a
tourist town we live in of Traverse City. But as before quality consistency is
minimal as the diner was a unique place but served boring breads and the hash
browns were prepackaged squares like MacDonalds, thus relying obviously on
their “cute factor” rather than food quality. It is the first time that Jay has
not even eaten one bite of the potatoes, and neither did Cindy. Even the eggs
were bland. But the Lock 24 Grill did all very well – one of the best
cheeseburgers I have ever had and one of the few restaurants that still serves
a salad with a main entrée at no additional charge. So okay we are foodies and that is what we
write about.
After crossing Lake Oneida, which reminded us of Lake Geneva
in Wisconsin, and experiencing our only two ascending locks of the trip east on
the Erie we have arrived in Rome, NY.
This is the site of the beginning of the
Erie Canal construction and Ft. Stanix, but at a mile away from the canal we could
not visit and really could have used bikes; but made the decision not to bring
them thinking there would be rentals available all along the canal since there
are significant lengths of original towpath that are now bikes trails ,
however, that is not the case. Something to think about adding next time or on
our return.
So tonight a quiet
evening along the canal with train whistles frequently heard, but no electric
for heat. Patches and Pounce are into
their routines, he sleeps all day on the warm but engine vibrating steps and
she loves our bed.
The weather has been wonderful with crisp fall days and
little rain so our luck holds so far.
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