Erie Canal - The Trip back East - Tonawanda to Syracuse - August 2008
Having reached the western end of the Erie canal and successfully finding our way to bathe in the falls of Niagara, it was time to turn around and head back east. It had taken us five weeks to make the trip from Waterford, at the eastern end of the canal, to Tonawanda, the western terminus of the canal. The return trip would be accomplished in a neck-snapping 3 weeks. That's mule neck-snapping speed - for those who are wondering.
On the way back east, we visited many of the small towns that we had missed on the way west, including the tiny town of Holley. It may be tiny, but Holley is one of the prettiest towns along the way. There is a park with a wonderful waterfall a short walk from the canal. Jeremy had been joking that we were visiting all of the 'Podunk' towns along the way. I told his to 'STOP - that's not nice!' - That was until we found this sign indicating that an Italian neighborhood of Holley was actually fondly known as 'Podunk'. Guess we finally found the real 'Podunk' town!
That's me, getting in a 'cat fix' during a walk around town. So many of the towns on the western half of the Erie are centered around the canal - most with a free town dock welcoming transient boaters to stop and spend a day or two. We spend a night at this dock in Spencerport enjoying a concert put on by a local band in the canal-side gazebo.
There are only a few locks on the western section of the canal - but there are lots of lift bridges similar to the one in Spencerport shown below. They are neat in that they have accommodated pedestrians by including steps that connect to the walkway when the bridge is in the 'up' position. I guess they figured they had to have the tower there anyway to support the bridge as it lifts, so why not build steps up and allow pedestrians to cross while the bridge is up. No, the don't allow you to 'ride the bridge' as it goes up and down!
We stopped in Nyack again on the way back east. Free laundry in the little block-house by the canal - included in our free dockage with free power. Need I say more?? The painters Chip Miller and Corky Goss were finishing up a mural on the wall near the town dock while we were there. They have included a picture of an 1800's era canal boat on the side of the wall under the bridge.
They have also included a picture of Jesse Hawley shown in his jail cell. Hawley was a flour merchant in Geneva, New York who became an early and major proponent of building of the Erie Canal. Struggling to receive shipments and make deliveries over the wretched roadways of the era, Hawley imagined the canal as early as 1805. Eventually, in 1807, Hawley's difficulties in securing reasonably priced transportation drove him to debtors prison for twenty months. While in prison, writing under the name Hercules, he published fourteen essays in the Genesee Messenger on the idea of a canal from the Hudson river to Lake Erie. The research he did while in jail, together with his analysis and proposals he published formed the basis for the plan that was eventually adopted.
There was a Fireman and Rescue Worker's show going on in town while we were there. Lots of fire trucks and equipment on display from all over. On of the pieces of equipment they were showing off was this airboat that one of the local fire departments had recently purchased. OK - now I was wondering about this as well. Turns out that there is a large swampy area near one of the towns and they needed an airboat to be able to get into the swamp for emergencies.
We took a bit of a detour down the Cayuga-Seneca canal to visit Seneca Falls and also see a bit more of the Finger Lakes area. Soon after we turned onto this canal, we were greeted by the No Wake sign shown below. Our cruising guides said they were really intolerant of any boat wakes in this area, I guess it's true!
We spent a couple of nights in the town of Seneca Falls. They have a huge dock - but it's also a very popular place - so we were lucky to find a spot. We planned to come in on a weekend, maybe not the best idea in terms of finding space at the dock, but that's when they run the tour bus to the local vineyards.
2370 miles from Nappa Valley - or do they mean Napa Valley ??? At least they spelled Bordeaux right - I don't think the French would be amused. I saw these 'two swans a swimming' in a lake at one of the vineyards.
Two girls from the 'Booze Bus.' Yep, that's a good idea, step a little CLOSER to the electric fence. And I'd play with the goose, everyone knows that they don't bite. I can only say that alcohol was definitely involved.
Back in Seneca Falls, we saw this beautiful church on the side of the canal.
Seneca Falls is where the suffragette movement got its start in this country. It is the home of the Women's Rights National Historic Park as well as the Women's Hall of Fame.
The seed for the first Woman's Rights Convention was planted in 1840, when Elizabeth Cady Stanton met Lucretia Mott at the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London. The conference refused to seat any of the women delegates because of their sex. Stanton, the young bride of an antislavery agent, and Mott, a Quaker preacher and veteran of reform, talked then of calling a convention to address the condition of women. Eight years later, during a social meeting between Stanton, Mott, and three of their friends, they decided that the time had come to hold the convention.
Stanton drew up the Declaration of Sentiments that would define the meeting. Taking the Declaration of Independence as her guide, she wrote that "all men and women had been created equal" and went on to list eighteen "injuries and usurpations" -the same number of charges leveled against the King of England-"on the part of man toward woman." Stanton also drafted eleven resolutions, making the argument that women had a right to equality in all spheres. The ninth resolution held forth the radical assertion that it was the duty of women to secure for themselves the right to vote. Stanton afterwards recalled that a shocked Lucretia Mott exclaimed, "Why, Lizzie, thee will make us ridiculous." Stanton stood firm. She understood that the power to make the laws was the right through which all other rights could be secured.
The convention was publicized by a small, unsigned notice placed in the Seneca County Courier. In spite of the minimal notice, a crowd of about three hundred people, including forty men, came from miles around for the meeting. Lucretia's husband, James Mott presided over the meeting. All of the resolutions were passed unanimously except for woman suffrage, a strange idea and scarcely a concept designed to appeal to the predominantly Quaker audience, whose male contingent commonly declined to vote. Frederick Douglass, a former slave and now editor of the Rochester North Star was there, and he eventually swayed the gathering into agreeing to the resolution. One hundred women and men signed the Seneca Falls Declaration-although subsequent criticism caused some of them to remove their names.
Women finally obtained the right to vote in 1920, seventy-two years after that first meeting. Only one signer of the Seneca Falls Declaration-Charlotte Woodward, a young worker in a glove factory at the time of the convention, lived long enough to see the right to vote established. While she worked all her life for the right to vote, she never voted herself. Charlotte was ill on election day in 1920, and passed away the following year.
Stanton was introduced to Susan B. Anthony by her friend Amelia Bloomer in 1851. The statue shown in the picture to the right below commemorates this meeting. Amelia was fond of wearing pants rather than long dresses. They got the nickname of 'Bloomers' after Amelia's name.
The statues in the above pictures are part of a statue garden that runs alongside the canal. These were many other interesting statues we saw in the garden - including those shown below.
Leaving Seneca Falls and the Finger Lakes, we headed east again to Baldwinsville. We met up with Rick and Mary Ann Barletta again, the couple that we had met when traveling west on the canal several weeks earlier. Rick was working at the New York State Fair which was going on when we were there, and offered to take us one day while we were in town.
We loved our day at the fair. It was actually the first 'state' fair we've ever been to. We've been to many county fairs in the past - but this was much larger.
There was a Butter sculpture of the Cow jumping over the Moon. We also saw this very regal looking eagle in an exhibit of raptors and hawks.
We saw this very interesting senior chorus, complete with a dummy. No really, I couldn't make this stuff up. We also saw a horse show where the mare shown in the photo below won the Best of Show. She was up against some beautiful stallions and geldings, but she stole the show - and the blue ribbon. What I didn't realize, was that for this competition, the handlers 'walked' or rather ran with the horses similar to what you see in a dog show. Of course it's a bit different trying to run with a horse than with a dog, especially when you need to stop them in front of the judge.
There was also a wonderful quilt and crafts show at the fair, These first two contain many Jinny Beyer fabrics. I know, because I have many of them...
This was an interesting quilt - containing blocks with 'folded flowers' - three dimensional flowers created by folding and manipulating fabric.
Two more quilts that I liked.
Uploaded November 13, 2008