Low bridge, everybody down
If you grew up in New York State you probably sang this song about the Erie Canal in grade school. Hubby and I were so tempted to sing this song on Saturday as we took a ride on the Colonial Belle to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary, but we didn’t. We thought that was better left to the bachelorette party on the boat! We promised ourselves when we celebrated our 10th anniversary with a Mexican cruise, that we would take a cruise every 5 years. Well, that was before the kiddos came along and now it’s just more complicated. So we decided we’d cheat a little and take a (much) smaller cruise!
I’ve lived near the canal all my life, but have never taken a ride on it, never seemed necessary after learning about it in school. How beautiful and peaceful it was! The captain educated us as we motored along, but only on the highlights of the ride, so as not to ruin any intimate conversations people might be having. It was so neat learning and now we wish our kiddos were older and could handle being on a boat for a while without trying to jump off it! Here are some photos with descriptions that might be enough to make you want to take a cruise on the canal and/or teach your kiddos about them!
There are many bridges over a canal. Some are very low, some higher, depending on where on the canal you are. The pic to the far left is actually a lift bridge, the only one in North America, I believe. When it’s raised all the way up a boat can pass underneath and people can still walk over the bridge. Very cool. The pic to the right is us directly under a bridge. Some bridges are so low they require you to stay seated. Also, the bottom of bridges are dangerous with sharp edges that can take a hand or even head right off, so they are very strict about everyone sitting when going under a bridge.
The canal is actually running water like a river, but at times is so calm it looks like it’s not moving. There is a lot of wildlife along it’s banks, like blue heron, deer, frogs, and ducks as well as lots of fish swimming down there. You can fish the canal, but you cannot swim in it.
In the pic to the left you can see the lock we were entering. At the far end were the doors, which always have a little water pouring in. The boat enters the lock and is secured, the lock doors to the back of the boat close and valves are opened to let water begin to fill the chamber. Once the water level on both sides of the lock is even, the lock doors to the front of the boat can be opened and the boat can continue on it’s way. In this manner a boat on the canal can traverse across upstate NY even though there is a drastic change in elevation along the way.
At the top of this particular lock there is a larger area in the canal, almost like a small lake. Our boat turned around here and re-entered the lock. This was a neat lock, because there was a traffic bridge that crossed the canal at just about the same level as the top of the lock. Can you imagine while crossing it, looking out your passenger window and seeing a huge boat right there waiting to be lowered? Anyway, the whole process was reversed and the boat was lowered so we could continue our boat ride home.
When our boat cleared the lock you could see two big circles in a side area of the canal, which was where the water was being released as the boat was lowered in the lock.
We took many more photos, but I think these tell the story well enough. Riding on the canal can be pretty chilly, but with someone you love to cuddle up with it can be a very nice, educational, romantic outing if you go in the evening. I know this area offers many canal rides during the daytime as well. If your kiddos are old enough to enjoy something like this I encourage you to give it a try!
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