Needed a change of scenery

June 23-26

Our Brewerton stop was enjoyable but I needed a change of scenery. Our guidebook indicated the town of Phoenix located at Lock 1 of the Oswego had wall space and docks, so off to Phoenix we go.  Scott and Jean who we met a while back in Little Falls were there and helped us tie up on a wall as all the dock space was taken. We settled in hooked up our portable generator and were completing a few house keeping items when a guy sticks his head in the door, hey I'm leaving in about an hour, want my space on the dock?  You won't have to run your generator as there is electricity on the dock, Without hesitation we thanked him disconnected the generator, restarted the engines and watched for him to move!  Now we have a table and chairs at our spot, water, electricity, and are beside the park! This town has done a phenomenal job with their water front for boaters and it is all free! We had shower and restroom facilities, a group of seniors that came out every morning to empty garbage, water flowers, even wipe off the tables!  There is also a teen group of volunteers that call themselves "brats" who help out the seniors, and will pick up meals from local restaurants for the boaters. We were here for four days but there was enough to see and do to keep us busy! The mayor even came down one evening. We met some very nice people who live in Florida in the winter and on their boat in Brewerton for the summer. They came to get a good spot on the docks for the strawberry festival on Friday. Sounded like fun but I hope we were on our way by then.

                Our initial spot tied to the wall. There are picnic tables on the other side of the fence.

            The remaining cement pieces from a trolley bridge that crossed the canal.

                                       The great fire that burned down most of Phoenix

                                                      Our trip from Brewerton to Phoenix

                          A distillery had recently opened. They also had about 40 kinds of beer. I enjoyed                                 doing a little taste testing of bourbon and tried cruse juice.

                                             

                                          The docks, you can see the fly bridge of Laughter

                     The third graders at the town elementary paint rocks and place them here. Be sure to
                                            read the sign as the rocks are based on a book.

                                                    Can you believe how nice these docks are!

              A local specialty, a large salad in a warm bread bowl. Took us two days to get it all eaten

                The building on the left of the photo is the original bridge tenders building. The bridge is gone but the mechanics of the lift are still in it. It is also a little museum dedicated to the native Americans from this area.

                                Looking out at the boats from the top floor of the museum

                                   The barrel used by the gentleman below to go over the dam at Lock 1.

         A few of the brats and their leader in their office, which is also in the museum building

                                                                A view of the park

                                                                           The park shelter

Hurry Upand Wait

June 19-22

The plan was to get up early, leave Rome and spend a full day at Sylvan Beach, which is on the shores of Oneida Lake. I was looking forward to a walk on the beach and some shopping. A weather check quickly changed those plans. A heavy rain storm was coming in on Thursday and the winds would switch around to the West. If we didn't get across the lake today we could be stuck on this side until Monday or Tuesday. We still got up early but headed the 27 miles across Oneida Lake to Brewerton instead. Mild South winds and sunshine were our backdrop for the ride across the lake and it was a smooth beautiful ride. Apparently the 10 other Loopers that we saw tied to the wall at Sylvan Beach also saw the weather report because before long we had a parade of boats that crossed. Three of us tied up to the public free dock in Brewerton the others passed us by for local marinas. The rain on Thursday was brutal. It rained hard but by late afternoon the sun was back out and so were the fisherman on the dock. It seems they are catching crappie and bass during the day and after dark they fish with head lamps for walleye. Its pretty cool, shining the headlamp in the water makes the walleyes eyes glow. You drop know your bait and hope they take it. The walleye hide under the docks and travel back and forth along the walls. Some nights there would be 7-10 guys out here. How many did we catch you ask?  Not a one! A little disappointing to say the least.
We have enjoyed docktails with our fellow boaters, walked to the neighboring marinas, stopped in a couple of restaurants, given a tour of our boat to three 9 year old boys who asked if we lived in it,  and visited with many of the locals who came to dock and dine up at the restaurant. We have really enjoyed our stay and are happy we didn't go to a marina. We would have missed a lot if we did. We stayed longer than planned because the Oswego Canal in front of us and the Erie back behind us closed due to high water from the rains. Apparently they had nearly four inches of rain in 2 hours North of us causing flash flooding. In fact one of the little towns was almost completely flooded. So we wait, again.

                                          Loopers along the wall at Sylvan beach

                           A restaurant and amusement park can be seen as we passed Sylvan

                                                                    Oneida Lake

                                               Tom and peanut trying their hand at fishing

                              Our boat tied to the free dock. Photo taken from the bridge

                                           A view of the lake behind us from the boat

                                                       Todays path across the lake

                                                                  Our spot on the dock

                         Fort Brewerton museum housing the artifacts from the fort which is gone

When in Rome

June 18, 2019

Next stop Rome, New York that is. Three locks and we arrived at Bellamy Harbor park.  The wall had wooden poles vertically and railroad ties horizontally against the cement wall. This made getting off and on the boat a bit of a challenge. The park itself was really nice and well kept. In the middle of town sits a replica of Fort Stanwix. Rebuilt exactly where it once stood. Fort Stanwix is a reproduction of a Revolutionary War wooden fort. General John Stanwix built this fort in 1758 to protect the important portage between the Mohawk River and Wood Creek Under siege by the British in August 1777.The commander was able to hold out against a force three times as large as his. General Herkimer was ambushed trying to reach Fort Stanwix, to provide relief. The siege was broken when General Benedict Arnold approached with a small band of reinforcements. The British were deceived into thinking it was a larger band and withdrew to Canada. It was an easy walk to the Fort and worth the walk.
The construction of the Erie Canal started near Rome in July of 1817 at a place now called the Erie Canal Village. The village has been reproduced and provides an insight in to life in the early days of the Erie Canal. Unfortunately it is only open Wednesday through Saturday so we were unable to visit it. Maybe next summer.

                   This is a good representation of what happens when the water is let out of the lock.
This lock is the last to lift us. At Rome we reached the summit of the Erie, 128m above Sea level. The flow of water will be toward Lake Ontario after this so down locking will be the norm.

                                                No explanation needed, just pretty

                                      We have been playing dodge a tree since entering the Erie

                  This is the only sign of wildlife we have seen. Others have seen deer and eagles, for us mallards, lots of them.

                                            Off to the side of the Mohawk is a lock to the original Erie canal that
                                    still stands.

                        High water makes for lower bridge height. Another hold your breath bridge

                        They were dredging and told us to stay close to them as we pass.

                         The dredging pipes snaked down and finally on to land dumping the silt.

       Just after we stopped I saw this gentleman get down on one knee. Couldn't tell if he was
        proposing or begging for forgiveness.

                                        This Catholic Church was built in the 18th century!

                         Rome also had a 911 memorial. These glass towers lit up at night

                   If you can zoom in you will see that Rome was known as little Italy because of the number of Italians that settled here.

Sorry this is upside down. Didn't realize it until I already uploaded it. But you can see what we were tied up too.