Day 88-89. July 13-14. On to Rome NY. 20.7 Nm. Total. 1914. Then on to Sylvan Beach. Nm. Total

 Leaving Frankfort, we continued in the dredged canal section of the Erie Canal, leaving the larger hills behind.  

The train tracks have returned close to the canal and we’ve seen both Amtrak and freight trains barrel past us this morning.  Lock 19 has a train bridge just before it and we encountered a freight train going over it just before we entered the lock.  (A short video is below. ) we rose 21 feet in Lock 19 and as we left we encountered another dredging operation.  Luckily the equipment and boats were positioned so we could easily get past.

We traveled through this straight section of the canal to the city of Utica.  The city was south of the canal, so we only saw remnants of a few industrial areas.

At one point, we encountered a flock of wood ducks who we chased in front of us for awhile before they figured out that going closer to shore would be best!

After Utica, we passed through Lock 20 and rose 20 feet and another Guard Gate.  At this lock there were two old canal boats stored on shore, right next to a new canal boat in the canal.  Made for a nice comparison to show how the canal boats changed over the years.

Today we will stop in Rome, NY to walk to visit Fort Stanwix, a restored Revolutionary fort.  We pulled up to the city dock wall and plugged into electric and again it’s for free!

Rome is known for its copper, bronze and wire, as well as Revere Ware stainless pots and pans.

Fort Schuyler was originally built by the British to protect the important trade route between Wood Creek and the Mohawk River. This route was originally a portage route between the two bodies of water.  The British abandoned the fort and it began to deteriorate.  In the early 1770’s patriots convinced George Washington of the importance of the fort site for defending the Mohawk valley and the fort was repaired and improved and renamed Fort Stanwix.

The British with their Indian allies, the Mohawk and Seneca raided the still to be completed fort in 1777.  Seeing the heavy fortification, the British realized they could not take it by force and dug in to starve the “rebels” out.  Word of the forts plight reached a nearby fort and reinforcements were sent.  This force came upon the abandoned British and Indian camp and set to plunder the camp.  The Indians hearing of their camp’s destruction,  left the siege and the British were forced to retreat.  Clever manipulation of the number of troops coming to reinforce the fort were leaked to the British.  This information made the Indians pull their support, forcing the British to concede the battle.   This was the first of a series of battles won by the “Americans” in the Mohawk Valley.

Bill got into reenacting life at the fort!

Recommend if you visit Rome you take in the fort and the museum.

Day 89 July 13. On to Sylvan Beach.       Nm.  12.5      Total 1927

At Rome we are at the highest point of the Erie Canal, having gone up 425 feet in the canal so far. After getting a few chores done and we headed through Guard Gate 7 leaving Rome.  Will tackle two locks today to get to our destination which will  lowers us to the level of Lake Oneida, a twenty mile long and 3-4 mile wide lake which is part of the Erie Canal system.

At Lock 21 we were lowered 25 feet.  We had quite an audience watch us lock through.  A group of about 50 bikers participating in the Albany Erie Canal race had stopped at the lock.  We got cheers as we left the lock!

A half mile later we locked through Lock 22, again dropping 25 feet in water level.  The lock master was a friendly fellow handing out blueberries his wife picked to the boaters locking through.

After the lock, the canal is a pretty straight shot west with one final turn to the left as we approached Lake Oneida.  We pulled up to the free dock wall in Sylvan Beach on the east shore of the lake and secured the boat for the night.   

Sylvan Beach is a typical tacky resort town with lots of restaurants, beach homes and seasonal rental homes and motels and a small amusement park geared for young children and arcade games for the older kids.

As we walked around town and discovered that it was Pirate Weekend.  Lots of people dressed as pirates and some British re-enactors who are going to “fight” the pirates sometime tomorrow. The re- enactors actually rowed and sailed a skiff from Syracuse to here and camped along the way.

Also there was also Classic Car show and Bill found a few he liked.  He also made friends with the local bear.

Also walked on the beach and viewed the lake and went back later to take in the sunset over the lake.