We were back from the falls by noon, and I was restless by 12:30. A lazy search on my phone turned up a promising activity.
"Who wants to do a cave and underwater boat tour?" I asked. Maybe it was the unfolding drama in Thailand or perhaps it was just a lazy Sunday, but there were no takers.
Finally Heidi broke the crickets. "I'll go with you, Babe," she offered. And away we drove, 30 minutes to the north to a town called Lockport, the first big stop on the Erie Canal for eastbound traffic. And why was it such a destination at only 35 miles or so from the big city of Buffalo? Well, the answer is in the name. The canal drops 520 feet from Buffalo to Albany, and a full 60 of them are in Lockport. That means six locks, which could originally accommodate one boat every 3 hours. So the average back up at Lockport was three days, which was very good for the economy.
In addition, the excess water that came from constructing all those locks was redirected through a chase that went around the canal, providing enough hydropower to run three factories-- the first fire hydrant plant, a farm equipment production line, and a pulping mill.
It was those tunnels that we toured today; not an actual cave at all, but hand-excavated subterranean passages blown through the dolomite by miners and Irish orphans working as powder monkeys. Our guide was a young man by the name of Ben who was pretty knowledgeable and had a school presentation style that I found both familiar and endearing. His favorite interactive device was to introduce topics with an invitation: Anyone care to guess... how deep the water is? ...what happened to this factory? ...how many boats could fit? etc. It was simple, but effective, and he did a great job leading our group of 19 adults and 3 children.
"How old are you Ben?" Heidi asked him after slipping him a five at the end of the tour.
"Sixteen," he said.
"You were amazing!" I told him.
In 1918, an updated lock system opened, one that speeded 10 boats at a time through in less than an hour. In addition, electricity meant that the raceways were no longer necessary to power the factories, which closed or relocated, and the tunnels were drained and abandoned.
Lockport's economy declined for the next 100 years. The canal still operates today, though, mostly for leisure vessels like tour boats, house boats, kayaks, and canoes. And this year? In honor of the 100th anniversary of the new locks? Passage through Lockport is free.
And well worth the stop!
"Who wants to do a cave and underwater boat tour?" I asked. Maybe it was the unfolding drama in Thailand or perhaps it was just a lazy Sunday, but there were no takers.
Finally Heidi broke the crickets. "I'll go with you, Babe," she offered. And away we drove, 30 minutes to the north to a town called Lockport, the first big stop on the Erie Canal for eastbound traffic. And why was it such a destination at only 35 miles or so from the big city of Buffalo? Well, the answer is in the name. The canal drops 520 feet from Buffalo to Albany, and a full 60 of them are in Lockport. That means six locks, which could originally accommodate one boat every 3 hours. So the average back up at Lockport was three days, which was very good for the economy.
In addition, the excess water that came from constructing all those locks was redirected through a chase that went around the canal, providing enough hydropower to run three factories-- the first fire hydrant plant, a farm equipment production line, and a pulping mill.
It was those tunnels that we toured today; not an actual cave at all, but hand-excavated subterranean passages blown through the dolomite by miners and Irish orphans working as powder monkeys. Our guide was a young man by the name of Ben who was pretty knowledgeable and had a school presentation style that I found both familiar and endearing. His favorite interactive device was to introduce topics with an invitation: Anyone care to guess... how deep the water is? ...what happened to this factory? ...how many boats could fit? etc. It was simple, but effective, and he did a great job leading our group of 19 adults and 3 children.
"How old are you Ben?" Heidi asked him after slipping him a five at the end of the tour.
"Sixteen," he said.
"You were amazing!" I told him.
In 1918, an updated lock system opened, one that speeded 10 boats at a time through in less than an hour. In addition, electricity meant that the raceways were no longer necessary to power the factories, which closed or relocated, and the tunnels were drained and abandoned.
Lockport's economy declined for the next 100 years. The canal still operates today, though, mostly for leisure vessels like tour boats, house boats, kayaks, and canoes. And this year? In honor of the 100th anniversary of the new locks? Passage through Lockport is free.
And well worth the stop!
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