October 23, 2024: Heading North to Canada!
We are scheduled to go to Kingston, Ontario where we will board for boat for the four day cruise on the St. Lawrence Seaway. First a bit of trivia: Syracuse was the salt mining capital of the region and Rochester was noted for milling grain.
Brian managed to secure a ride on the Erie Canal for us on our way north. We arrived in Pittsford, NY (population 30,000) at 10:30 where we will go on the noon departure of the “Sam Patch” for a 1.5 hour tour of the Erie Canal. We had to kill the intervening time by grabbing a sandwich at a local restaurant and sitting on the shores of the canal, watching the world go by. Luckily it was another lovely sunny day.
History lesson of the day: the Erie Canal is often called the “first superhighway” Completed in 1825 it linked the Hudson River to the Great Lakes and provided a lower cost of shipping goods to the Midwest. Costs of shipping dropped 95% when it opened, plus reduced shipping time significantly. It is 351 miles long. The original canal was 40 ft. There are 35 locks on it; the original lock width was 15 feet wide but subsequent modifications took it to the present 45 foot width. It was in active use until 1994 although its peak use occurred in the 1850s. Trains and subsequently trucks brought its demise.
We had a leisure 1.5 hour ride on the “Sam Patch” river boat with active narration about the canal and its history. We even experienced passing through one of the locks (twice). We were curious about the name of the boat and learned it was named after a daredevil who made a living (albiet, a short one-he died at the age of 30 on a Friday the 13th jump) jumping off a waterfall with a pet bear cub.
While we were on the canal cruise Brian took the 8 passengers who joined us on day 1 to Rochester as they would be heading to Albany (They had taken the river cruise the previous week). Shortly after 1:30 we were on our way to the Canadian border, heading to Kingston, Ontario where our ship was located. The border crossing was quick as they have a special lane for trucks and buses and there was no line. We did have to exit the bus to pass through immigration but we cleared in less than 20 minutes.
By 5:30 we arrived at our home for the next four days, the “Canadian Empress” where we quickly and efficiently boarded. After a quick briefing we were escorted to our rooms where our luggage was waiting. At 6:30 we joined the other travelers who had independently booked the cruise. Most were from Canada although several couples are Americans. There was even a couple from the UK. The evening started with an introduction of the crew on the ship. Trevor, the purser and cruise director (most seemed to wear two hats) was a hoot!
Dinner tonight was scheduled for 7:30 and was a winner- prime rib and all the trimmings. Beer and wine accompanied the meal.
For interested parties there was a trivia contest held after dinner. We stayed and two other couples joined us. We competed against one other team and came out victorious because I knew what the name is for -273 degree C? I did! Do you?
Tomorrow morning we leave port to explore the 1,000 islands region.