In a little under a month, KLS, Jim and myself will be crusing along the Erie canal in a rented houseboat!
The Erie canal is a man-made waterway that connects Buffalo in the extreme northwest of New York state, to New York City. It was opened almost 200 years ago and for a long while was the most important transportation thoroughfare in the state (and was instrumental in making NY the most powerful state in the country). Obviously roads, trains and air transport have mostly obsoleted the canal for commercial use, but it remains popular for recreational boaters.
Much like the British canalboats, people worked and lived on the canal in a particular type of narrow boat. Today a company near Rochester manufactures their own houseboats in the vintage style, and rents them out for 4 or 7 day cruises. I’ve known that such rentals exist for a long time, and this year finally decided it was time to try one for ourselves!
We’ll leave from very close to J&J’s house in Rochester, and cruise at a maximum speed of 6 miles a day. The rental company sent me a wonderful packet of information so we can plan the trip, and as of right now we’re probably going to head east on the canal through a more rural area, including a nature reserve. We’ll leisurely cruise for two days and then turn around and come back! The boats themselves are quite luxurious! We rented the largest they have (42 foot) that has two ‘state rooms’ (both with queen beds), a dining area, fully-equipped kitchen and a shower with hot water! The boats also include a grill for cooking on the deck, and some bicycles in case we want to moor up and explore. All we need to bring is some food and games 🙂
Here is a newspaper article about a canal cruise rental. Needless to say, you can expect to read all about our own adventures on this very blog 🙂
