Thursday – Day 41 – 9/11/08

Burrrrrr…………….another cold morning in the low forties! The cold doesn’t last long, for as soon as the sun comes up the air temperature warms, and it becomes quite pleasant outside. Today was a perfect fall day with a clear blue sky with a little wind requiring a light wrap! The trees and vegetation are just starting to turn color. Hopefully we will see the fall colors at their peak when we get to Vermont in four weeks. At the last moment Barb and I took a detour and left the Erie Canal and entered the Genesee River which took us north to Rochester, NY. What a great decision we made! The approach to the city is incredible. In a matter of four miles we went from the 19th century to the 21st century. As the boat rounded a bend in the river we went from heavily wooded rock formations covered in dense vegetation to suddenly seeing the skyline of a modern city. As we got closer to the city The University of Rochester is to the east of the river and the west side is park like or being redeveloped. The river is dammed off a little south of the city due to a water fall which prevented us from going any further into the city. We docked our boat at a new water front facility and enjoyed lunch at a new restaurant. The patrons in the restaurant seamed to enjoy the boat being there, as it was the only one around for miles! As soon as the general public finds out that there is a first class tie up by a five star restaurant, which you can get to it without much trouble, it will be full of boats.
Later in the day we re-entered the canal and stopped at a few other points of interest along the way and passed through two locks dropping an additional 50 feet. We are now tied up in a town called Fairport which is a charming town that caters to canal traffic. We dined at an Irish Pub and finished off the evening with……what else……but ice cream!