History of the Erie Canal:
The Erie Canal is an artificial waterway that connects the Hudson River to Lake Erie. The waterway was completed in 1825, is one of the most important projects in the development and success of New York and the United States. Governor DeWitt Clinton had a vision to create a man-made waterway connection Albany to Buffalo which would allow materials from the west to be transported to the eastern seaboard. The idea was met with criticism the idea was known as "Clinton's Ditch" or "Clinton's Folly". The Erie Canal was completed from Albany to Buffalo in the fall of 1825 and was an immediate success.
Today's canal has 34 locks and is at least 120 feet wide and 12 feet deep. The locks are significantly larger than those of 175 years ago and 328 feet long and 45 feet wide, large enough for almost all recreational cruisers as well as large commercial barges to pass through.
Day #355: From last evening Mike beat me at cribbage at skunk. The two of us were up at 6:00 A.M. for coffee, grapefruit and cookies. As of this morning E-25 Lock to E 28A Lock is now re-opened to navigation but Lock E-23 Brewerton to Lock E-25 Mays Point and to Lock C/S-1 Cayuga and the entire Oswego Canal and from Lock O-1 Phoenix to Lock O-8 Oswego remain closed due to high water levels and heavy flows from recent heavy rainfall, until further notice. We researched the Erie Canal locks as we start the next our next adventure. The two of us took Shady Harbor's courtesy vehicle into Ravena, NY to the Ravena Shop 'n Save to get some groceries. We then headed back to the marina for boat jobs Mike put the dinghy back on the davits (he had stowed the dinghy a bit differently for our trips out into the ocean), lowered the mast so that "Parrot Bay" could transit the bridges on the Erie and laundry. The two of us then headed to the pool as it was a beautiful day in the mid-80's. At 3:30 P.M. we headed back to the boat for happy hour. At 5:00 P.M. the smells from the restaurant made Mike and I decide to head there for dinner versus cooking the brats on the grill. At 6:30 P.M. we headed back to the boat for Sunday night phone calls. The plan for Monday is that Mike and I will be heading to the Troy Federal Lock then to the free dock in Waterford, NY.
A cool tunnel on the way to the grocery store. 
Shady Harbor's courtesy car. Brian the owner of Shady Harbor called this the "half a car".  A very nice grocery store 9 minutes from the marina.
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