Wait, what happened to my gravity??

June 12, 2019 – Wednesday dawned clear and sunny. We knew it would be a great travel day, for us and for everyone else, so we cast off early.

(Click above image to pause the autorotation, zoom in or out, or move the point of view)

The water was like glass, and we were smoothly through the first two locks. The color of the trees, sky and water — the North Country!

As we were going along a section of the river where we could see straight ahead through several bends, the long string of markers started to look a bit funny in the binoculars. What the…..?

The reflection of the red and green buoys, and of the trees beyond, made it look as if the markers were floating up in the air, rather than in the water. (Look at the red ones on the right, and the farthest red/green pair.)

The miles were going by smoothly, until we got to Lock 13; a barge was in the lock, having something unloaded. It would be a “few minutes” said the lockmaster. Yeah, if 45 is ‘a few’.

While we were waiting, we heard another boat behind us hail the lockmaster. I looked back and saw another Looper boat. And another, and another. And one of the non-Looper boats we left at Amsterdam. Up until this point, we had only locked alone. But now we will be in the chamber as one of five.

First in, first out, so we led the fleet out of the lock and up the canal.

With the Lock 13 armada hot on our heels, we peeled off at the town of Canajoharie where we had a couple specific places in mind to see.

Town diner. Check. Great lunch – Ben had the wedge burger. Perhaps a burger with a wedge of lettuce, as in a wedge salad, you might think? Nope. Wedges of fried macaroni and cheese on top of the burger.

Arkell Museum. Check. Nice small museum, with an early American, Mohawk Valley angle. Seven Winslow Homer pieces, a Gilbert Stuart copy of his George Washington portrait, a Remington statue, and more.

Boiling pots. Check. The town’s name is said to be a Mohawk language term meaning “the pot that washes itself,” referring to a circular gorge in the Canajoharie Creek, just south of the village. We took a 3/4 mile hike up the hill to find the smaller falls in the creek and the location of these circular formations.

We hung our feet in the water for a while, before hiking back down the hill. We’d seen Jim’s Irish Harbor Pub on the way up, and figured it’d be worth a stop on the way back, to give hot and weary travelers something cold to quaff their thirst.

O.M.G. What an experience. We were regaled by the extremely genuine Irish-American proprietor, Jim, and his mother, Mary, with a wide variety of tales. Both Jim and his father were in the Merchant Marine, and three of Mary’s children served in the Navy, hence the ‘Harbor’ in the name. Jim presented Chantale with a Guinness hat before we could depart. Truly one of the most memorable encounters with locals that we have had so far.