Two Museums and a Green Lake

On Monday morning we headed out toward Syracuse.  Our destination was the Erie Canal Museum and Weighlock, but first we needed to stop in Chittenanga to see the restored canal boat landing -  a small, but important (and fun) outdoor museum.  The museum office is in a tiny building staffed by a few people - maybe 3 - who were friendly and helpful.  We watched a short video that gave the history of Chittenango Landing, a stop along the canal that had a general store, a dry dock for boat repairs, a stable for the mules to rest, and residences for the various workers who kept things running smoothly.  It was a beautiful, sunny day so we took our time walking around and exploring this historical reproduction.

We loved the rebuilt canal boat.

It was over 90 feet long and we could go inside to see how the "canallers" lived.  When people were aboard, someone had to cook virtually all day.  The boat was large, but there were no limits on how many people could be aboard at any time.  It was a simple life, but not an easy one.

The Chittenanga Landing had three drydocks, one for shallow or empty boats, one for regular boats and one for large or heavily loaded boats.  The boats would pull in and then the lock was emptied so the boat rested on a wooden cradle and was ready for repair.

The landing also had a wood shop for building and repairing boats and a blacksmith shop for shoeing and shoe repair for horses.

The general store could provide basic supplies and comestibles for the canallers.  Sometimes the customers could be argumentative ;-).

We loved this little museum.  Then we resumed our journey toward Syracuse.  I told Dennis that I wanted to take a tiny detour through Green Lakes State Park.  The two lakes there are kettle lakes and retain a green color.  I could only get one decent picture - it was a very sunny day!

When we reached Syracuse, we had to really pay attention in order to find the museum.  The Canal Gods were with us when we found a parking place right out in front of the museum!  Yay!  The Erie Canal Museum shares building space with the original weighlock building in Syracuse.  This is the only remaining weighlock out of the many along the canal.  The museum was really thorough in its description of the history of the canal and its many changes. There were also many hands-on displays to help people understand how the canal worked, how the boats were weighed, how the shipping charges were determined.  Displays also helped people see how various ideas and cultural elements were spread along the canalway.

This museum was justifiably identified as a "must see" along the Erie Canalway Heritage Corridor.  But, we are not big city people, so we planned visits to small towns for our Tuesday adventures.