Erie Canal and Hockey Hall of Fame

As we drove across New York we kept seeing references to the Erie Canal which prompted us to do a little research. We both remembered the canal being in history lessons in grade school but we didn't remember details. The canal runs from the Hudson River near Albany all the way to Lake Erie at Buffalo. Therefore, we were driving parallel to it all the way across the state. It turns out that our campground is only about 12 miles from Lockport NY where the canal requires locks to traverse a rock ledge, the same one that Niagara Falls flows over. In Lockport there is

Locks (left side)

Erie Canal

an Erie Canal cruise that goes up and down the canal and through the locks.  We decided to take the cruise to get a close up feel of the famous canal and also experience going through the locks. The narration was informative and well done (complete with the famous song). The history of the canal is very interesting. 

Tow path on side of canal

In upper lock looking down

The trip took a little under 2 hours and was very enjoyable.  Of course it helped that we had perfect weather.  Here is a link if you are interested in learning more about "Clinton's Big Ditch"  http://www.eriecanal.org/index.html and one about the cruise if you are in the area  http://www.lockportlocks.com/cruisesch.html

Modern Stanley Cup

The original Stanley Cup

 On Saturday we drove to Toronto, Ontario, Canada to the Hockey Hall of Fame. It was a little under a 2 hour drive including taking 20 minutes to get through customs at the border. We got there right after they opened and spent about 2 and a half hours taking it all in.  It was a lot of fun looking around at the memorabilia and of course seeing the Stanley Cup (both current and original) and other legendary trophies.  We pulled out of the parking garage about 1pm and into nasty traffic so it took a bit longer getting back. On a side note, we didn't like the look of Toronto. All the modern glass and metal buildings just isn't our thing. The economy must be doing well there, however, as there were countless cranes and building construction everywhere you looked.

The Gordie Howe era