How Lucky Can You Get?

Marcy, NY
No LL

I can't believe it. Yesterday afternoon, we planned to stop at Utica. According to our guide book, there is a city marina there where one can dock for free. When we got there, there were no boats at all parked there. Uh oh. When we got close enought to see, it was plastered all over the place with posters saying $1/foot docking fee. How ridiculous in a canal dotted with free facilities. The Utica City fathers can watch their facility languish unused.

We continued on to the next spot which is the intersection of the Erie and Chenango Canals. The Chenango Canal was closed to traffic in 2002. Too bad. According to my books it could lead one to the navigable part of the Susquehanna River which in turn leads to Chesapeake Bay. That would have been a very fun route to take southward. Anyhow, we stopped and tied up there, only to conclude that the location was terrible because of the proximity to the New York Thruway. Too much road noise.

We decided to continue on to our third choice, Lock 20. What a fortuitous choice. When we got to Lock 20 we found a free dock with power and water. There was also a big crowd of people gathering in the adjacent park. We asked what was going on. A man told us that they held concerts at the pavilion in the park every Thursday and Friday night. Tonight they featured the Trinkaus Manor Quartet. WOW! 44 years ago, in July 1965, Libby and I spent our Honeymoon night at Trinkaus Manor. Even more fantastic, two of the men in the quartet were at Trinkaus Manor in 1965.

We enjoyed a lovely evening listening to the wonderful music of the quartet. The singer, Pat something, was a very versatile singer with a great voice. Most of the crowd were old farts like us, and the music ensemble was appropriate for the group.

That's not all. On Monday, Labor Day, there will be another concert and field day at the park with fireworks at night. We're going to leave Tarwathie here all weekend while we visit John and his family. They live only 20 miles from here. On Monday, we'll bring them here for the fireworks as a going away present to granddad and grandma. Tuesday we depart toward the Hudson once again.

Like I said, how lucky can you get?

The pictures below are all from Lock 20.