Plethora of Choices

Spencerport, NY
43 12.00 N 077 48.10 W

We're a bit overwhelmed.   Even though we have a lot of time, and we're trying to kill time, there are so many very nice villages on the Western Half of this canal we can't stop to see them all.

Tonight we are in Spencerport.  Last night we stayed in Fairport.  Both are excellent places.  Still today we bypassed Busnell's Basin and Pittsford, both of which also sound like excellent places.   Every place has free docks, power, water and showers -- all the amenities of fee-collection marinas.

Tomorrow night is the Hill Cumorah Pagent telling the story of the Mormon Religion.  However, I looked it up on the map, it is 8 miles south of the canal.  I have no idea how to get there so we'll reluctantly pass up that opportunity too.

In 10 days there will be an air show in Rochester with the Blue Angels.  I really love that.  The canal passes right by the end of the runway so we may be able to get a front row seat right from Tarwathie.   All we have to do is to be in the right place on July 16-17.

It is also a mystery why the towns and cities along the canal West of Syracuse seem to be much wealthier than those East of Syracuse.  Instead of rust-belt ghost towns, we find thriving affluent communities.  Why?  Perhaps this area is not part of the rust belt.  Nevertheless, this area did absorb the double whammy of the declining fortunes of Kodak and Xerox.

Al, the bridge tender here in Spencerport used to be an operator at one of the Kodak in-house power plants.  Boy that was ancient technology, and 19th century industrial philosophy that built up their factories into self sufficient cities.  I worked once at General Electric in Schenectady which was like that and also at ASEA in Vasteras which was also like that.  Therefore, even though I've always chased the cutting edge of high tech, I have a soft spot in my heart for the 19th century style of doing it.