Transitioning back to Aunt Aggie and on to Waterford, NY.

At Waterford, NY, it's decision time:  Which way to go - Erie Canal or Champlain Canal? 

We chose the Erie route. 

 Whenever we go home, I have to adjust to being back on the boat.  Yesterday was no exception.  I was anxious about the wind in Albany and had trouble sleeping.  I was nervous as we took off the lines this morning.  We did all our morning checks and had a smooth leave-taking, but it took me a while to relax.  Luckily, the Hudson was flat.  There were few boaters out.  The sun was shining.
Today's weather is perfect:  80 degrees now at 4:30 pm with a cool breeze.

We went through the Federal Lock at Troy, NY, without a problem.  The lockmaster did answer our call on channel 13.  We only had to wait 5 minutes for the lock to open.  George came in slowly, and I put the line around the pole.  Two more boats followed us in the lock.  It was just a 14 foot rise, and then we were free and almost to Waterford.

Waterford is charming and famous for several reasons.  It is the oldest incorporated village in the USA.  There is still one building from 1770 downtown.  It was originally a hospital, then a tavern, and now it looks like apartments.  Ethelda Bleibtrey, the first US woman to win an Olympic gold medal, is from here.  She won three swimming gold medals in the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp.  Wow!
After we signed in at the Waterford Visitor Center and paid our $10 fee for electricity, we walked downtown, had lunch at Don and Paul's Coffee Shop, and toured the historic area.

Don and Paul's is the place to go for breakfast, but we stopped in for lunch. 

We had good sandwiches, and our lunch cost $10.20.

Next we walked to the grocery store.  The store let us bring our shopping cart all the way back to the dock.  They pick up the carts on Saturday.  So we walked a loaded cart over the Hudson River and back to Aunt Aggie.  Now we are stocked up with food for a week.  Yahoo!  

Aunt Aggie is tied to the free floating dock in a line of looper boats.

Boaters can stay for free for 48 hours here.

This is a staging area for the Erie canal.  Tomorrow we will go through the Waterford Flight, five locks in a row.  Boaters must continue through all five without stopping.  We hope to go further, covering about 24 miles and 7 locks.  We're back in the groove.  

A decorated mule at the Waterford Visitor Center

Note:  Yesterday was our 42nd wedding anniversary.  Oh, doesn't that sound like a long time!  
I wrote two short poems about renewing our vows.  You can see them on the Songs and Poems page in this blog.