Okay, you may all exhale now. You were holding your breath for this special treat....werent you? It was the plan from our last blog...you did follow through I hope. Lulu tried to take a deep breath but nothing happened (no lungs).
I promised you that you would enjoy this next excursion. We sure did. We gathered our family and drove to Fairport, NY (outside of Rochester). Here we boarded a big boat called the Colonial Belle. It was docked in the Erie Canal. It was a gorgeous sunny day. Perfect. We all took the stairs at the back of the boat to the open top level where the assistants placed chairs together for all of us. They kept groups apart and we could take off our masks when we were seated. And then we were off.....cruising down the Erie Canal. We sailed along for 90 minutes. They had another tour that lasted 3 hours and it took you through a couple locks. We figured 90 minutes was adequate. There were snacks and drinks available on this sailing ship. Most of our group favored their beer products. The second captain gave an excellent and informative narration the entire way. Here are
a few bits of information to share: the Canal is 12 feet deep and in the Fall, they drain it to @ 2 feet for maintenance. We saw magnificent homes on the Canal...most with small docks. Occasional restaurants were so enticing. The captain prepared us to see an old mule on the waters edge. Her name was Sal. And sure, enough, there stood Sal right where he said she would be. Following this great sighting, we were entertained by one of the assistants singing ?Fifteen Miles on The Erie Canal?.
You can goggle it if you want to sing all the lyrics. Lulu and I will sing along with you. Im sure you are all wondering where Miss Lulu was the whole time. She never wants to miss an excursion, you know. Well, even though she doesnt want me to share her problem....I feel I must. Lulu gets seasick. We gave her some Dramamine hoping it might help. All
After we disembarked the Colonial Belle, we all drove down the pike to a Tom Wahls restaurant. Its kind of a fast food restaurant but much better. We all enjoyed a filling meal....at separate tables for social distancing. And then it was time to say adieu. We love these times when our family can be altogether.
Now for an extra treat. I know you werent expecting this so all the more exciting. Ill give you a hint: ?Home, Home on the Range...Where the Buffalo Roam. Got it? No....not a stove/range. Yes...a bison/buffalo....hundreds of them! Where you ask? Yellowstone National Park? Nope! We went just a jaunt down the hill from where our son, Cory, lives in Campbell, NY. We went to the Mud Creek Bison Ranch in Savona, NY (just across the expressway). Who would have guessed we were in the backyard of a massive Buffalo farm? Surprise, Surprise, Surprise. We pulled up to a big red barn and paid our entrance fee: $5.00/per vehicle. Cheap in todays world - huh? We were instructed to put our radio on
a certain station so we could be guided around this ranch. Giddy Up and we are off. Cory maneuvers his truck on a hard dirt pathway. It twists and turns and follows a wired fence line. Signs say 5 mph. We can see a couple vehicles far ahead of us. So far, all weve seen are some buffalo chips on barren land. Our radio guide informs of everything you would ever want to know about bison. But where are they? The road gets a little bumpier. Cory keeps driving- 5 mph. Finally, in the distance, we spy a long building with big, brown bison wandering around. Sorry, no stampede. The vehicles ahead of us have parked along the fenced edge. We do the same. We could pick out certain bison that the radio guide had told us about. We could determine the males from the females. Calves were in amongst this large herd. We were instructed to stay in our vehicles so no buffalo petting. Lulu was so sad she couldnt ride one of them. Such is life, Lu.
