Day 14: Medina to Lockport to Tonawanda

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August 23, 2021: Our last day on the Erie Canal — and one of the most fascinating stops we made to date.

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Capt Paul let me take the helm when we left Medina early the next morning. My goal was to make up for all the waiting we’d done at lift bridges when I was driving the day before, and I got off to an excellent start. The first few lift bridges were rising before I even reached them.

The Trip to Lockport

We had two destinations that day: Lockport for a visit to the locks and lunch and Tonawanda for our overnight stay. It was only 31 miles, but with the draw bridges, locks, and stop at Lockport, we expected it to be a long day.

Two of the last drawbridges on the Erie Canal westbound. The same bridge operator was responsible for both of these.

I don’t have any notes from the beginning of the trip other than the fact that a bridge in the Cruising Guide and in Waterway Guide didn’t actually exist — it had obviously been removed years before. That was near Hartland. We also went through Gasport — which, ironically, did not sell gas at its marina — and Orangeport. (One of these days, I’ll count the number of towns with the word port in their names along the canal.)

We were approaching Lockport when I handed the helm over to Capt Paul. I wanted to get up on the bow to install one of my GoPros for footage as we went through the last lift bridge and last two locks at Lockport. Once I was out there, I just stayed. I figured that I’d have to get up there again anyway when we got to the lock. So I sat on the port side of the bow, resting against one of the big round fenders we kept up there. It made a comfortable seat.

At Lockport

At Lockport, we went under the last lift bridge westbound. There was a 0.2 mile stretch of canal before we reached a magnificent set of two locks — Lock 34 and 35 — built where one of two sets of five locks had been. The video I captured has my voice saying “Oh shit,” as the locks came into view — it was that impressive.

After the lift bridge, we had to pass under a much higher trestle style bridge. The locks came into view.

At the east side of the Lockport Locks. The remains of the old locks are to the right of the building.

Here’s the deal. Lockport originally had a Flight of Five consecutive locks to climb up the Niagara escarpment. For the barge canal, these locks were expanded for two sets of locks — so they could handle westbound and eastbound traffic at the same time — side by side. Much later, the Flight of Five on the left was replaced with a much deeper flight of two locks and the other Flight of Five was decommissioned.

What’s cool about these locks is that when you exit one lock, you proceed directly into the next. There is no space between the locks. That’s why the upstream lock gate is so tall when you’re inside the lower lock. When the water rises about halfway up the upstream gate, that gate opens and you’re inside Lock 35. When the water in there rises, the upstream gate opens to let you back into the canal roughly 120 feet higher than where you started.

It really is an engineering marvel.

We went through the lock alone, as usual, and emerged at the top. We motored westbound on the canal, looking for a place to park. The canal was very narrow here, with steep sides dug right out of the rock. There were traces of a homeless encampment under a bridge. When Capt Paul steered us toward a dock wall on the starboard side of the canal, I wasn’t too happy with the location. The area seemed a little funky to me. It didn’t look safe to leave the boat there — and it was a long walk on another hot day back to town.

Fortunately, the lock keeper, who Dianne had been chatting with during our locking, called us on the radio and suggested that we dock at a very small dock alongside Lock 35. We turned around and went back. The area he suggested was tight and could probably fit only two boats the size of Nano. But we were the only ones there so there was room enough for us. We slipped in and tied up. The space turned out to be right outside the western entrance to the old Flight of Five locks.

Here’s Nano parked beside Lock 35. When we left the boat, I noted that while waiting for boats, the lock keeper keeps the top chamber full and the bottom chamber empty. If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. He can quickly open the gate for a boat coming from either direction and use the water in Lock 35’s chamber to fill Lock 34.

The lock keeper was extremely helpful, providing us with suggestions for lunch and other information about what we could see there. There was a small museum in the white building between the old and new locks and we headed down there, pausing only to take a photo of Capt Paul seated with statues of people in a photograph taken about a hundred years ago. The museum — the former powerhouse — had a bunch of displays in a very bright, naturally lighted room, including the original turbine that generated power at the locks.

There’s a small collection of artifacts, displays, and narrated videos in the original power house building at the bottom of the locks.

After a tour of the area, we climbed back up to town get some lunch. What I have begun to call the Monday curse struck again — the highly recommended Stooges restaurant, with the “stuffed burgers,” according to the lock keeper, was closed on Mondays. We wound up walkign about two blocks to Molinaro’s Ristorante, a real Italian place that served pizza by the slice and made a mean eggplant parmesan.

Back on the Canal

After lunch, we headed back, stopping only for ice cream at Lake Effect Ice Cream near the lock. Back in Nano, Capt Paul turned the boat around and continued west.

The canal went for many miles through a relatively narrow ditch cut right into the rock. After a while, it opened up a bit, taking us on a more winding path. Eventually, the canal joined with Tonawanda Creek and continued west through the communities of Pendleton and Amherst. It was around here that we started noticing a lot more boats at home docks and small marinas, as well as in the water. There were canal side parks and boat ramps.

Then, almost suddenly, we were at Tonawanda, among dozens, if not hundreds, of boats.

A lift bridge at Tonawanda. Fortunately, we didn’t need it lifted to pass under.

Capt Paul cruised for a parking spot, finally zeroing in on one at a floating dock in Gateway Park. The facility was tired; the dock listed at least 20 degrees toward the concrete wall it was attached to. The only way up that wall was a metal ladder with narrow rungs that had been bolted into the wall. We tied up and plugged in. We had arrived at our overnight stop at the end of my second week of traveling.

Nano parked at the listing dock at Tonawanda’s Gateway Park.

Here’s the Nebo log for Day 14 of our trip.

At Tonawanda

My first order of business was — believe it or not — a pedicure. I actually found a place within walking distance and I walked right over. I got a mediocre pedicure from an Asian lady who tried several times to upsell me to gel nail polish with a very thick accent I could barely understand. No complaints though — the price was right. She sent me on my way with a pair of paper-thin foam sandals.

I stopped at a Walgreens on my way back to get some flip flops and anti-itch creme. My ankles had been bitten up over the past 10 or so days — I honestly don’t know what was getting them — and they were often very itchy. I was hoping to slather them with enough creme that I would stop scratching them.

Back at the boat, not much was going on. I know that on the water, there was a non-stop parade of boats driving back and forth, sometimes with loud mufflers or loud music (or both). It reminded me of those streets in some cities where guys drive by with their custom cars or motorcycles to get the attention of onlookers. Totally childish.

I don’t remember what I did back a the boat late that afternoon. I might have napped. I might have started a blog post but not finished it. I might have read. That’s the trouble when you have to wait a whole week to write about something — you forget the details.

I do recall some drunk/stoned people in the park, listening to and singing along with some 70s music played a little too loud. But I fell asleep despite the noise.