Meet the Parents

John, Sue, John and I touched down in Syracuse, New York after a quick and easy flight across the country.

A large cab driver with a thick New York accent drove us to the grocery store for a few supplies. We arrived at Winter Harbor where the Latitude Adjustment had hibernated for the winter. Winter Harbor is the tidiest boat yard we’ve seen (making John very happy), with fresh black tarmac, groomed lawns, and clean boats on a sleepy little stretch of tree-lined river. It’s obvious that the owner, Tom, takes pride in the way he keeps things. All was well on the boat, except we had forgotten to get ice which with this group is a big problem.

After unloading our luggage I was returning the marina cart when I saw a man approaching in a golf cart. I greeted him with, “Oh yay! You’re here with the ice!”, and to my surprise, he replied, “Oh yeah, we got ice at the gas dock.” Of course, it was the Harbor Master Tom, who kept such good care of everything, including our ice needs! Five minutes later I was marching back to the boat in my totally unsuitable leopard print platforms carrying two bags of ice. Everyone cheered and we all agreed that this was an auspicious beginning to our first cruise of the year.

After unpacking and a cool drink, it was time to head to town for dinner. Tom offered us the use of two cars he keeps for harbor guests. We dined at Barado's, a little Italian restaurant (with the best carrot cake I’ve ever tasted), with a very amiable waitress. When she learned where we were from, she told us she had lived in LG for ten years and worked at the Oak Meadows Veterinary clinic!

We are spending our first few days on the Erie Canal. In 1800, it took 2.5 weeks to travel overland from New York to Cleveland, Ohio. Originally running about 363 miles (584 km) from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, the canal was built to create a navigable water route from New York City and the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. As it was faster than carts pulled by draft animals it cut transport costs by about 95% and helped New York eclipse Philadelphia as the largest city and port on the Eastern Seaboard.