We all woke up later than expected at 7:30. We dressed and hurried out the door for a walk through Sylvan Beach. It is a community of mostly mobile homes, mostly single wide, but amazingly well kept with nicely manicured lawns and a clean, pleasant neighborhood rivaling the ritzier ‘hoods we’ve been to like Harbor Springs.
After the walk, we embarked on a long day of navigating locks, very slow cruise speed due to speed limits and shoaling to avoid. The canal opened just a week before we arrived as there had been a lot of rain and flooding. There were still dredge barges camped along the canal removing silt to make it navigable.
Of course, with flooding, comes logs, so we had to slow down a few times and get around or through them without damaging the boat. We stopped for a late lunch at Appleby’s in some unknown town, and realized we would not be able to make it to our originally planned destination, Little Falls, NY. While the song describes 15 miles a day on the Erie Canal, today we ran almost 50, which took nearly six hours; several hours longer than planned. John shortened our route plan and we cruised for a final hour to spend the night in Ilion, NY.
Ilion worked out well for the evening, especially considering the circumstances, with a nice Italian/pizza restaurant, Sorrento's, just a few blocks from the dock. There we were served by a charming young girl who was waitressing for the first time and must have said I'm sorry a dozen times though her service was just as good as anyone we've experienced on the trip.
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