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In 2019, my husband Jim and I left the seafaring village of Mystic, Connecticut, where I became known for abandoning ship (even my mom was ashamed), back to upstate New York – where landlubbers can dwell in safety. What “safe” adventure could I try next?
(Photo by lobsterwoman, Elizabeth Saede of Mystic.)
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We now live in Baldwinsville along the active, “modern” Erie Canal (green line), just north of the old Erie Canal and Erie Canalway Trail (red line).
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Active Erie Canal includes the man-made and natural waterways along the old Erie Canal to help boaters get from the Atlantic Ocean, up the Hudson River to Lake Erie, using lift locks to raise or lower boats around waterfalls and hills.
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The Erie Canal was built in upstate New York because its Mohawk River Valley provides a break through the Appalachian Mountains, the divide between the eastern seaboard and the Midwest.
(Little Falls, situated in the Mohawk River Valley, New York)
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We live along the Seneca River near Lock 24, the first lock opened on the modern Erie Canal in 1910. Lock 24 is one of the busiest locks on the Erie Canal today.
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Modern Erie Canal engineers wanted to use our Seneca River and other natural waterways, so the route was altered a little north of the historic Erie Canal in central New York.
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The modern Erie Canal still uses the v-shaped gates of the Old Erie Canal - gates said to be invented by Italian artist Leonardo Da Vinci!
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(Lock 24 in Baldwinsville. Leonardo da Vinci [1452-1519] “Canal Lock” sketch: leonardodavincisinventions.com and civil.lindahall.org.)
There are three versions of the Erie Canal. The Erie Canalway Trail for walkers & bikers follows parts of all three Canals, between Buffalo and Albany
The Erie Canal Mapping Project (eriecanalmappingproject.com) shows all three Canal versions and can be set to show the old locks, aqueducts, etc. Key: Blue (Modern); Green (original); and Red (Expanded).
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The 1st Erie Canal (nicknamed “Clinton’s Ditch” for Governor DeWitt Clinton) was built between 1817-1825 and became known as the “8th Wonder of the World.”
(“Clinton’s Ditch” in Lyons runs alongside the modern Erie Canal.)
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Transportation became faster and cheaper:
(Mural in Jordan, based on a painting by Edward L. Henry, by Dawn Jordan, Mural Mania.)
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When the 1st Erie Canal was completed, there was a boat parade from Lake Erie in Buffalo to Albany, with cannon salutes along the way. Then, into the Hudson River to New York Harbor.
(Mural depicting Governor Clinton’s boat trip, referred to as the “Wedding of the Waters,” can be found along the Erie Canal in Newark, New York. Mural by © Art in Public Places, Chip Miller and Corky Gross.)
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Congress thinks the historic canal is cool!
Congress established the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor in 2000 because the canal “facilitated the movement of ideas …like the abolition of slavery and…women's rights…across upstate New York to the rest of the country…” (govinfo.gov)
(Harriet Tubman Memorial Mosaic, portrait by Anthony Clubine, Auburn; and “First Convention for Woman’s Rights” historical marker, Seneca Falls.)
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By the Civil War, the 1st Erie Canal had been enlarged and straightened. The 2nd Erie Canal is referred to as the Enlarged Erie Canal.
Completed in 1862, the Enlarged Erie Canal was built near “Clinton's Ditch” and was increased in size to 7 ft deep and 70 ft wide.
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Prior to motors, mules ruled the Erie Canal.
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Mules became favored over horses for hauling boats because:
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(Mule photograph from signage along the Erie Canalway Trail, Elbridge.)
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(“The Canal Law” signage is in Jordan, by Dawn Jordan, Mural Mania.)
According to today’s Canalway Trail “Laws,” mules still rule!
(“Safety Tips” signage, Camillus)
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About the 360-mile Erie Canalway Trail
(www.ptny.org/cycle-the-erie-canal)
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While brave folks kayak the entire length of the modern Erie Canal…
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…we walked the 360-mile Erie Canalway Trail because we:
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Most “end-to-enders” bike the Trail…
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…even Santa!
Although Santa can bike the Trail in less than one night (most mortals take about nine days, at 40 miles a day), a group from Colgate biked the Trail in just 39 hours total as the students and staff “didn’t stop for sleep as they traveled along the Erie Canal from Buffalo to Albany” (Colgate Athletics, 2022).
)
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Walking meant we went through a lot of sneakers…
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…but it gave us time to:
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And time to spread a “women’s rights” issue by leaving “Stop CMV” rocks along the Trail.
Our daughter Elizabeth (1989-2006) was born with brain damage because I caught CMV just prior to or during my pregnancy.
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We could only join “Towpath Travelers” about a day or two a month. We knew that walking in segments, as time allowed, meant our 360-mile goal was going to take a while!
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We registered our 360-mile goal with “Canalway Challenge”
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Website kept track of our progress toward our 360-mile goal.
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As we logged miles, we were asked, “Favorite Sites Visited.” So,
we searched for “The 7 Wonders of the Erie Canalway Trail.”
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While some ruins helped us imagine traveling back in time, that didn’t necessarily qualify them to become one of the “7 Wonders.”
(Old Erie Canal Heritage Park, Port Byron.)
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Although I was thrilled to ice skate among the ghosts of former skaters on the Erie Canal at Clinton Square Ice Rink in Syracuse, that didn’t qualify the Rink as a “Wonder” either.
Our search for the “7 Wonders” began…
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We kicked off the Challenge at the halfway point between Albany and Buffalo in Camillus.
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Since then, we’ve read countless signs and learned lots of fun facts, such as…
(Houseboat Catherine, Town of Camillus Erie Canal Park
.)
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(Jim reading sign about Houseboat Catherine, Camillus Erie Canal Park.)
(Bench, Camillus Erie Canal Park.)
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Some signs were interesting…
(Near Fairport - note the swirling hole in the Canal water.)
(Clyde)
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Some signs were helpful…
(Near Rome)
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Some even reminded us to share.
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Some reminded us to stay on the Trail.
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While some signs were welcoming…
(Left: Sprakers Reformed Church has a Bike Path Ministry: “We offer water, snacks, bathroom facilities, and emergency shelter for those caught in a storm. The bike path is open 24/7, March through November and is stocked and sanitized by volunteers from the church.” Right: Private home near Brockport.)
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others…not so much!
“DUE TO PRICE
INCREASE OF
AMMO
DO NOT EXPECT A
WARNING SHOT!”
(Signs in Mohawk)
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While searching for “The 7 Wonders,” we faced many challenges:
Torrential downpours
(We learned to pack umbrellas.)
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Flooding
(We learned to pack extra socks–we didn’t want to get trench foot!)
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Locked outhouses
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(Gentleman Jim promised to look the
other way when I used the woods.)
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Snakes!
(Learned to listen for screams up ahead.)
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Frigid Cold
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Ice
(Learned to attach ice cleats and use trekking poles.)
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Starvation
(New York State Fairgrounds, Syracuse, in background.)
(Many restaurants are closed in winter - especially when there’s a pandemic!)
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Tip: It isn’t practical to survive on hardtack, the food of sailors and soldiers of old. It’s too hard to eat unless soaked in liquid first. And, and it doesn’t contain vitamin C. You don’t want to die of scurvy!
Hardtack is fun to try, though. Just mix flour (2 c.), salt (1.5 t.) and water (.75 c.), roll it out, cut into squares, prick it, and bake for 30 minutes on each side. It comes out the texture of a dog biscuit – but it’s harder!
I ate my hardtack soaked
in coffee from my Erie
Canal mug. It’s kind of
tasteless and unappealing,
but I now understand
how it can last for years
if it stays dry.
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We learned to live on trail mix.
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Snow
(I learned to snowshoe, but it doesn’t help in light, fluffy snow.)
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Snowshoes are a little awkward when you’re trying to swing!
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So we trudged onward, snug in our warm boots.
(Heading to the New York State Fairgrounds, Syracuse.)
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Other challenges for us baby boomers: Miles without a bench…
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…aching feet
(We learned to carry our own seats.)
(Private dock near Brockport.)
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Summer “Death Marches” - Miles of hot, relentless sun.
(Heading west toward Little Falls on July 8, 2023. Photo by Patty Oat.)
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Mosquitoes and biting flies
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When not fighting to survive, we did enjoy the beauty…
Walking west toward Buffalo
at sunset.
(Near Chittenango.)
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Walking east toward Albany when the fog rolls in after a rain.
Schoharie Crossing - Yankee Hill Lock in Amsterdam.
(This photo by Larry Chester should have been entered in Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Photo contest!)
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Of course, this is also beautiful:
Any open bathroom…
(PaPa's Place, Clyde.)
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and any open restaurant!
(Westside Fuel, “Not just a gas station…has a full kitchen”, Clyde; Ezzy’s Restaurant, Rochester; and Towpath Pizza, Jordan.)
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A comfy bench in a garden oasis…
(
(“In loving memory of Bryan McNeill Place” in Memphis).
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Or an uncomfy seat - anywhere!
(One hot day, we were forced to sit next to a smelly, dead opossum because he died beside the only bench for miles.)
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Shangri-La! Welcome Centers with bathrooms and words of encouragement from staff.
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A friend offering a ride back to our car.
We usually had to double back to our car, meaning we actually almost walked the Erie Canalway Trail twice!
(Patt Chester at Schoharie Crossing - Yankee Hill Lock, Amsterdam)
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A convenient parking spot.
(Peppermint Museum, formerly the Hotchkiss and Leach building, Lyons)
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Jim thrilled at the sight of breweries (this one is in Canastota).
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In Weedsport -
a great place to meet friends.
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Getting warm at Seven Story Brewery, Pittsford.
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Not exactly on the Trail, but worth a visit: Genesee Brew House, next to High Falls, Rochester.
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We found lots to love in Little Falls: Ice cream, pizza and beer. We stayed at this Inn, once a mill that produced blue woolen cloth for Union soldiers.
Across the Mohawk River from the Trail, we stayed at the Inn at Stone Mill: “Formerly a woolen textile mill that produced wool uniform cloth under military contracts during the Mexican-American and Civil Wars” (thecafeatstonemill.com).
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Beer no longer served at c. 1894 Erie House Saloon, but its cash register has a 15-cent button showing wear from ringing up growlers full of beer! (Old Erie Canal Heritage Park, Port Byron.)
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Some Old Erie Canal taverns are still serving folks (this one is in Pittsford).
(“Richardson’s Tavern is the oldest original Erie Canal Inn,” richardsonscanalhouse.com.)
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On our long walks between benches, bathrooms and beer, we discussed “wonder contenders” for our list of “The 7 Wonders of the Erie Canalway Trail.”
We came up with 11 contenders.
They were…
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Contender #1 - “Flight of Five”: The c. 1862 “staircase” locks are seen alongside two deep, consecutive modern locks (34 & 35), Lockport.
���
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Contenter #1 - Lockport:
The old beside the new.
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Contender #2 - 1850 Syracuse Weighlock Building
(houses Erie Canal Museum).
“the last remaining structure of its kind…similar to weigh stations on highways today, collecting tolls on cargo in order to pay for the construction and maintenance of the canal.”
(eriecanalmuseum.org)
������
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Contender #3 - Lift Lock 17, Mohawk River, Little Falls.
(“Hike-Bike-Explore Little Falls”, Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor.)
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Contender #4 - Nine Mile Creek Aqueduct, Camillus. Visiting a restored aqueduct helped us understand how they work and why they are “wonders.”
The wooden trough seen under the arch holds the water in the aqueduct. (Cindy Barry on Nine Mile Creek Aqueduct. Photo by Enrique Jograj, Jr.)
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Contender #5 - Lift Bridges (there are 15 - the raised one on right is letting boats pass under N. Union Street in Spencerport).
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(Photo by Larry Chester.)
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Contender #7 - Richmond Aqueduct, Montezuma Heritage Park
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Contender #8 - Drydocks: Jim and I disagreed on whether a historic or modern dry dock should be a contender. Should it be the modern Lyons Drydock, where today’s boats are repaired and winter over…
����
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…or, the ruins of the one-of-a-kind historic dry docks at the Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum?
“a unique nineteenth-century dry dock complex. Visitors can see three bays (deep, middle, and shallow)...” (chittenangolanding.org)
The museum was closed when we visited, but we could see the dry docks from the Trail across the Canal. I later asked the museum to send me the image you see here. (Photo caption: Historic dry dock complex in Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum. Photograph by Ginny Marasco of the Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum.)
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Contender #9 -"Upside-Down Bridge", Lockport. A railroad bridge with the truss positioned upside-down.
Rumor?
“The bridge was rumored to have been built as such by the railroad to limit the size of boats that could use the Erie canal, and try to put the canal out of business. The validity of this legend is uncertain…” (historicbridges.org)
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Contender #10 - Tiny Locktender’s House, Jordan
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Contender #11 - Mural Mania: "longest mural trail in the world of over 85 miles along the Erie Canal” (muralmania.org).
.
(Murals in Jordan by Dawn Jordan, Mural Mania.)
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Mules often star in these murals lining the Erie Canalway Trail.
“They Call me Sal” mosaic in Lyons was painted by art students from across New York State - ranging from elementary to college age. (lyonsmuralmania.org)
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Murals helped us imagine how the Canal looked flowing through town.
(Mural in Weedsport by Dawn Jordan, Mural Mania.)
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Through the murals, we met great folks along the Trail
– living and dead!
Our selfie with President Lincoln in Clyde on Feb. 18, 2021 - exactly 160 years after he stopped in Clyde on his inaugural train ride to Washington on Monday, Feb. 18, 1861.
(Mural painted by Robert Gillespie.)
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Lincoln addressed 3,000 people from his railroad car platform. He said, "'I merely appear before you to say good morning and farewell. I did not come to make a speech, nor have I time to make one if I did. I now bid you good morning, and when the train starts, I will come out again to bid you farewell'."
(Photo of Lincoln and quote on signage in Clyde courtesy of Galen Historical Society.)
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When Mark De Cracker, co-founder of Mural Mania, learned my ancestors, father and son Jacob and Augustus Leach of Lyons, were engineers on the Erie Canal, he wanted to include them on the "Poorhouse Lock 56" mural. Augustus had invented a type of drop gate.
(Augustus Leach’s obituary stated he "invented and drafted plans for the drop gate for locks that were accepted by the state and have continued in use to the present time", Democrat and Chronicle,1901.)
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Mural Mania’s volunteer artists let me help paint, teaching me how to make yellow-white dots look like wildflowers.
(Volunteer painters l to r: Mark De Cracker, Cory Reynolds, Christina Lauber, Darley Newman, Lisa Saunders, Betty Rose Chardeen and daughter, Natalie Rose Chardeen. Photograph by Christine Worth, July 2021.)
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Darley Newman of PBS’s “Travels with Darley” came to document the work of Mural Mania and interview artist Cory Reynolds, an Iraq War Army veteran. My backside made it into the segment!
(Artist Cory Reynolds said in the interview,"I really enjoy doing it because I have PTSD. I come in here when my mind starts to wander and it just kind of relaxes me....If you got a lot going on in the real world, you can come in here and you can paint - put yourself in a little spot and that's your little spot that you have to worry about, nothing else.” )
The Mural Mania interview can be viewed 10:35 minutes into the episode, “New York’s Empire State Trail.”)
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My Erie Canal engineer ancestors can now be seen in the center of the "Poorhouse Lock 56" mural along the Erie Canalway Trail, Lyons.
(“MURAL IN LYONS IS INSPIRED BY AWARD-WINNING PHOTOGRAPH,” Life in the Finger Lakes, 2021. The “Poorhouse Lock 56" mural is affixed to a building on Old Lyons Rd. near intersection of Gantz Rd., Lyons.)
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I now visit my dead relatives at the mural and Lyons Rural Cemetery. Jacob Leach, an engineer on both “Clinton’s Ditch” and the Enlarged Erie Canal, opened a brewery, distilled sour mash whiskey, and milled flour. He helped plan the celebration for the Canal opening when Governor Clinton's boat parade came through Lyons on Oct. 28, 1825.
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Niagara Falls can’t be considered a Wonder of the Erie Canalway Trail since it’s 12 miles from the Trail, but it sure is a Wonder of the World! See the rainbow in center photo?
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The rush and roar of the Niagara River as it forges toward the Falls is a Wonder, too!
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Jim and I often wondered when we would ever become “End-to-Enders”
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But we trekked on because we had a mission…
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The silver Stop CMV rocks we left on the Trail were painted by Kaia’s mom, Tabitha Rodenhaus of Buffalo. Kaia likes to watch her mom paint.
Silver is the color of CMV awareness.
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We met a legislator at a June CMV Awareness Month event who became a co-sponsor of �“Elizabeth’s Law,” which was named in memory of our daughter to require CMV education.
Parents from all over asked that their child’s name be written on a silver rock. Over 200 rocks were placed that day - representing the number of New York babies born disabled by CMV each year.
(Trail of Hope, Lyons, 2021: Moms included Lisa Saunders, Jessica Keukelaar of Macedon and Kristin Schuster of Canandaigua. Watch video of event: “Had I Known, Lyrics and Music by Debra Lynn Alt.”)
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I created a short, somewhat lighthearted video of our quest to gain support for “Elizabeth’s Law”
(Video, “Erie Canal Trail: Stop Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Birth Defects. Pass "Elizabeth's Law" - A7560/ S6287A,”)
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When the Trail took us alongside the flowing, modern Erie Canal, I often thought of my great-great Aunt Rebecca who drove into the Canal over 80 years ago–a month before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Her body was found in her submerged car near Brockport in 1941.
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Approximate site where Rebecca’s coupe (two-door, hard-top car) was found alongside East Canal Rd.
(Images facing west toward Brockport. Rebecca’s car was reportedly found two miles east of Brockport, between Main St. and Sweden Walker Rd.)
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Rebecca (Chamberlain) Whyland, age 37 (1904 - 1941). Death declared suicide.
(The Brockport Republic and Brockport Democrat, Nov. 13, 1941)
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Assuming Rebecca was coming from her home on Chase Rd, she would have used the Sweden Walker Rd bridge over the Canal (seen on left), taken the exit ramp toward Brockport, then driven–accidentally or on purpose–straight into the Canal.
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Closer look at Brockport ramp off Sweden-Walker Bridge heading toward Brockport.
Friends visited the ramp I believed to be Aunt Rebecca’s last to analyze the situation. They sent me this photo.
(Photo of Sweden-Walker Bridge ramp by Cindy Barry.)
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Aunt Rebecca’s possible “last bridge” reminds me of the bridge in Seneca Falls (in the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor), where a woman’s 1917 suicide attempt into the canal is noted on a plaque honoring the man who drowned after successfully saving her.
(Seneca Falls, seen on my refrigerator magnet, is on the Cayuga-Seneca Canal, connected to the Erie Canal.)
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The It’s a Wonderful Life Museum in Seneca Falls includes movie memorabilia and messages of hope.
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We felt like George Bailey lassoing the moon, when, on November 28, 2022, the New York governor passed “Elizabeth’s Law”! We shared our joy with the actress who played little ZuZu Bailey at the 2022 It’s a Wonderful Life Museum Festival!
(The actor above is portraying a young George Bailey at the 2022 It’s a Wonderful Life Museum Festival in Seneca Falls.)
(Actress who played little “ZuZu Bailey,” Karolyn Grimes, autographed her book to us: “Zuzu’s Petals - A Dream of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’”)
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TV and newspapers announced “Elizabeth’s Law” passing.
(”Baldwinsville mom celebrates new law in daughter's name to protect pregnant women, babies”, CNYCentral.com, Coleman, M., Dec. 2022)
("How a Baldwinsville mother fought for 30 years to pass a law that might have saved her daughter", The Post-Standard, Vallelunga, E., Dec. 2022.)
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Frequent conversations along our trek:
�
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I looked for a boater willing to give us a ride back to our car by placing a plea in a boating magazine. But my request got only one result – and even then, they ignored my email to set a date!
“Give a Grandma and Grandpa a Lift on the Erie Canal?”
Perhaps they learned of me “abandoning ship” from my book, Mystic Seafarer's Trail!
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Memorable moments on the Trail: Nice note from the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor on Elizabeth’s Law passing and us walking half the Trail in 2022.
Oct. 28, 2022: The day we walked more than half the Erie Canalway Trail.
(Behind us is Fort Herkimer Church. Built between 1753 and 1767, it is “one of the oldest churches in New York State…a fortress during the French and Indian War and American Revolution,” fortherkimerchurch.com/our-history.)
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Memorable moments continued: We celebrated finishing the western end of the Trail (walked a missed section near Grand Island Bridge in Tonawanda) at the Red Coach Inn in Niagara Falls (Fri, April 4, 2025).
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Memorable moments continued: Embarking from Alexander Street Trail Head, Cohoes, on Weds, April 23, 2025,
11: 07am, to head toward Albany on what we hoped would be our last day on the Trail. Our mule sat for a photo op at what we hoped would be our last fast food restaurant on the Trail (Subway, Watervliet).
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AND THEN WE DID IT!
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We celebrated our victory with friends Heather and Tom at the Olde English Pub in the second oldest building (circa 1736) in Albany. It’s only .8 miles from the Trail.
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The next day, I visited legislators in Albany and asked them to pass a law to test every newborn for CMV so all infants can receive early intervention, such as hearing tests and possible antivirals.
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Once home in Baldwinsville, I downloaded our “Certificate of Completion.” It cut off my name and another word, but I could now overcome my shame at abandoning ship on my Mystic Seafarer's Trail quest.
(The certificate should have read, “Lisa & Jim Saunders to Stop CMV, #1 Birth Defects Virus.”)
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You can learn more about our trek from my book:
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I am now a Canalway Challenge Ambassador! I wear this T-shirt when on the Trail and hand out cards encouraging everyone to take the Challenge! All finishers will receive a certificate, mileage sticker, magnet and a commemorative patch. Learn more and/or register your Challenge at: eriecanalway.org/explore/challenge
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Replica of the Seneca Chief
I was excited when I learned that a replica of the Seneca Chief (seen in above image at Baldwinsville Library) was coming through Baldwinsville on the Erie Canal in honor of the Canal’s bicentennial (Fri., Oct 3, 2025.)
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I got thrilling news! Perhaps because I am a Canalway Challenge Ambassador, an “End-to Ender,” and descend from Erie Canal engineers, I was invited to become a short-term passenger on the Seneca Chief. I finally had a second chance not to abandon ship – a second chance to make my Mayflower ancestor proud! (Mayflower II seen below in Plymouth.)
If I had a successful voyage on the Seneca Chief, then perhaps I could erase my shame of abandoning ship on when I sailed with my friends in the winter of 2012. Maybe I could live up to my Mayflower ancestor, Richard Warren, who not only didn't abandoned ship to the new world, but it was said of him after he died (1628) that he was a "useful instrument; and during his life bore a deep share in the difficulties and troubles of the first settlement of the plantation of New-Plymouth" (American Ancestors).
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Though no longer needed to tow the boat, my mule “Sal” came along. She is seen here on the bow and below deck of the Seneca Chief .
Photo caption: (l to r): Lisa Wiles, Director, Liz and Dave Beebe Camillus Erie Canal Park; Lisa Saunders, Erie Canalway Challenge Ambassador (holding Sal, the mule); and Jacquie Owens, Communications Librarian, Baldwinsville Public Library, aboard the Seneca Chief on the Seneca River in Baldwinsville on October 4, 2025.
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See me in red life jacket waving to Jim and friends on my way into Baldwinsville? The tugboat C.L. Churchill is seen on the left towing the Seneca Chief on the Seneca River.
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Jim and friends waved us in as we pulled into dock on Paper Mill Island, Baldwinsville. Jim was so proud I didn’t abandon ship!
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My mom is finally proud of me. She said my headstone can now read: “She didn’t abandon ship”. Jim will make sure!
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My next Canalway Challenge is to Kayak 15 miles on the Erie Canal
I also plan to help my grandchildren take a 1-15 mile walking Challenge on the Canal.
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THE END!
“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Jeremiah 6:16).
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Join the “neighbors” and “pals” on the Erie Canal!
It’s wheelchair accessible!
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Helpful “Towpath Traveler” Guides
Maps: online and paper (helpful for parking, restaurants, lodging, historical sites, etc.):
Folks on these Facebook sites have been helpful:
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Things to consider when planning your walk:
Supplies
Seasonal add-ons:
Bench availability: Jim and I like to sit every couple of miles and have found it's best if we carry our own seats. Jim wears a backpack that converts into a stool (from Dick's Sporting Goods) and I bought a light folding stool that clips to my knapsack. I sometimes use a cane with an attached seat. (Photo of Jim and Lisa Saunders on Erie Canalway Trail in Amsterdam, New York, by Larry Chester, 2022.)
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Lodging: Although some camp along the Trail, that wasn’t for us. We found hotels by analyzing Google maps for lodging nearest the Trail, though sometimes we tried to find a place a little more special like:
(Amsterdam Castle, Amsterdam, New York.)
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Learn more about about traveling the Erie Canal Trail through my interviews on the Baldwinsville public access channel, PAC-B TV:
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About Author Lisa Saunders
Lisa Saunders, a former historical interpreter at Mystic Seaport Museum, is the author of several books:
Lisa and her husband, Jim, live near the active Erie Canal in Baldwinsville, New York, where she is an interviewer for PAC-B TV. Lisa is a Canalway Challenge Ambassador. They continue to leave behind Stop CMV rocks wherever they go in memory of children lost to CMV and to share their hope for future children who can be saved through prevention education and testing legislation.
(Jim and Lisa Saunders on the Erie Canalway Trail, Camillus, NY.)
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EXTRA SLIDES FOLLOW IF TIME
Extra Slides Includes
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New York school children learn the song, “Fifteen Miles on the Erie Canal.” As we followed in the footsteps of a mule named Sal, the song became very meaningful to us! We couldn’t wait to be able to sing, “...ev’ry inch of the way I know, From Albany to Buffalo…”
The song was actually copyrighted as:�
Low bridge! Everybody down!
(or Fifteen Years on the Erie Canal)
(Click to hear audio: Allen, Thos. S, Billy Murray, and Thos. S Allen. Low bridge! Everybody down!. 1912. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-132392/.)
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I’ve got an old mule and her name is Sal, Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
(From signage along Erie Canalway Trail in Jordan.)
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She’s a good old worker and a good old pal, Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
(Houseboat Catherine, Camillus Erie Canal Park)
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We’ve hauled some barges in our day, Filled with lumber, coal and hay
Cargo also included flour, salt, apples and guns.
(Mural of Jordan Aqueduct by Dawn Jordan, Mural Mania)
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And ev’ry inch of the way I know, From Albany to Buffalo
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Low bridge, ev’rybody down, Low bridge, we must be getting near a town
(From signage along the Erie Canalway Trail, Jordan.)
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You can always tell your neighbor, You can always tell your pal
If he’s ever navigated on the Erie Canal
We met this bird walking the Erie Canalway Trail near Utica in June 2022.
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We’d better look ‘round for a job old gal, Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
President James Garfield began his work career as a mule driver or “hoggee.”
(Hoggee and Mule monument stands on the former towpath across from the 1850 Weighlock building, home of the Erie Canal Museum at 318 Erie Blvd East in Syracuse. Monument by Tom Tischler.)
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You bet your life I wouldn’t part with Sal, Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
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Giddap there gal we’ve passed that lock, We’ll make Rome ‘fore six o-clock
One more trip and then we’ll go, Right straight back to Buffalo
(Erie Canal gate from Old Erie Canal Lock 50, also called Gere's Lock, now located in Camillus Erie Canal Park.)
Construction on the Erie Canal began in Rome, somewhere near this sign, on July 4, 1817.
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Low bridge, ev’rybody down, Low bridge, we must be getting near a town
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You can always tell your neighbor, You can always tell your pal
If he’s ever navigated on the Erie Canal
(Pushing my mom, Mary Ann Avazian, on the Erie Canalway Trail in DeWitt in a photo shoot for Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. Photographs by Call of the Loon Productions.)
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Soon everyone will sing about my Old Sal, Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
(Mule from Hoggee and Mule monument facing Syracuse weighlock building, Erie Canal Museum, on Erie Boulevard–once the Erie Canal.)
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It’s a catchy ditty ‘bout my Old Pal, Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
(I drink my morning coffee from a mule mug purchased at a gift shop at the Lockport Locks & Erie Canal Cruises.)
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Oh, every band will play it soon, Darned fool words and darned fool tune
(Mark De Cracker of Mural Mania photoshopped himself singing in front of the first mural done by Mural Mania, “Winston's Dream,” in Lyons. Image submitted by Mark De Cracker.)
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You’ll hear it sung everywhere you go, from Mexico to Buffalo
(“Mule Days of Summer” mural by Kelly Curry at the Syracuse Heritage Area Visitors Center, Erie Canal Museum.)
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Low bridge, ev’rybody down, Low bridge, we must be getting near a town
We love bridges–they are great for shade!
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You can always tell your neighbor, You can always tell your pal
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If he’s ever navigated on the Erie Canal
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In the end, we believe these are the “7 Wonders of the Erie Canalway Trail”
Vote on the 8th Wonder? Or perhaps you have other sites you’d like us to consider beyond these?
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Conclusion: Having seen all the sites between Buffalo and Albany, we believe these are the “7 Wonders”:
1. “Flight of Five”: The c. 1862 “staircase” locks are seen alongside two deep, consecutive modern locks (34 & 35); Lockport.
2. 1850 Syracuse Weighlock Building, last remaining structure of its kind (houses Erie Canal Museum); Syracuse.
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Final “Wonders” continued:
3. Lift Lock 17,"One of the highest lift locks in the world"; Little Falls.
4. Nine Mile Creek Aqueduct, only restored, navigable aqueduct; Camillus.�
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Final “Wonders” continued:
�
5. Historic dry dock complex in Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum; Chittenango. (Photograph by Ginny Marasco of the Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum.)
�6. Tiny Locktender’s House; Jordan (Jordan Historical Society & Museum)�
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Final “Wonders” continued:
7. Mural Mania: "longest mural trail in the world of over 85 miles along the Erie Canal”; Macedon to Syracuse (85 miles), plus other outside areas.
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Vote on the 8th Wonder? Or perhaps you have another site?
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Wish we’d been able to see a movie in
Brockport at the Strand Theater
Friends Cindy and David took this photo of Brockport’s movie theater close to the Trail: “Opening in 1916, the Strand is the second oldest movie theater in the country that still shows newly released films upon their nationwide premiere.” (Today.Brockport.edu)
(Strand Theater, Brockport, 2023. Photo by Cindy Barry)
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God and the Erie Canal:
These “path” Scriptures remind me of finding and staying on the Canalway Trail:
• “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
• “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasure sat your right hand” (Psalm 16:11).
• “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105).
• "At dawn let me experience your kindness, for in you I place my trust. Show me the path I must walk, for to you I lift up my soul.” (Psalm 143:8).
“Culturally, the opening of the Erie Canal also boosted the Protestant revival movement known as the Second Awakening. Western New York was one of the main areas of this movement, and a crucial reason for this was the opening of the Erie Canal” (The Canal System and the Development of the Early American Economy, ANBOUND, 2022).
I wonder if preachers believed its construction was a tool used by God to share His word. This Scripture from the Book of Isaiah makes me think of the Canal’s construction: “‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.’” (Isaiah 40:3-4).
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Music Credits from Video, “Hiking the Erie Canalway Trail, Vote on 7 Wonders, Stop CMV” (2023).
Licensor's Username: https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/; Licensee: u_08r69u4nrd; Audio File Title: Сomedy; Audio File ID: 21407; Pixabay GmbH c/o Lacore Rechtsanwälte LLP, Berliner Freiheit 2, 10785 Berlin, Germany. Date of download: 2023-08-29
Licensor's Username: https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/; Licensee: u_08r69u4nrd; Audio File ID: 5718; Pixabay GmbH c/o Lacore Rechtsanwälte LLP; Berliner Freiheit 2, 10785 Berlin, Germany. Date of download: 2023-08-29
Licensor's Username: https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/; Licensee: u_08r69u4nrd; Audio File ID: 5688; Pixabay GmbH c/o Lacore Rechtsanwälte LLP, Berliner Freiheit 2, 10785 Berlin, Germany. Date of download: 2023-08-29
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About the Presentation
“Walking 360 Miles to Complete the Erie Canalway Challenge”
Lisa Saunders, author of "Walking the Erie Canalway Trail: A Search for 7 Wonders, Bathrooms and Beer to Stop CMV," discusses the challenges of walking the Trail between Buffalo and Albany; how her ancestor Jacob Leach, a distiller of whiskey, helped plan the opening of the Canal in 1825 with Governor Clinton's boat parade; where her Great Aunt Rebecca's body was found submerged in the Canal; and issues faced by sedentary folks seeking to become "end-to-enders."
When Lisa and her husband, both baby boomers, commenced the 360-Mile Challenge, they thought walking a largely level path would be easy – but there were some challenges! Over the five years it took to complete the Challenge, they'd been chased by mosquitoes, biting flies, hissing geese and lightning. They endured torrential downpours, floods, ice, blinding snow, chafing underwear, and aching feet. Yet, they found ways to persevere, enjoying the beauty and engineering marvels along the way. Will you agree with her choices of "The 7 Wonders of the Erie Canalway Trail"?
Lisa, now a Canalway Challenge Ambassador, will explain how anyone can register their own Challenge, ranging from one to 360 miles. Lisa and her husband had registered their 360-Mile Challenge as "Lisa & Jim Saunders to Stop CMV, #1 Birth Defects Virus." Lisa registered her mother for the One-Mile Challenge and pushed her in her wheelchair so Mom could complete her own Challenge! People are encouraged to register their Canalway Challenge with the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor because it shows support for the Erie Canal and the Canalway Trail, providing data on how many use it and in what way -- helping to justify further investment in the canal.
(Photo caption: Lisa and Jim Saunders pushing Lisa's mom, Mary Ann Avazian, on the Erie Canalway Trail in DeWitt, New York. Photo taken by Call of the Loon Productions for an Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor.)
Intended Audience:
Walkers, Erie Canal enthusiasts, historians, and those who support the use and promotion of the Erie Canalway Trail. Participants will learn:
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