Canajoharie, NY

Wednesday - June 13, 2018     Canajoharie, NY

Last night before we went to bed we checked the weather as we do 88 times a day and the forecast was for heavy rain with thunder and lighting. As you might remember, one of the Loopers creeds is not to travel in bad weather so we decided to spend another day tied to the free dock with free power.

In the morning before breakfast I went for a walk and then a quick stroll in the Village Center to give

Dummy Light

it a once over. I did find the “Dummy” (not sure why it is referred to as dummy) traffic light sitting in the middle of the intersection. Seems it was placed there in 1929 in this spot so the motorist would see it? Now its one of only 2 left in the state of New York. As I was walking the main drag, I spotted  what looked to be a neat little Italian Restaurant called Venice. Their hours are posted in the window, closed M, & T, W 5-8, T, F, S 11-10.

Oh, forgot to tell you that Canajoharie was the home for 120 years to Beech-Nut Packing Company, Ring a bell? Beech-Nut Baby Food was one of the products they produced along with ham, bacon, candy, gum and coffee just to name a few.  They also had the first patent on the
vacuum seal jar. If I can recall way back when

Beech-Nut Packing Company
Now an empty building loaded with aspestos

Patrick was a baby, he loved their Blueberry Buckle! In 2009 they closed this plant and moved 20 miles away into a new state of the art facility and left behind a few environmental issues at the closed plant.

Over the course of the afternoon a few more boats make their way to the town dock. Again, it’s docktails, drinks and some good old junk food under the pavilion. As it turned out my nephew, Craig, was in the process of buying a boat only a few miles from where we are. He was heading back to Connecticut and passing right through Canajoharie, so he planned to stop to see our boat and have dinner. He arrived at the tail end of docktails so he got to meet some other boaters. Seeing we were having dinner there is only one place to dine and that’s Venice but it closes at 8:00. A quick tour of Zoey’s Adventure and off to dinner. When we walked in, there was not a sole in the place. Asked if they were open and they said yes. We sat down and enjoyed a nice little Italian buffet (Wednesday is pasta buffet night). Dinner began with a complimentary glass of wine, because they don’t have a liquor license and we didn't know it was BYOB. In all it turned out to be a delightful dinner and a very lively interaction with the owner Kris. Kris and his wife, a former Brooklyn police officer, moved to this area with their young family, two years after 9/11.

Thursday - June 14, 2018      Canajoharie, NY

Downtown Canajoharie

Yep, we are still here. When we woke up the wind was howling 15-20 knots with gusts to 30. Not a good day to be on the water, even if it is a canal.  There were small waves going by and not easy to tie the boat to the lock walls and keep it there.  So, we sat at the dock worked on this blog which really takes a lot of time. Lou Ann, went to town looking to get her  nails done and then to the local museum.  She said she enjoyed museum but the nail salon could not do her nails. I did a few things on the boat including looking at what we need for charts and navigation tools when we leave the canal system in a few days and enter into Lake Ontario.

Canajoharie, NY

Canajoharie, NY

Late last year I was able to buy a set of charts and chart books for most of our trip from a Looper, who had just completed his journey. The big event for the day was lunch at the local restaurant that offers breakfast, lunch and dinner - the same menu all day. After lunch I have to indulge in dessert, homemade strawberry rhubarb pie. Oh it was so good one of my favorites, almost as good as mom’s!


Back to the boat and just hung around checking the weather both here and home. Not sure why it matters what the weather is in Mystic? At 4pm it was still blowing 20 knots. Looks as if tomorrow, Friday, will be a good day to travel as the weather predictions is for sun, winds about 10-15 knots but still cool with temps in the upper 50’s. Weather permitting we plan to leave the dock at 7 am so we can be the first in the lock when it opens at 7 am. I can see the lock from where we are docked. This early departure will hopefully assure us of a place on the only dock in downtown Utica, about 40 miles and 6 locks away.  Should this Utica dock be full our only other option is another town park/dock just outside of Utica. Should this last option not work out then we would be forced to wait and tie to a lock wall either just before or after the actual chamber. This is permitted but you have to be off the wall before the lock open at 7 am. Two early morning departures would not sit well with the crew aboard Zoey’s Adventure.