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Who knew?
We never did find out even after internet research how/why the peppermint capital of the world from the mid 1800’s all the way through to 1990 now produces no peppermint….hmmmm
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A slow moving morning for Renee, though Erik was up and moving early as usual. We were very close to the first lock of the day that did not open until 8 so we did one more free load of laundry before making bagels and getting ready to head out. Our first planned stop was Lyons and we considered continuing on to Seneca Fall's after a short visit in Lyons. Our short 5.5 mile trip included three locks so with leaving around 9am we pulled into Lyons a little after 10:30. An observation that we’ve made is that the locks on the Erie Canal raise and lower significantly quicker than any of the 100+ locks we’ve traversed on any other waterway thus far on our journeys. They must have huge valves. Although it was a short trip it was getting hot already. We were met at the dock by the famous Bob Stopper! AGLCA members fondly talk of him as the Lyons town greeter who is full of information!
Heron fishing on the lodge of the lock doors as we rode down
The lock master said he has been his buddy for 4 years
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We got plugged in, had some lunch, then hopped off for a walk through town. The town of Lyons has made a great effort to revitalize the quaint canal town full of history. The museums were closed (of course …it’s Monday) but there were several murals through out the town, a very cool pharmacy full of many trinkets. Then we went into Evole, the Christmas store. There is everything Christmas you could think of (and what you would never think of also!) This store was very sensory loaded! We left with some delicious salsa, a magnet, Erie Canal ornament, and of course Renee had to get a pair of Christmas earrings. As we continued to walk through town we noted that there were a LOT of social services type organizations. Seemed as though every 3rd or 4th building housed some sort of community based help agency. This is definitely a very rural county of NY and Lyons is the county seat so that does make some sense. It’s amazing how many small, once thriving, towns there are in our country.
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Many nice looking old buildings
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Didn’t know the camera was on ‘live’ mode but made for a nice shot of Old Glory waving
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After our walk we returned to the boat for our afternoon nap 😴 The AC sure felt good! Erik made the pasta we had purchased in Fairport, along with some sausage we had gotten at the market in Cleveland. We ate a delicious dinner then took a bike ride to see the rest of the murals and a little more of the town.
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| Fine nostalgic murals |
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Lots more murals, each with a descriptive plaque
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While searching for murals we noticed the renovated theater was open so Erik headed in to check it out. Renee was staying outside with Riva when, Bob the owner told her”go on in, you can take her(Riva) in with you”. So we checked out the beautifully renovated theater that was showing “Inside Out 2”. After we came out we visited with Bob who said his grandfather had built the theater in 1915. He had spent about 1.3 million $ renovating it 😮. He pointed out to us that Lyons was a very quiet and safe town that had a lot of social services available (lol….we had already observed this). We also chatted with a town official who was interested in our take on what could make the town more inviting. Apparently they have grant money to spend and were looking for ideas.
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Beautifully restored theatre
We forgot to take a pic of the nice entry and marquee sign |
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Smaller of two theaters in the building
The larger one had a screen, large stage and balconies
reminiscent of our beloved Ohio Valley theaters House |
Mid afternoon a couple aboard ‘Pelican’, a sailboat, had come in from the east and tied to the wall in front of us. Rick and Tracy are from Traverse City MI area and within a month or so of completing their loop. They looked very hot having arrived at about 3pm in the heat of the day. They shared that they do not have AC on their boat; Tracy doesn’t like AC……ugh….that sounded miserable to us. We enjoy that creature comfort after a hot day on the water and cannot fathom going without it.
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Riva chilling on Erik’s lap at sunset
Life is good for the pup and the old dog |
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