BREWERTON to SKANEATELES & Home to CALIFORNIA

On Sunday morning we rented a car (First time driving in 4 months?) and visited SKANEATELES. It's a nice town on beautiful Lake SKANEATELES. We stayed at the Sherwood Hotel for two nights, it feels funny not being aboard a Thistle. 

On the way to the airport, we stopped at Winter Harbor to check on Thistle. It was perfect timing (by fluke or good karma) she was in the process of being hauled out of the water for winter storage. It was exciting to watch and brought back so many memories of our awsome summer adventure. She will be inside a huge heated storage building with other boats this winter in BREWERTON, NY. 

The last four months have been almost unbelievable (In Good way :)...We have enjoyed learning so much of our American History, seeing wonderful port cities of all sizes, meeting interesting people and the two of us still getting along after being together in a relativity confined space  XO.

These are interesting observations we made, living aboard Thistle ...We both check the Marine Forecast on our mobile devices before any thing else (E Mail, FaceBook, Words With Friends,  Instagram, TMZ, News...etc), Boats Bite? ( Yes, we both have numerous "boat bites" or bruises) and Docking is a spectator sport !

Looper Tip: Take your time... There is no reason to hurry!

Thanks for following us on our blog ... It made us happy to know we have so many great friends and family members who were with us on the Loop :) 

Old School ...Post Cards.

SKANEATELES is a very nice town !

The Lake is beautiful !

Sherwood Inn.

Amyela's vineyard and Winery on Lake SKANEATELES.

Thistle :)

Have a warm winter... Inside storage for her this year XO

Tuesday, Flights home from Syracuse, NY to Orange County, CA. :)  

200 engine hours on this leg of the Great Loop :)

Summer 2014: Red Line (Green Star - Start ... Purple Star - Finish)

Home in Laguna Beach for a colorful sunset.

Already dreaming about future adventures on ... "Loop Life with Greg and Reenie" :)

To be continued, next summer.......XO

LAKE SENECA to SENECA FALLS & BREWERTON

After a wonderful night on LAKE SENECA, we departed Thursday morning to retrace our course back to SENECA FALLS. It was another beautiful Fall day :) With a few cool nights, the leaves dramatically changed color overnight.

It took us about 5 hours to return to SENECA FALLS :) another good night at a favorite port !

We planned on taking our time to BREWERTON  (winter storage) ... But remember it's all weather Dependent !!! ..... And, the remnants of hurricane Odile (Cabo) will be hitting our area on Saturday and Sunday ?  

So... We woke up early on Friday morning and hurried to BREWERTON in one long day (10 hours) to arrive at Winter Harbor, for our reservation, to store Thistle for the winter season. 

It's very bittersweet, to end a ... A wonderful summer, but home to California in a few days:)

The weather report is for more rain and cold weather ... So, we are taking a two day side trip :) Please stay tuned :) 

Looper Tip: Winter Harbor seems very nice !

XO

Thursday: LAKE SENECA to SENECA FALLS - Red Line

Friday: SENECA FALLS to BREWERTON - Green Line 

Beautiful Fall colors!

Along the Erie Canal.

Lots of low bridges ... duck "Capt" GB :)

Erie Canal Boats.

Back in SENECA FALLS :)... Bruce Speingsteen tribute concert !!!

Early departure ... Steam on the canal and an All American Eagle.

We need to get "Our Ducks in a Row" to winter Thistle!

Crossing our last lock on the Erie Canal  (#23) for the season.

Red Star is BREWERTON - where Winter Harbor is located.

Arriving at Winter Harbor....

Beautiful Fall sunset for our last night aboard Thistle.

The dock kitty befriended us :) Meow ......

Saying Good by Thistle in the rain ... Stay warm this winter XO.

OSWEGO to BALDWINSVILLE, SENECA FALLS & LAKE SENECA

On Monday morning we said goodby to OSWEGO...staying here was a pleasant surprise. The town has a lot to offer traveling boaters with unparrelled hospitality.

We decided to head towards the Finger Lakes...the weather report is for beautiful Fall conditions the next few days. The day time is sunny and crisp (50's) and the nights are cold (high 30's low 40's), beautiful blue skies dotted with white clouds and light wind....perfect :)

To get to the Finger Lakes, on Monday we traveled on the Oswego Canal (Conecting OSWEGO to the Erie Canal) and then the Erie Canal (Connecting Albany, NY to Buffalo, NY) for about 5 hours and docked in BALDWINSVILLE. The most exciting thing in BALDWINSVILLE was Mike's Pizza, which had a Monday night special on Wings and Pizza (It was pretty good).

On Tuesday we traveled about 5 hours on the Erie Canal and the Cayuga-Seneca Canal (Connecting the Finger Lakes to the Erie Canal) and docked in SENECA FALLS for the night. It's a very picturesst town that's very friendly to boaters with great facilities. 

Looper Tip: SENECA FALLS gets 5 stars as the best Canal stop...A free docking wall including power and water. A special private clean laundry room and showers for only boaters! With restaurants, a museum and small grocery store within a few blocks.

Wednesday morning we departed SENECA FALLS by 11 am, after about a 4 hour journey on the Canal and LAKE SENECA we docked at Miles Wine Cellar and Inn. Greg made a reservation to dock Thistle and spend the night at their Bed and Breakfast...XO.

The Finger Lakes are a pattern of long and narrow Lakes in Upstate New York (resembling fingers). There are eleven Finger Lakes. LAKE SENECA is the largest and deepest of the Finger Lakes in total area (40 miles long, 3 miles wide and 615 feet deep). LAKE SENECA is sometimes referred to as "The Middle Finger"? The Finger Lakes are New York States largest wine producing region with hundreds of wineries and vineyards. 

Popular Folklore is that one day Paul Bunyan was hiking in upper New York State. He tripped and threw his hand down to break his fall, thus inadvertanly carving the aptly-named "Finger Lakes".  

It's been a very fun (unplanned) few extra days of Loop Life Adventures,,, We are now heading to Lake Onieda to winter Thistle and fly home to California early next week :)

Monday: OSWEGO to BALDWINSVILLE - Red Line

Tuesday: BALDWINSVILLE to SENECA FALLS - Green Line

Wednesday: SENECA FALLS to LAKE SENECA - Purple Line

Back in the Locks on the OSWEGO Canal.

The OSWEGO Canal has numerous Hydroelectric plants and they generate almost enough power for all of the families in New York State.

A beautiful travel day on the Canals :)

On the Erie Canal docking in BALDWINSVILLE Monday night (called B Town by Locals).

Tuesday traveling to SENECA FALLS. It's the town in the movie "It's A Wonderful Life".

Trinity Church on the Erie Canal in SENECA FALLS. 

We visited the Farmers Market in SENECA FALLS...Their Fall crop is here!

Happy to be on the town wall in SENECA FALLS :)

On gorgeous LAKE SENECA. 

Miles Wine Cellar and Inn on LAKE SENECA.

Cheers!

The Mansion is rumored to be haunted....We did see a white cat and a white duck but no Ghost?

Dinner on our private dock at the Winery! 

CAPE VINCENT across LAKE ONTARIO to OSWEGO

On Friday morning we woke up early to check the Marine Weather Forcast again...Yeah, it looks ok to cross LAKE ONTARIO :) The report is for winds 5-10 miles per hour out of the North, diminishing throughout the day. The air is a brisk 42 degrees warming to 50 degrees. This is all good news but we were still a little apprehensive after stories we have heard and read about the crossing.

Our decision was to cross LAKE ONTARIO on Friday, taking a slightly longer and more protected course. This was traveling from CAPE VINCENT to Sackets Harbor ( knowing we could spend the night there if necessary) then on to OSWEGO. We departed CAPE VINCENT by 8:30 am arriving in Sackets Harbor at 11:45 am. Departing Sackets Harbor at Noon and arriving to the first Lock on the OSWEGO Canal by 4:15 pm. We secured Thistle on the OSWEGO town wall by 5 pm. It was a long exhilarating and rewarding 9 and a half hour day!

We did not spent much time in Sackets Harbor, it seems like a nice small historic town founded in 1801 with good restaurants and lots of history from the War of 1812. The Harbor is small with limited docks, if you plan on staying make sure you have a reservation. 

We enjoyed our three night (Friday, Saturday & Sunday) stay in OSWEGO. The town has great restaurants, bike trails and a Fort! The British established a trading post here in 1722 with a log palisade later called Fort Ontario. The first fortification on the current site was built by the British in 1755, and was called "The Fort of the Six Nations". This Fort was destroyed by the French and then reconstructed by the British. The Fort was then abandoned by the British and destroyed by Americans. In 1782 the British reoccupied the Fort and finally forfeited the Fort to the Americans in 1796. Throughout the 19th Century the Americans maintained a Military presence at Fort Ontario. During WWII the Fort was used to house "interned" manily Jewish Refugees. 

OSWEGO is the center of the snow belt ...It's one of the snowiest towns in America! Most winters it accumulates more than 300 inches of snow. LAKE ONTARIO (and other Great Lakes) produce "Lake Effect" snow. This snow is produced when cooler winds blow across the warmer lake water, providing energy and picking up water vapor that freezes and then is deposited on the lake shore.  When we were waiting in Cape Vincent for a clear weather window, the weather reports were all predicting the first "Lake Effect" snow of the season... Believe me it's COLD, but beautiful XO.

Looper Tip: Believe the reports to be off the a Great Lakes before the second week of September, we are safe but probably a week late :)

CAPE VINCENT to Sackets Harbor then on to OSWEGO.

What a difference a day makes! Passing the Tibbits Point Lighthouse on Friday morning.

Crossing Lake Ontario :)

Lake Ontario was sparkling on Friday morning.

A quick stop in Sackets Harbor.

Entering the OSWEGO Canal from LAKE ONTARIO.

Thistle on the OSWEGO Canal.

The Water Street Cafe, in the beautiful Old City Hall Building is our favorite restaurant & bar in OSWEGO (great food, nice owner and friendly people). 

Around OSWEGO.

Fort Ontario in OSWEGO.

 Lots of Salmon fishing (wading in the rapids, boats in the rapids and land) on the OSWEGO Canal.

Music at Bistro 197 and breakfast at the Oswego Tea Company.

Sunset on the OSWEGO Canal.