Upon leaving Niagara Falls we headed to Lockport, NY to see….the locks!
The Erie Canal needed to climb the same elevation change that Niagara Falls drops over. That climb happens at Lockport where a series of 5 double-locks (side-by-side for bi-directional traffic) raises and lowers canal traffic 60 feet.
One side of the bi-directional locks is still in mostly-original condition. The other side was replaced during one of the canal modernizations to have fewer locks of greater height and wider widths as enabled by new engineering and technology.
There’s a little museum in between the sides of the locks, but otherwise you can just kind of meander about the area. I apparently didn’t take any pictures of the locks, but Jess got a picture of the sculpture recreating a historic photo of lock workers.
We ate lunch at a little diner next to the locks before piling back in the car and continuing our drive to Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion State Historic Park just north of Lake Canandaigua (one of the Finger Lakes).
This property was a summer home of a rich banker in New York City in the late 19th century. Fun to walk around. Some areas in desperate need of funding for restoration–especially the Roman Bath.
My favorite area was the “Rock Garden” which was a set of trails through a rocky area covered in mosses, ferns, and trees. It included secluded grottos, bridges, twists, and turns.
We drove along I-90 further east until deciding to stop. Upon which we discovered that while many hotels existed in the area, they were all, for unknown reasons, just about booked up for the night. So we paid an absurd amount for a basic double-queen room, but we at least got a room.
That evening found us back in Friendly’s territory and we got our first Friendly’s sundaes (and dinner) of the trip.
