Departed Amsterdam June 30 in rain. Although it was a Sunday, we were the only ones on the water. Went through a fun thunderstorm.

Arrived Saint Johnsville, NY as the sun was breaking out treating us to a beautiful afternoon.

Gina, Leslie and I walked to the “grocer” in town to pick up some provisions for dinner. Pickings were extraordinarily limited, so we decided to go out to dinner. There were not many options, but we picked Ripepi’s as it had the best reviews and the dock master advised they would pick us up!

You know you’re in a small town when the owner of the restaurant picks up 6 of you (thank you Gina and John for cramming your bodies in the hatch) AND drives you back to your boat after dinner! This place was old school Italian with huge portions. I had lasagna that was to die for. I really wanted red wine with it. My options?

Departed the next morning for Sylvan Beach, NY. Had a gorgeous day on the water. Tied up to a free wall and walked around a bit. A lot of boat traffic in Sylvan Beach which sits on the East side of Lake Oneida. Really pretty place.

Departed the next morning in a bit of rain and had an uneventful trip across Oneida Lake, past Brewerton and into Pirate’s Cove Marina in Clay, NY where we planned to keep the boat for 5 nights. Our first night, we had docktails with other folks doing the Loop.

After we went back to our boats, we were treated to a fantastic sunset!

The next day was chore day. Leslie and I took the marina’s courtesy car and did provisioning for the Fourth. Did laundry and cleaned the boat. Mike changed oil & filters in the Cummins (main engine) as well as the Northern Lights (generator). She’s all good to go!

That night, we hosted Leslie and Parker on FF for pizza. The evening went on with an epic game of Cards Against Humanity. Parker killed us. There was a fireworks show on the 3rd, but we were so engrossed in our game, we missed it.

Fourth of July brought sunny skies and HOT weather. (Back story: Mike gave Leslie and Parker one of his last jars of Zombie Sauce. They fell in love with it.) I went with Leslie to 4 different stores so she could get everything needed to make more Zombie Sauce. This entailed a two burner Coleman camp stove, huge canning pot, Ball canning jars, and a bunch of ingredients I wasn’t sure we’d find in Clay, NY. Alas, we did! Went back to the boats and got things ready for our 4th of July celebration. Scaliwag hosted Alysana and us. We ate A LOT! Gina made gorgonzola and honey crackers. Leslie made chorizo and cream cheese filled jalapeños topped with bacon AND candied bacon. I made onion dip along with Ruffles (cheers Patrice!). After all that, we had lunch/dinner. Oink. Toasted my Uncle George who turned 69 years young! We were all so damn tired and full, we went to sleep before any fireworks.

The following morning, we drove a couple hours to Cooperstown to tour the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Beautiful drive through a bunch of small towns and gorgeous lakes. Tim Mead, who was with our beloved Angels organization forever, is the new President of the Hall of Fame. We got to meet up with him when we got there which was wonderful.

There was so much cool stuff at the Hall. Could spend more than a day there.

We did a late lunch/early dinner at Sal’s pizza and had some epic pie. Back to the boats where we all crashed pretty early.

Saturday morning, Mike and I hit the road again for Rochester. Our nephew Brendan lives there, and our youngest son Daniel and his girlfriend drove out from Pittsburgh to meet us. Poured rain on us during our drive and the first couple hours after we got there. When the rain broke, we took a walk around the downtown area. Rochester looks like a city that was once bustling, wore down, and is getting revitalized.

A lot of history here to include the birthplace of modern photography and George Eastman.

After some walking, decided a glass of wine sounded good. Found a delightful little wine bar on the river. I had a champagne flight and toasted to my birthday girl, Shannon.

Met up later with Brendan and his girlfriend Sam. We all went to Genesee Brewery. Genesee was founded in 1898 and is one of the oldest continually running breweries in the United States. The place is perpetually packed. It has a rooftop bar with a view of some falls. The first floor is somewhat of a museum for the brewery. Very cool place. Good beer and food to boot!

We didn’t want the evening to end, so walked to Tapas 177 for a nightcap. Another super cool joint. It was such a treat for us to spend time with our son and nephew. Loved meeting their girlfriends, both of whom were adorable.

Brendan is a cook, and graciously invited us to their place in the morning for brunch. He and Sam hooked us up!

An incredible visit that warmed my heart. Was sad to leave. Alas, we had 24 miles and 5 locks to get through before nightfall, so bid adieu to the kids and drove back to the boat.

Took off Sunday afternoon about 2:00 thinking all the locks were open late. I called to confirm and found out only the last 3 were open late. Huge oops! Checked our charts and found a place for us to tie up before Lock 5 for the night. After calling all the lockmasters, they advised Lockmaster 5 would stay late for us, and Lockmaster 8 would go down to locks 7 & 8 and lock us through! These guys were absolutely awesome! (We really wanted to be close to the mouth of Lake Ontario to hit it early the next morning.) We, with Scaliwag, locked through to Oswego and tied up to a free wall where we met back up with Robin and Charlie on The Lower Place whom we had not seen since the Bahamas! Gina and John were already there as well. Had a great evening catching up. Afterward, while we were chilling on the bridge, were treated to a great fireworks show over the water.

Monday morning, Leslie brought us all fresh out of the oven blueberry muffins. Oh my Lord, were they good! Departed shortly after 7:00am and locked through our 30th, and last, lock of the Erie and Oswego! Went onto Lake Ontario in perfect conditions!

After a lovely 40 miles, dropped the hook in Henderson Harbor. Mike cleaned up our swim step and stern, and I read on the upper deck. Lovely anchorage.

I actually took a nap, which I never do. BBQ’d for dinner, read and went to bed. Took off shortly after 8:00 this morning en route for Clayton, NY which is in the Thousand Islands. A bit more chop today, but a beautiful trip to Clayton. Dropped the dinghy and went ashore for lunch. Walked a few miles, then did a little provision. Beautiful town.

Back to the boat for sunset and dinner. Dinner was just soup, but sunset was stunning, and lasted for so long!

As I write this, the sky continues to change in its beauty. Tomorrow, plan to go to Boldt Castle. Want to spend some time in the Thousand Islands, then will head west and start our journey on the Trent-Severn, God willing.

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. We are truly enjoying the beauty of upper state New York, and so blessed to have met some wonderful folks to share it with. Cheers! M&M