Monday, November 29, 2010

Erie Canal/ My World

Erie Canal, Bushnell's Basin, New York - looking westerly

Last Friday was a blustery, overcast day in Upstate New York where my husband and I visited relatives for the U.S. Thanksgiving. Out sightseeing (in spite of the weather) we crossed the Erie Canal.

Remember this song?

Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge cause we're coming to a town
And you'll always know your neighbor
And you'll always know your pal
If you've ever navigated on the Erie Canal

If you want to hear the tune, you can click HERE.


1905 map of the Erie Canal

The canal was completed in 1825, linking Buffalo to Albany and then on to New York City via the Hudson River.


Erie Canal, Bushnell's Basin, New York - looking easterly

The canal was built in sections and for a while Bushnell's Basin was a terminus for all canal traffic going either east or west, which meant warehouse workers, boat handlers, tavern keepers, and wagon drivers were kept busy here for years. Superhighways built in the 1960s have made the canal commercially unimportant.


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35 comments:

Janet said...

My! That does look cold, and I do remember the song.

SouthernSass said...

Great pics - I love the bridge! My husband grew up in Buffalo.

Xavi said...

Excellent information as always,Tina, I'd like to visit this canal.
Very good captures.
Have a nice day!

Sylvia K said...

Terrific captures as always and it does indeed look COLD!! And I, too, remember the song!! Great post for the day! Hope your week goes well! Enjoy!

Sylvia

Cezar and Léia said...

And something else in the future will make the super highways obsolete too... :)
God bless you!
Cezar

George said...

I do remember the song, and I like your pictures of the Erie Canal.

Carver said...

Great shot. Hard to believe now that I think of it but I haven't been there since I was a child.

Arija said...

The first shot really brings home the blustery day with the chasing clouds and waving grass.
Thanks for the map and info. as well.

B i r g i t t a said...

Now snow yet?
Great pictures of the canal and bridges :)

http://fotochip.blogspot.com/2010/11/mwwhat-wonderful-day.html

giorno26 ¸¸.•*¨*•. said...

Ehy,
credo che in questo momento nella foto ci sia un pò di vento !
Molto belle...
Buona serata :)
Myriam

Marie said...

Really looks as if you had a cold day there. Lovely post my friend.

Penelope Notes said...

Nice that you are relatively near New York and could visit at Thanksgiving! The Erie Canal looks a little eerie to me on this cloudy cool day. :)

Joe Todd said...

I find canals fascinating. Good post

Gill - That British Woman said...

I have never heard of that song before, or seen the canal, very interesting.

Gill

Barb said...

Doesn't look like anyone was traveling through on that cold day.

eileeninmd said...

Wonderful photos, I am not familiar with the song. Nice post on the Erie Canal.

Lesley said...

I have somehow missed that song, but I really like this version.

Sally in WA said...

My aunts do quite a bit of kayaking in the canal, although not in this area.

Kay L. Davies said...

Oh, of course I remember the song! It came to mind as soon as I saw your title, before I saw what you had written. What a fascinating post.
-- K

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

Martha Z said...

Once canals were the highways of the world, then railroads and now we have modern highways. Unfortunately, trucks are far less efficient than the other two modes of transportation.

Andrea said...

Yeah, it really looks deserted and devoid of life, even if it is still teaming with it. Only the water seems to be moving. In winter, does the water become ice too. By then Erie becomes Eerie maybe! hehe.

Jack said...

Now I am shamed. I would love to see the Erie Canal some day, and now a Canadian got there before me.

Ebie said...

These pictures are great! To brave the cold and take scenic shots is one way of not indulging with the turkey and all the fixings.

I have never been there yet, though.

Randy said...

I can only imagine how cold it was. You did capture some lovely shots though.

Anonymous said...

Looks cold! Thanks for braving the weather for our sakes...

Small City Scenes said...

I remember that song and maybe not all the words but the tune. and now that tune will be in my head when I go to bed in a few minutes.
A great peice of work, still amazing yet taken over by the superhighways. As it goes. MB

Reader Wil said...

It must have been a very important piece of work to dig this canal. In our flat country it is already a great achievement to dig canals, let alone in your rocky country. And the distance is much further than that of the Netherlands from north to south, which measures approximately 310 kms.
I enjoyed listening to the song about the Erie canal! The photos are brilliant as ever!

Andy said...

Count me in as someone else that remembers the song. Thanks for sharing your photos.

Darla said...

I've never seen the Erie Canal but have of course heard of it. Great to get a glimps and some history.

Darla

Oman said...

one of the more famous body of water in america. i have heard of this but never actually saw this before. thanks for sharing your world with us.

BraCom said...

Terrific captures as always and it does indeed look very cold!

Have a nice week,
Greetings, Bram

Link to My Word Tuesday post!

Seen on My World Tuesday

NatureFootstep said...

Nice poem for that canal. I like things like that. :)

Lowell said...

Thank you for these. We looked briefly at the Erie Canal in my American history classes, but I've never seen it in person...so this helps. Where were you a few years ago? :-)

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Oh that song made me miserable when I was in grade school and it was in our song book (that darned mule named Sal).....

Thanks (I think ;>) for the memories! Sal(lie)

(At least it sounds better when Suzanne Vega sings it than it did then.)

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

some people have a winter christmas in July. otherwise Christmas is a BBQ at the beach.

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East Gwillimbury is a rural town less than an hour north of Toronto, Canada's largest city. My family calls me CameraGirl because I take my camera with me wherever I go.