You can read Part 1 and Part 2 and my video post of the packet boat ride is here. We spent all day at the Village, and there was so much to discover! Our Packet Boat ride was set to begin. It cost us $6 per person, so it was very pricey. But I suspect that a lot of the ticket money goes toward the feeding and care of the horses, who draw the boat up and down this portion of the canal twice a day.
Here comes the team for the boat.
The line for the boat ride was rather long in the hot afternoon sun. There were a lot of people. We choose seats on benches on the top of the boat. After everyone was settled and a warning given, the horses started off. A young man with a thick stick pushed the boat back away from the bank and got the boat going.
The boat ride was lovely– we were going at an even pace, about 4 miles per hour. The crowd was quietly murmuring, all mesmerized by the gentle lull of the boat on the water, the very hot sun on our shoulders, and the buzzing insects in the tall grasses along the banks. If it weren’t for the sounds of car traffic on the nearby road, and the occasional power line peeking above the trees, you’d think it was 1825 all over again. I loved it.
I took a few videos of the ride. In the video are some clips of the “packet captain” who instructed us about the history of the canal. It is about 8 minutes long, and I have been thus far unable to upload it to YouTube on my weak DSL connection. I’ll keep trying and post it when I get it uploaded.
On our way off the boat, I snapped a few photos of the boat’s downstairs. The color of the wood is lovely. The kids liked being out of the hot sun for a few minutes.
The kids had never been on a boat ride before this, and had never seen horses so close. After the boat ride, we went to see the horse barn. We just followed the trail!
What lovely horses!
The miniature horses were cautiously friendly. They ate clover from our hands. What beautiful little creatures. We could have stayed there forever! But there was a blacksmith demonstration in the barn, so away we went. I got a video of that, as well, but again, I haven’t been able to upload it yet. More to come!
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July 25th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
This looks so fun. I would love to go on something like this! Thanks for sharing!
July 26th, 2008 at 10:03 am
I’ve heard of the Erie Canal Village before but we’ve never been there…your pictures are great, it looks like a really interesting place to visit. We have some friends in Syracuse, we’ll have to consider a visit to the Erie Canal Village sometime when we’re planning to visit our friends.
July 27th, 2008 at 7:07 am
I’ve been doing some research on the canal for my genealogy and find it fascinating history. When our kids were young we went to Fort Ricky but never the ECV. Perhaps I’ll take the grandkids one day.