Monday is a common rest day for triathletes and today was a rest day for me and a day to play! Traveling to races usually means flying in and out of a locale often without a lot of time to explore. Since my trip to New York was a to visit family and race, I had a bit more time to sightsee and show Phil what Central New York has to offer.
It turns out Mondays are not the best day for visiting museums though, at least not in Syracuse, NY. Phil and I planned to visit several museums featuring the history of the region, but they all seemed to be closed, except the Erie Canal Museum. I was tickled pink to visit the museum as I could still recite parts of a the Erie Canal song, a folk song still taught to students today as they learn about the canal and its legacy.
The Erie Canal played a significant role in the development and economic growth of New York, the eastern seaboard and it directly impacted the growth and settlement further west. The Erie Canal museum houses the only existing WeighLock building (pictured to the left) in America.Although I may not have understood the economic and political impact of the Erie Canal as a grade schooler, I did enjoy and remember learning the catchy Erie Canal song. A quick search on YouTube uncovered a number of renditions of the beloved Erie Canal song included this version performed by the Boss!
After touring the museum, we shopped in the gift shop (of course). I picked up the book the "Wedding of the Waters" by Peter L. Berstein. I'm looking forward to reading it and digging in and learning more about the history of my birthplace (Syracuse, NY) and the way the canal changed life for the people it touched.
