You may recall seeing the notice on Dispatches for this special Canal bicentennial bus tour and cruise. Enjoy these photos from yesterday, when sixty-four Canal enthusiasts attended the day’s events. At the Lyons dry dock stop, section superintendent Troy Sebastiano led a tour of the shops.

The group got an up-close view of this workhorse, the National Register-listed steam-powered Dipper Dredge No. 3.

Steve Wunder, in the yellow t-shirt, gifted the group with an inimitable recitation of his praise poem of the Dipper Dredge. The text of the poem will be published in an upcoming post.

Next stop was the 1857 Ganargua [aka Mud Creek] Creek Aqueduct, infrastructure with an uncertain future.

From there, it was on to the 1858 Aldrich Change Bridge. Jay Hardin, coordinator of the Bridge restoration committee, told the epic story of

how it was preserved.

The bridge is truly a fitting location for a Canal Society of NYS group photo.

From there, the coach took the tour to the home of Erie Canal Adventures, formerly operated as Mid-Lakes Navigation. More on this “drive it yourself” fleet can be found here.

Peter Wiles gave a condensed history of the Wiles family’s creation of Mid-Lakes Navigation and their 50+ years operating excursion vessels on the waters of New York State.

The group then boarded Colonial Belle, captained by none other than the current president of the Canal Society of NYS, one of the many hats worn by Tammy Poinan Grimes.

Now, as always, the bridges might be low, but the

canal beckons.

If you took part in the day’s adventures, I invite you to add to my short reportage.