Fort Edward, NY to Whitehall, NY

Miles Traveled 23.3

Total Miles Traveled 4630

Day 272

We started our day with cloudy overcast skies and a chance of afternoon thunderstorms.  Our plan was to leave early and arrive at the city dock in Whitehall before afternoon.  After our first lock of three, the sky in the north was blue with white puffy clouds, but the sky behind us was getting darker by the mile. We didn’t see another boat in the canal during our entire cruise today; we had calm waters and beautiful scenery.

Turn right and go over the dam, turn left and go through the lock.

This is Lock #9, the highest level of the Champlain Canal—140 feet.  The locks up to this point were lifting us up; the remainder of the locks will drop us down, allowing us to take our boat over the hills of up-state New York.

We were securing the boat to the Whitehall City Dock just as a siren sounded signifying high noon, but we didn’t know that at the time, the wind had kicked up, it started to sprinkle, and the dark clouds were rolling in………severe weather warning?

Just as the evening before, the storms went around us with only a sprinkle.

After the threat of rain passed, we searched Google for a restaurant to eat lunch.  We found an interesting place called the Sasquatch Saloon located across the canal bridge.  The building was built in 1820 with a post and beam structure and is one of the oldest buildings in Whitehall.  Whitehall’s most famous urban legend is Bigfoot, with sightings in the area going back at a time when Native Americans inhabited the mountains.  We decided this was the place to go, but when we arrived, primed for an adventure, it was closed.  On the walk back, I was able to determine the back side of the building from the bridge, it’s the one by the water, maybe being closed was not a bad thing.

We did find a nice place to eat, the Historic Grounds Restaurant, located in an old bank building on Main Street.

After lunch we visited the Skenesborough Museum, Skenesbourough was founded in 1759 by Major Philip Skene, and after the revolutionary war was renamed Whitehall.  We learned that Whitehall is the birthplace of the United States Navy.   In 1776, General Philip Schuyler built a small fleet of ships used by Benedict Arnold in the Battle of Valcour Island and can be credited with a stand-off which caused the British to return to Canada.  During the war of 1812, Whitehall was again a ship building community supplying vessels for naval battles on Lake Champlain.

Another surprising fact we learned was the founder of the first metal trolling lure, Julio Thompson Buel, operated a furrier and taxidermy business with his father in Whitehall.  Julio often fished on Lake Bomoseen, where his father kept a shanty and boat.  On one outing Julio ate his lunch while his boat drifted, the boat bumped against a rock, causing Julio to drop the spoon he was using into the water.  As he watched it spiral down toward the bottom, he was surprised to see a large fish swoop down, grab the spoon, and swim off with it, the rest is history.

Moni Jean at the Whitehall City Dock...........