Out and About in Rockport, NY and surrounding areas.

A and D were to pick us up at 7.30am, to go food shopping and the get the Golf Cart Batteries at Sam's Club that we had been trying to get for quite a while now. These run the inverter which keeps all the 110 power going on the boat. We have struggled with low power for some time, but they old ones have held on for us, which is nice, and now they will be relieved of their duty:)

Dale and Waz got those in the vehicle, plus some more oil for the engines, while Andrea and I did other shopping. We cant take fresh fruit and veg into Canada, so our shopping was light this time. We may have to make another food run before we leave, next week!

First up we went to an Amish (plenty of them here, and Mennonites too ) fruit and veg. stall on the side of the road, beside their farm. Amish do not have electricity, unless it is for their business, but even then, they may not. Lovely young women served us, all dressed in their long dresses and aprons with modest white 'hats' on their braided hair. They are skilled craftsmen by all accounts and so their skills are fairly sought after in the community. The children were bare footed, which pleased us:) nothing better than having bare feet in summer!

Don't you love Zucchini flowers?

 Rows of Zucchini and Telegraph Cucumbers in this Amish Farm. The horses that you can just see are the working animals. There is no electricity to the farms, but there can be to the business, sometimes...if they choose to!

We are at the Farm produce stall...not a great choice, but we did buy some Strawberries, Cucumber and a Zucchini

 This is the farm that we went to for our bulk purchases, but didn't make any purchases...well, D bought some honey. Again, no electricity!

 The flower barrels at the front door of the store were lovely:)

and they only had a few bird houses left, to sell. Bird houses are everywhere and they are a 'hive' of activity. It is baby season, that's for sure.

It was relatively dark inside the Bulk Food store, but take a look at the lighting..!

Propane Gas lights!

..and who can resist the glorious Clematis, this year!

On the way into Rockport, we passed these Stone houses and churches. They are peculiar to the region. The stones are small,so they cant be classified as Rocks! The stones are all the same size, and in rows. Quite attractive!

and another house built  of stone and wood, this time.

 Sorry for the photo quality....we were in the back seat shooting pics as we rolled by.

Here we are crossing the Erie Canal. We are too tall to go this far, so we turned off to the Oswego Canal. Too many locks this way, also.

The town of Rockport is a College town and it was very evident that this is a more prosperous place. The main street is full of businesses and we didn't see one vacant premise. A good sign, I would hope! There are 20-something thousand students enrolled at the Campus, which is an offshoot of the University of New York.

One of the beautiful brick buildings on the main road into Rockport...or out of, depending on your in and out direction:) like the angle??? as we drove by, lol.

and more brick homes...

 and a Victorian that has been renovated, where so many haven't.

On the way home we had to stop and wait for the Erie Canal bridge to go up for a boat to pass underneath. ...and it was raining, as you can tell by the spots on the windshield.

We went to a bar and grill for lunch, around 1pm, and I had their Crab Cakes and sweet potato fries, which are all the rage here. The cole slaw was good too! Most enjoyable. Waz had a grilled chicken sandwich, which he also enjoyed.  I checked my Lottery tickets, but we were unsuccessful in that quarter...bummer:) Next time?


We had quite a load to empty from D and A's vehicle. Apart from the batteries we had 4 cases of water, some engine oil and the groceries. We had gone to a Walmart, after Sam's Club, and purchased a few extras there.

We were glad to be able to put everything away and feeling a bit tired, I lay down for a cat nap. This is most unusual for me....I am either exhausted or sick, when I need to sleep, so the former must have been true, as I wasn't sick!

Dave came home early, around 3pm, and went out in his dinghy to check the conditions on the Lake, I guess, for the regular Thursday afternoon yachting competition they have at the Yacht Club.  Warren had been invited to sail with them, and he geared up for that. It was still raining off and on.

Dave's yacht is a 28ft J-class. Here they are raising the sail and getting sorted. The yacht on the right was also racing...there is some fierce competition amongst the crew on the various yachts, and plenty between neighbors:)

Backing out....

and they are off! Dave at the helm.

They all obviously enjoyed their sailing, and came back in around 8pm.

In the meantime, Robyn and I sat outside and chatted, then the rain came down and I had to rush back to close windows. I also had laundry trying to dry in the damp, so I put some in the dryer.
Getting my second wind, I went out with a bucket of soapy water, to clean the 'stuff' off the dock side of the boat (starb'd). Bird and insect poop is the very devil to remove, and I will have to go out every day, I can see, because there are dear little Swallows flying around all the time:) nice but not!

The boys did well enough, and all the sailors enjoyed a beer or other poison of choice dockside before we all retired to the Yacht Club for member supplied food. It was all delicious, of course:) Hot dogs of various kinds, potato salad, and Cole slaw made with Chinese noodles..yum!


We all turned in prior to 11pm, needing a good night's sleep prior to our day out in Niagara.