Monday September 3, 2012
Since we have been taking advantage of the free dockage given at the Locks we haven’t been to a town since leaving Brockport.  While reading through our Waterway Guide we found there was a little town called Rome just past Oneida Lake and it did not charge docking fees.  There were no facilities, but we don’t need shore power and our water tanks were still pretty full.  We’d survive.  Imagine our surprise that as soon as we passed under the last bridge before Rome and saw the floating dock we also saw our friends John and Andy from s/v Between the Sheets there as well.  These are two Canadian guys taking Andy’s Beneteau 381 from Port Dover, Ontatio to the Bahamas where they would then meet up with their ladies.  We first met them a few nights ago at one of the locks and we both seem to pick the same destination every night.
After taking our lines from us and helping tie us off they told us a little of what was in town.  Another reason we had picked this spot to stay is because there was an Ace Hardware within walking distance and Matt needed parts to get our radar reflector on while the mast was down.  Being the very nice guys they are, Andy and John lent us their folding bikes to take into town and save the hassle of walking.  We happened to get to Ace five minutes after they closed but they were in a good mood as well and let Matt in while I watched the bikes.  After he was all supplied we checked Google maps for fast food restaurants and made a beeline for KFC when we found it was just up the road.  I don’t know what it is about us, but as soon as we hit civilization all we can think about is food!!  Plus KFC carries Pepsi which I am hopelessly addicted to.  The only pop we’ve had on board this whole time is our own soda making machine and the generic ‘cola’ flavor we’re trying to use up before breaking into the Coca-Cola syrup leaves a lot to be desired.
Returning the bikes to John and Andy they were in the middle of dinner (they eat well on that boat) so we returned to ours while Matt did more work on the radar reflector and I began work on spreadsheets for cost and provisions.  It’s amazing how the hours of the night fly by and what felt like two minutes later it was time for bed.  We’d be traveling again the next day so there would be no time for staying up late or sleeping in.  Getting up in the morning we did have to make one more trip to Ace for forgotten items and along the way stopped at Fort Stanwix across the street.  This fort was built by the British in 1758 to protect during the French & Indian War.  By 1774 it was abandoned and in need of reconstruction.  Purchased by the Americans in 1776 it was repaired and renamed.  In August of 1777 it withstood a 21 day siege by a mix of British, German, Canadian and Indian forces and has become known as ‘the fort that never surrendered’.  It was an interesting place to see, right in the middle of town (although it’s not the original structure).  After taking in that little bit of history though we had to get back to Serendipity and get a few more miles under our belt.
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