My interest in canals has been stoked this week with the delivery of Carol Sheriff’s book The Artificial River, about the socio-economic effects of the building and rebuilding Erie Canal from 1817 to 1862. Under a search for “canal blog” I found this wonderful site, Ship’s Blog.
There is something quite heartening knowing I can walk out the door here, get on a boat and sail to Ithaca or Burlington, Vt. I think I am going to have to undertake some canal based explorations of western New York next summer…all, of course, a blatant fraud, a front for the hunting out of micro brewers in the company of the little people but these are the skills that keep you going.