St. Lawrence River & Erie Canal

SINGING IN THE RAIN ON THE
ST. LAWRENCE RIVER AND THE ERIE CANAL

It was 7:15 a.m. on the first morning of our cruise when the intercom came on. “Quack! Quack!” It was the captain speaking. “Quack! Quack!” It was his signal, he said, for a rainy day in progress. Unfortunately we heard that Quack Quack on many mornings with days and days of gloomy skies, rain, and blustery winds.

The good news was that of the 57 passengers on board almost all were resilient, smiling and good-natured, making the best of a situation that could not be controlled.

We were on the Grande Caribe of the American Canadian Caribbean Line on a Fall Foliage cruise. We saw more overcast gray skies than we did fall colors, but the itinerary was one that dipped deeply into the history and development of the northeast United States and Canada.

The 12-day venture started out from Warren, Rhode Island with a bus trip north through New Hampshire and Vermont to Quebec City where we boarded the boat; then after a day in Quebec City we cruised along the St. Lawrence River to Montreal, down along the edge of Lake Ontario, into the New York State Canal System and through the Erie Canal into the Hudson River, then down around Manhattan, up the East River through Long Island Sound and back to Warren, Rhode Island. The boat is narrow, just 40 ft, and with a shallow draft, just 6 ½ ft., so we could make it through the entire canal system. The pilot house could be lowered from the top deck down into the lounge deck and when all antenna and railings were taken down we could just fit under the lowest bridges. We went through 42 locks.

Captain was Roy Keith, and First Mate was his wife Dixie. They retired from their regular jobs in their 30s, sailed around in their sailboat for a few years, then began working with the ACCL family part-time, and have now been with them for 27 year. The crew was made up of young Americans, many of them recent high school graduates or college students.

I was reading a book on communications when I took the cruise. Well, nothing furthers communications more than being in a small cabin together on a boat cruising for 12 mostly overcast days of rain and wind. My cabin-mate and I were highly pleased to be still talking, and even more important, laughing.

Quebec City was a highlight of the cruise, and despite the gray skies, rain and gale-force winds we enjoyed it thoroughly. The boat docked right at old town, so we could walk through the old cobblestone streets, browse the shops and galleries and immerse ourselves in the European-style architecture and restored 17^th and 18^th-Century buildings in what was the former harborfront. Joliet’s home was here in 1680. Be sure to see one mural depicting the history of the city and another of what working life was like here in the old days. Just a few steps away is the funicular soaring up the hill to a grand view and the famous Chateau Frontenac, where Roosevelt and Churchill held historic conferences. On a nice day we would have been able to walk through the streets of the upper town and for grand views walk along the Plains of Abraham and the Battle Fields Park to the Citadel fortification.

European settlers arrived to this area from France in 1608; in 1759 the British captured the town with an attack via the Plains of Abraham, the now magnificent city park. The fortifications were then built by the British to protect against possible attack by the Americans.

It’s also worth a drive or cab ride a few minutes out of town to see the Montmorency Falls with a cable car to the top and trails to walk. It supplies power to the city and to the mills in the area.

This unique walled city on the St. Lawrence is our first example of just how important rivers were to the forming of towns and the development of trade. Rivers shaped America, helped our cities grow, like blood to the body, carrying life-enabling goods to and from the towns. The towns we visited on this trip indeed owed their existence to the rivers and canals we traveled on.

Montreal was our next stop, and still rainy and cold. A bus tour showed us the town, including St. Joseph’s Oratory atop Mount Royal grandly built at the top of the hill with wide steps leading up to it for pilgrims to travel. The large basilica can accommodate 10,000 worshippers. Also popular, Notre-Dame Basilica. Our guide told us that although Montreal has been mostly Roman Catholic, now only 5 per cent of Roman Catholics go to church there, and many Catholic colleges and monasteries are being sold and made into apartments and office buildings, it is difficult to recruit priests and nuns, the average age of nuns now at 83.

We left Montreal that night and arrived in Ogdensburg, New York at noon the next day, in time to walk along the shores of the St. Lawrence River and visit the Frederic Remington Art Museum, home of Remington’s wife and housing an exhibit of the famous artist’s works.

We were underway again at lunch and got into Alexandria Bay just in time to take a boat tour through the famous Thousand Islands with astonishing castle-homes from the Gatsby days. Then we cruised all night skirting along the east edge of Lake Ontario, racing ahead of a serious storm that was predicted for the next morning and could have held us up for days.

We made it before the storm, reaching Oswego. Iroquois tribes lived here long before white settlers arrived in the 1600s. We explored the town that was once a major port for shipping grain and one of the most important stops for escaped slaves on the Underground Railroad while the crew lowered the pilot house. We were ready to enter the Oswego Canal and go down to the Erie Canal system and now no one was allowed on the top deck.

Oswego showed that the area we were traveling was important for its battles as well as its history. Rivers can be influential in wars as well as in commerce! At nearby Fort Ontario in the rain (again) we walked on the ramps that overlooked the river and walked through the fort’s surviving buildings. The fort was constructed by the British, captured by the French, reoccupied by the British and surrendered by the British to the U.S. after the Revolutionary War. The waters near the fort were the site of three tall-ship battles during the War of 1812, but most of the fort buildings were constructed before and after the Civil War; you could feel the presence of the men stationed there, and the cemetery contained the graves of generations of solders and civilians who lived at the fort from the French and Indian War to World War II.

We spent the next few days going through 42 locks of the canals and going under bridges. Completed in 1825 the Erie Canal helped spur the treat westward migration of American settlers and helped make New York an important commercial port. We felt part of the old water route. In some places you can still see the mule paths, where men and mules pulled barges along.

The New York State Canal System consists of four canals: the Oswego Canal that joins the Erie Canal and Lake Ontario; the Champlain Canal that connects Lake Champlain to the Erie Canal and the Hudson River; the Cayuga-Seneca Canal that connects Seneca and Cayuga Lakes (two Finger Lakes) to the Erie Canal; and the Erie Canal that joins the Hudson River near Albany to the Niagara River and Lake Erie. The system connects the Great Lakes, the Hudson River, and the St. Lawrence Seaway and has allowed the passage of boats to establish the trade route that enabled the areas to be developed.

At Troy the crew raised the pilot house so we could once more go on the top deck to see the views. We were now on the HudsonRiver with trees lining the cliffs and hills rising on either side of the river. Lighthouses appeared in the middle of the river, marking the way for ships at night or in fog. We can see the mountains and the valleys where so many artists painted Hudson River scenes.

The sun is out! We docked at Kingston, New York, and bussed to the Hyde Park family home of Franklin Delano and Eleanor Roosevelt and the presidential museum, where we could walk through their rooms, see the dumb-waiter type elevator that FDR used to reach his bedroom, sit on a bench and view his view, see the black classic 1936 Ford Phaeton he waved from on hundreds of occasions, and visit the family grave sites.

We drove through the Vanderbilt estate on our way back and stopped at an apple farm for delicious local apples. There was just time before dinner for visiting the Hudson River Maritime Museum with its many models and artifacts, including poster of the ships that used to go from here to Manhattan for $1. This area was the scene of maritime activity from just after Henry Hudson’s 1609 voyage up this river, with cargo sloops first carrying grain, then hauling coal and locally made bricks.

We stopped at West Point for a half day tour, taking in the beauty of the grounds, the history and the tradition. Solemn moments – seeing the names of military men lost in the Civil War inscribed on a monument overlooking a magnificent view of the Hudson River and the permanently roped off area of pews in the Cathedral with a perpetually burning candle in memory of West Point graduates who lost their lives in times of battle. Most of us stopped for a moment of prayer and tribute.

The rest of the day was spent on the top deck admiring the views along the Hudson with New York on our port and New Jersey to starboard. As we approached Manhattan we saw QM2 at the West Side cruise ship docks; then a somber moment as we saw the break in the skyline where the twin towers should have been. A few minutes later we were at the Statue of Liberty. We stayed there, close, for a long time, sharing the emotions of the moment, taking pictures. Someone began singing God Bless America and we all quietly gathered and joined in. It was a very special emotional moment.

The sun was setting as we continued up the East River, went through Long Island Sound and headed north back to Rhode Island to end the cruise.

Cruise Info: Bring winter warm clothes, including rain gear, and absolutely do not bring dressy clothes. Sweaters and slacks were the dress both day and evening. The expected seven-hour bus ride from Warren to Quebec City turned out to be a grueling 12 hours. Given a choice we next time would take a plane to Quebec City, spend several days there and then join the group. Bring any amenities you will want since hand lotion, shower caps, shampoo are not provided. Cocktails are only offered on certain nights, so if alcoholic drinks are important to you, bring your own bottle.

Most cabins are outside; but some are inside or have no porthole or window. Some open to inside corridors and some onto outside deck; some have upper/lower bunks; others have twin beds that can be made into double. Be prepared for tight quarters; the Grande Caribe cabins are excruciatingly small, with a small hanging locker and four drawers for storage, and a tiny bathroom with a boat-type everything-gets-wet shower. Cabin and bathroom doors are vinyl accordion, affording little privacy.

American Canadian Caribbean Line also has two other vessels -- Grande Mariner and Niagara Prince. Their itineraries include Chesapeake Bay, Intracoastal Waterway, New England, Maine Coast, Great Lakes, Erie Canal, Saguenay River, Hudson River, Lake Champlain, Central America, Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Panama Canal, and the waterways from New Orleans to Chicago. Cruises run from 6 to 14 nights.

Want to Go?
If you're thinking about going on this cruise, the voyage is scheduled again. You can reserve space for singles, couples or groups at www.smallshipcruises.com . Don't forget your binoculars and your camera. A passport is required.

Shirley Linde is editor of SmallShipCruises.com and lives in St. Petersburg, Florida.

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