Life on the Hudson - Waterford

Aug 19th: WATERFORD

This town is a hive of activity with boats entering/exiting the Erie Canal and more traveling up and down the Hudson. When we arrived the aging dockmaster extended a warm greeting to us along with hot coffee and homemade muffins making us feel right at home. After the long empty stretches of the canal we needed to stretch our legs, do some shopping and be part of a community once again. On Saturday morning we headed off bright and early to “Don and Pauls” diner for a homecooked breakfast. Thinking that we’d probably be the only ones out at the ungodly hour of 7:00am on a weekend, we were surprised to be greeted by a sea of ruddy-faced men when we opened the door to the restaurant. They filled the place to capacity laughing and joking with each other as they scarfed down platters of bacon and eggs and nursed steaming mugs of hot coffee. Apparently “breakfast with the boys” is alive and well here in Waterford and we had to come back an hour later to get our own. As we lingered over our 2nd cup of coffee an old geyser—cane in hand—limped over to us and said “Can I tell you the story of the couple here who tried to elope?” “Sure” we replied. “Well, they couldn’t! And you know why?” “No, why?” we said. “Well, when the fella got to the ladder he found a piece of fruit on it! You know what kind of fruit it was?” “No, what kind was it?” we replied. “Cantaloupe!! Ha, ha, ha!” And with that, the old guy turned and hobbled away. We loved this diner. It was like be welcomed into family.

A long suspension bridge joins Waterford to Troy on the other side of the Hudson River. This is were boaters have to go to reprovision. Happily the supermarket allows us to load up and wheel the grocery carts back across the bridge to our boats. We felt a little like homeless people pushing our sopping cart across sidewalks and along the road over the bridge but that is what we did. In Troy we learned more American historical trivia. The sign on the outskirts of town claims this place to be the hometown of “Uncle Sam” who was, in fact, a real person and not just the symbolic caricature that we know him to be today. During the War of 1812 Sam, who was a local provisioner/butcher, was asked to supply meat for the troops. He stamped the hinds of beef in each shipment he sent to the troops with his trademark initials: “U.S.” (Uncle Sam). And so it was that “Uncle Sam”, an American civilian, did his part in helping America win the war. Later, during subsequent wars he is pictured on propaganda posters with the slogan “Uncle Sam Wants You!”—supposedly to “do your bit” too. And that’s how this symbol of American patriotism came to be.

At Waterford we met “Barb and Bill”—two wealthy Americans from Boca Raton who were taking their enormous cruiser north into Canada. They invited us aboard for drinks and hor d’oeuvres and explained why. Because of the devastation caused by recent hurricanes and subsequent insurance payouts, it is now prohibitively expensive to insure boats left in Florida. Bills boat is bigger and better equipped than most cottages I’ve seen. With 3 levels of living space and a hefty mortgage on it, the insurance premiums were crippling. And so, rather than sell their 2nd “home on the water” they are relocating it north where they can still afford to keep it. This explained to us wha we had seen almost daily as we traveled through the Erie Canal—big cruisers with Floridian “tags” heading north. Now we know why.
We loved our Waterford layover. We were able to have some wonderful hikes through wilderness parks and walks along streets lined with historic building and homes. We had lots of interesting conversations with the locals and made a few new friends who invited us to contact them in Boca. But after 3 days it was time to move on.