Mechanicville, NY

Jonny had a conference call on Thursday morning, June 22, so we didn’t leave Coxsackie until 9:50.  It was another beautiful sunny day cruising on the extremely calm Hudson River.  As usual there was very little boat traffic as we headed for the free town dock in Mechanicville.  

We cruised past Albany and Troy, much bigger than the little towns we’ve been staying in.

We had to go through three locks before reaching Mechanicville. Federal Lock was the first one. It was just before where the Erie Canal splits off from the Hudson.

Federal Lock was followed by the first two locks of the Champlain canal system.  All three lockings went smoothly for us as we reacquainted ourselves with the process.  Interestingly, the Federal Lock, the biggest of the three, had no lines hanging down to hold.  We had to set our own. But the locks on the Champlain canal had hanging lines that we could grab onto.

Archie wasn’t sure he liked the locks. He was whining a bit and wanted to be right next to us. I guess being at the bottom of a narrow “canyon” with tall, dark, slimy walls was not his cup of tea.  He felt much better as we rose to land level and he could see grass and sky!

We arrived at the Mechanicville town dock by 4:30. It was a very nice set up. Not only was the docking free but there was electricity and water, as well as restrooms with showers (though we didn’t use them).  All this in a very pleasant park setting with lots of grass, trees and benches.  Somewhat surprisingly, we were the only boat on the dock, maybe because it was still mid-week.

After one of our favorite dinners of escarole (from the farmer’s market) and beans (cannellini), we walked into town.  We weren’t too impressed with Mechanicville, charm-wise, but it did have Walgreen’s and an auto parts store, both of which we used to stock up on some needed supplies.  Of note, Mechanicville is the smallest city by area in the state of New York.  Its name is derived from the occupation of early residents and it has a population of around 5,000.  

That evening we watched a couple of episodes of The Wire before going to bed. We were slow to the draw and missed this series when it was popular.

The next day we’ll have a short cruise to Schuylerville where we’ll stay for three nights.  It’s eleven miles from Saratoga Springs and we have tickets for the Saratoga Jazz Festival on Saturday and Sunday. We’re excited to go because there are a number of great performers like Bonnie Raitt, Chucho Valdez, Snarky Puppy and some of our local favorites like Emmet Cohen.  Unfortunately, rain is predicted so we upgraded our tickets from lawn seats to pavilion seats.  We haven’t been to a festival like this for years, so it should be fun!