Fort Plain

Great weather again today. Enjoyed the scenery as we cruised up through lock E14 and then E15. On the west side of E15, along the wall is a very nice park. At the end of that wall there is a small basin that we pulled into and tied up. We also have access to electric here. Initially our plans were to continue on the Little Falls. However, lock E15 is next to Fort Plain which has the Fort Plain Museum & Historical Park. They list as closed, but Rosanne called them anyway to see if they might be open. Someone answered and said they were actually open for another appointment. Unfortunately the gal would not be available later in the afternoon, and I wasn’t sure we would be able to get there before 2. After thinking about it, we decided we would stop and stay at the lock wall and see the Museum in the morning if they would be available then. Rosanne called back and set up for us to see the Museum and grounds at 9:30a in the morning. We decided this was a good decision when we arrived here just after noon and saw how nice it was. I’m calling it the nicest lock wall we’ve stopped and stayed at. After lunch we got our bikes down to ride into town to see where we’d have to go in the morning for the museum, and to buy a few groceries. We headed up to the museum to find it still open, so spent an hour inside the museum, then another hour wondering the grounds.. So much more history to add to our knowledge and experience. In fact, it’s really peaked my interest in the Revolutionary War, so I purchased the book, “George Washington and the Mohawk Frontier”. Some information about the photo of the stone abutments. These stone abutments are the foundation of an engineered 18th century bridge. It is thought to have been a “Kings Post” type bridge, commonly found throughout the colonies and would have been suitable for the heavy traffic of wagons & artillery. In the spring of 1779 Fort Plain and Fort Plank became the staging area for General James Clinton’s army in preparation for their expedition into western New York. Clinton had ordered that bridges and roads were to be improved as the army moved south to Otsego Lake. The flags have a plaque at the bottom of the center flag pole that states, “In honor of the Patriots who labored and fought for the cause of American Liberty in the Mohawk Valley. 1777-1783.” Left the Fort Plain Historical Park grounds and stopped by the post office to mail some letters, and then Save-A-Lot to grab a few groceries. Also, I needed to replace the old smelly gloves I was using to grab lock lines, cables or ladders, so also stopped at the local True Value hardware store to buy a new heavy duty pair of dishwashing gloves. We returned to the boat to put our groceries away, and found the park had a number of bicyclist’s tents set up. We returned to town on our bicycles to buy some spices and a few other things at the Amish Coop, and then Stewarts to treat ourselves to ice cream. Across from Stewarts is Haslett Park with a big fountain. On the other side of Stewarts is the VFW with a memorial out front including a cannon. Returned to the boat for supper and put the bikes back up on the bow bike rack. Total of just over 8 miles biking or walking. There is a very nice bike/walking path from the lock park to town.Read more