The Erie Canal is turning 200. New York is throwing a summer-long party
In 1995, Tammee Poinan Grimes's parents purchased a 60-foot-long tour boat to use for sightseeing cruises along the Erie Canal. The expense of shipping the boat from San Francisco to Upstate New York was prohibitive, so they came up with a different solution.
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Over the course of seven weeks, the family helmed the vessel south through the Pacific Ocean, northwest across the Panama Canal and into the Caribbean Sea, then north via the Atlantic Ocean and into the Hudson River at New York City, before connecting with the Erie Canal in Albany.
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'You can get anywhere in the world via the Erie Canal,' says Poinan Grimes, now the captain of the same patriotically painted boat, the Colonial Belle.
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From its dock in Fairport, New York, the boat will participate in celebrations and events for the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal this year.
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Long before Poinan Grimes's family's journey, other dreamers and doers brought one of North America's most significant man-made waterways to life in 1825.
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While the canal's builders understood the potential economic impact of the 363-mile channel connecting Buffalo in the west to capital city Albany in the east, they may not have anticipated its lasting reverberations on American culture.
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'I'm constantly learning and meeting people who have all kinds of great stories,' Poinan Grimes said. 'I don't think I'll ever stop learning about the canal because there's just so much [to know].'
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For the Erie Canal's bicentennial, more than 35 festivals, outdoor programs, lectures and performances will offer adventures and insights.
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The Albany Symphony Orchestra will perform canalside concerts in Medina, Troy, Utica and other cities. In August, Flotsam River Circus is booked for dozens of live performances aboard its wooden raft turned stage.
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In July, hundreds of cyclists are expected to gather for the eight-day Cycle the Erie Canal ride along the Empire State Trail, following a route from Buffalo east along the Erie Canal and south along the Champlain Canal and Hudson River to Albany. For some segments, bike-mounted historians will narrate key points of interest.
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A recreational cyclist known as BillytheKid Klein, who has participated in the 400-mile bike tour annually since 2021, says residents treat cyclists like visiting rock stars, lining up to cheer on riders or provide bottles of water, watermelon slices, ice cream and T-shirts.
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For Klein, the camaraderie is the allure.
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'The people are astounding, and so are their bikes,' he said. 'They bring antique bikes, big-wheel bikes from Britain, adaptive bikes they pedal with their hands. The whole experience is a lot like Woodstock. It's just a lot of love.'
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