Great Loop: Erie Canal E12-E14 – The Pot that Washes Itself

Day 151: June 17, 2023

Locking to Canajoharie – Locks E12-E14

The crews once again heading out for the day.

Along the canal, we passed two large religious facilities: the Holy Mountain Buddha Land (left) and Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine (right).

Canajoharie

Our first order of business when hitting town was to find some grub. We were along a free wall, which we found later to be annoyingly close to a loud train crossing. The good news is we found an Irish pub and got some lunch and beverages before heading on to our outing for the day.

Here are the sites we saw along the way to the pub.

The Pot That Washes Itself

Canajoharie is a Mohawk term that means “the pot that washes itself.” Up from the village is a gorge that has a large pothole named the boiling pot. It regularly flushes enough water through to remain cleanish. There was not enough water to see the phenomenon when we were there. There was also what appeared to be an old dam just upstream.

Van Alstyne Homestead Museum

On the way back it started to rain hard, so we ducked into the Van Alstyne Homestead Museum. The original home, built around 1730, was smaller and demolished/added on to throughout the years to accommodate larger social gatherings, including a ballroom along the full back of the house. It was used as a meeting place during the American Revolution and later for the Fort Rensselaer Club, a men’s only club (perhaps to this day) and it still has a stale basement bar/gathering area. Interesting feature: if you click the bed photo, you’ll see a pullout trundle with straps or ropes across – the phrase “sleep tight” originates from medieval times where rope-strung beds needed to be tightly secured.