As with any convention, there are many trips that are done/planned to provide people with a view of the city.  As with this NHLBCC Convention, we did a few trips before the actual convention, which started on Friday night.

The first trip that we went to, was the ERIE CANAL.  We travelled along the locks that would eventually connect the Western part of New York State from Albany, which would then connect to New York City.

It was really cool how inside this closed up ‘tube’, the water comes up to lift the boat in some cases nearly 40 feet to connect to the next body of water.  Hundreds of years ago, that kind of trip would take weeks to do, where it now would take days.

Here is a picture of a view from the canal.

Later in the day, we visited the Herschell Caroussel museum in North Tonawanda.  You many have noticed that I spelled the word Carousel wrong.  According to Mr. Herschell, a early 20th century pioneer in the business.  This is the way that it should be spelled.

He was an innovator in the way that the carousel was brought to the public.  There were hundreds of craftsmen carving and shaping the animals. The 5 cent ride that many of us got to take on a vintage refurbished carousel that was built in 1917 brought back many memories for the conventioneers.  I have included a picture of my wife Claire on one of the horses.  

For the next entry, I will talk about the POLAR BEACH PARTY - yes a polar beach party…

See ya,

Gary