Saturday, June 17th

Saturday, June 17th (the day that Rick and I both thought was Sunday until about 1:30 in the afternoon.)
We left N. Tonawanda early @ 7:15 am.  I had woken up with a headache, and was having a hard time getting moving, but “the Captain” said we had to get under way to get through the lock.
First of all, I just wanted to reassure you, once we arrived at the Niagara River, we turned Left (southwest) towards Buffalo.  We didn’t turn right, towards the falls! 

The very last lock of the trip is the Black Rock Lock (try saying THAT 3 times really fast!), 

and, per our Cruising Guide, it only opens on the half-hour > therefore the rush to get there on time.  Once we were close, (for the 8:30 lift) the Lockmaster told us that they don’t open until 11:00 on the weekends (oh--- NOW I see that little sign over there.) 
The Lockmaster was only there in the tower because a big commercial barge (that was behind us on the river) needed to get through.  Fortunately, the Lockmaster made “a one-time exception”, and agreed to lift us immediately after the barge went through, and we were on our way by 9:45.
(  Opps .... one more Swing Bridge – it was huge!)

Finally ---
Buffalo! 
As lock-traffic didn’t usually start until after 11:00, we soon found ourselves in the middle of competitive rowing practice.
We tried to stay out of their way, and kept our wake to a minimum. Nobody yelled at us, but we sure were getting the disgusted, what-a**holes looks.  So we stopped out of their way, and took that time to put our bimini back up.  Now we could control the boat from the flying bridge again!  
And, as it was a beautiful day, that’s where we spent most of our time … all the way to Erie, PA!  We pulled in around 6:30 pm.
We knew that weather was going to be bad on Sunday, so we relaxed in the marina, which was sheltered by a big Sheraton/Bayfront Convention Center.  We planned on exploring the town, on foot, in the morning. 

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