Peter asked us if we wanted to meet him for an early dinner and look at the locks in Oswego. Sounded good to us! We met him at Lock No. O8 and then had dinner at Azteca Mexican Grill on E. Bridge Street in Oswego. Randy said they had the best margaritas and I said they had the best fajitas EVER. And I have had a lot of fajitas in various restaurants so these were really good!
it’s a little less than an hour and a half to Oswego from Alexandria Bay. It was a pleasant drive, even if we did get rained on for a few minutes. But that seems like the weather here for this year. Lots of farms on our drive. Most look like they are growing hay. Once we arrived, we investigated the Oswego River and the Oswego Lock No. O8. Because of the recent rains, the river was really flowing. I can see where Oswego got its Native American name of osh-we-geh for “pouring out place” because the water was definitely pouring into Lake Ontario today. The water in the lock looked calm compared to the river, but according to the lock master, the locks are closed for at least another week, maybe two. No getting out to Lake Ontario from Oswego.
The Oswego Canal is part of the New York Canal System and connects the Erie Canal at Three Rivers to Lake Ontario at Oswego. We only stopped to look at Lock No. O8 even thought there are seven locks on the Oswego Canal. No. O8 is the last one before Lake Ontario. I don’t know why but there is no lock No. O4. Since this is not actually part of the Erie Canal, I see another day trip in our future. The Erie is on my bucket list, even if just by car.
After looking at the lock we had dinner with Peter dinner at Azteca Mexican Grill. It was so good. And relatively inexpensive. We will definitely be back! Maybe we will even stay long enough to see some of the other locks.
