Beers, lamps, and locks... oh, and a castle.

Well, today has been all over the board as far as things we've seen. We had a leisurely morning with the Lawrences with some wonderful breakfast. We then made our way to Utica to the Matt Brewing Company, which brews Saranac beer. The brewery building itself was very neat.. with all of the original architecture and decor. The tour was very informative. One highlight was a stop by the the "Prohibition Room" which had a very thick door and a peephole requiring a password to enter. Little known fact.. Matt Brewing Company was the first brewery to get their alcohol permit after Prohibition was repealed.. actually just 60 minutes after it was repealed! And imagine this, they had beer that afternoon... a process that requires 90 days! Amazing how fast you can brew that beer when it's legal, right?:)
The end of our tour left us at the tavern where we had coupons for beverages. Matt, Calin, and Tim enjoyed various stouts and ales, while I enjoyed the root beer and shirley temple beverages which were very good. Hey, I'm a sport for a beer tour, but in the end, I'm happier with soda:) Now if it was a wine cooler tour... Here is a picture of us and some of our overzealous tour compatriots in the tavern.
After the brewery tour, we journeyed on to a Tiffany lamp store. Matt's parents have some beautiful Tiffany style lamps in their home and I wanted to check them out... possibly to make a purchase for our new home. While they were very beautiful, I had to hold onto my wallet... looks like I'll be saving for some time for one of those babies!
From the lamp store, we drove on to Herkimer to a tourist information center and shop.. quite a bit of stuff there and some wonderful local jellies and sauces for the sampling. From Herkimer we went on to Little Falls where we walked out onto an island that had been formed by the creation of a lock on the Erie Canal. I didn't know what a lock was, but quickly came to understand it, especially when we got to see a boat go through. A lock exists to take a boat from a high part of the canal to a lower part and vice versa. The lock we saw, Lock 17, existed to bypass a waterfall, which boats could not pass by otherwise. The lock itself was like a huge trough that a boat can pull into, then a big door lowers behind the boat, closing it into the big trough. Then some underwater pipes open up from the higher part of the canal and water is pumped in, gradually bringing the boat all the way up to the surface. When the water level is the same as the higher part of the canal, another door opens and the boat motors on through. It's pretty interesting. I'm not sure if it's the most efficient way of doing things, but this method has been around a long time, and it is pretty neat that they can still do it. Seeing the pictures might make it a little easier to understand.
To end our evening, we went out to dinner at Beardslee Castle, where Matt and Calin had their wedding reception three years ago. The original castle was built in 1781, but it has burned a few times. It is now a restaurant and event facility. We dined in a nice open room with stone arches everywhere and big windows surrounding us as well. The food was excellent - Tim getting shrimp and scallions and me getting the prime rib. We definitely left satisfied. I go to bed a full and tired woman tonight:)