{"id":5356,"date":"2017-07-27T20:34:39","date_gmt":"2017-07-28T00:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debralwallace.com\/?p=5356"},"modified":"2017-07-27T20:34:39","modified_gmt":"2017-07-28T00:34:39","slug":"explore-rochester-sam-patch-boat-tours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debralwallace.com\/explore-rochester-sam-patch-boat-tours\/","title":{"rendered":"Explore Rochester ~ Sam Patch Boat Tours"},"content":{"rendered":"
My initial plan was to take my kids to popular photo locations and blog about it<\/a>, but my plans got a little derailed by real life. \u00a0My husband was offered some (high pressure) work over the summer, plus camps, traveling, and working on the garden have meant less hiking. \u00a0But summer isn’t over yet!<\/p>\n In the mean time, we’ll call this the canal because the canal is a super amazing place to be photographed and a little more underutilized than you would think. \u00a0You can check out some official sessions on the canal by clicking here<\/a>\u00a0and here<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Nathan loves ducks and birds. \u00a0There would be more photos but he recently jumped in a lake and had to be rescued so we keep him on a short invisible leash.<\/p>\n Periodically someone from our homeschool group organizes a Sam Patch boat tour<\/a>\u00a0and they fill in about five minutes. \u00a0But this one was back to back with another so there was a little more elbow room. \u00a0I just realized writing this that we got an amazing discount by going with a school group – our tickets were less than $5 a piece so if you have a child in school, it may be worth organizing that way to save a few dollars. \u00a0The Sam Patch regular ticket rates are here<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/a> This boat is a replica of an 1800s packet boat which would be used to travel the canal and was named after a man known for stunt jumping<\/a>. \u00a0He was originally from Rhode Island but\u00a0headed our way to jump off of Niagara Falls, which he did successfully. \u00a0One month later he jumped High Falls in Rochester, but because the crowd was small he repeated the stunt again a week later. \u00a0Unfortunately this time he didn’t achieve feet first entry and died on impact. \u00a0Why the boat is named after him I’m not sure… maybe he was a Rochester icon at the time? \u00a0Anyone out there know?<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The tour starts at Shoen Place with you trying to keep your children out of the water until they let you on the boat. \u00a0Next they give you many announcements, including one about the contraband nature of water bottles which grieves your zero waste soul and which your six year old proceeds to remind you of for the next hour. \u00a0Then a kind and knowledgeable tour guide talks about the history of the canal, which you may or may not be able to listen to if your toddler is trying to climb out the window.<\/p>\n
\nThis image is from Tug44<\/a>.<\/p>\n