Our Evening At The Winner's Circle

We have a new friend, and his name is Bill, and he thinks all three of us are nuts! He told us that at least six times last night.

Wednesday afternoon, we realized that our most likely stopping point should be around Fonda / Fultonville, two small river towns on the Mohawk. Pat asked a friendly lock tender if there was a place to tie up when we got there. After some careful thought he told us there was a state canal maintenance yard with a canal wall we could tie up to. Rob and Tom wanted to know if there was a bar nearby, and he thought there would be. He said the facility was fenced and secure but they usually kept a key by the gate so any boater who tied up could get out and back in. Here is Remedios snugged up tight to a big bollard and a steel ring.

So, we made our way out through the facility and past all the old rusted equipment and found that even though there wasn’t a key, our Lake Superior Puking Diet Plan and our Remedios No Alchohol While Moving Diet Plan had combined to slim us down so we could squeeze through this opening. We were worried about getting caught sneaking OUT of this facility but made it without intervention.

We found a local spot called the Winner’s Circle close to the county race track and plunked down at the bar to have a beer and dinner. Here is Bill, the owner and our host for the night. Bill got this bar and restaurant after he built a house for someone and they couldn't pay him. We kept to ourselves for a bit but Bill eventually asked us where we were from and headed and we told him.

“You’re nuts” he said.

(One of us had foolishly told him that earlier in the day we got sideways in a canal about 50 yards from a lock and had a few tense moments.)

“You can’t sail in a straight ditch and you want to go to France?”

We explained that there was more room to maneuver in the ocean but he wasn’t buying any of it.

“You’re nuts” he said (second time). “Somebody tried to GIVE me a sailboat once and I wouldn’t take it.”

So we had a delightful time debating each other’s sanity and enjoying a fine dinner. We actually closed the place down (9:30 PM !!) and as we were leaving we asked Bill if he wanted to take a picture of us so when we send him a post card from France he will remember us.

“I don’t need a picture of you guys; YOU, I will remember. You are NUTS” he said emphatically (that was the sixth time.) So we all shook hands and we headed back to the boat.

We were suddenly more worried about getting caught breaking into the secure maintenance facility so Rob agreed to keep walking down the road as a diversion while Pat and Tom wiggled through the fence. Our Winner’s Circle Beer and Wings Anti-Diet Plan didn’t make it any easier but we made it and even helped Rob back through and soon were safe and secure in our little nutty Remedios world.

So today, we are headed out for the last of the canal and just in case Bill gives our card to his wife so she can follow our blog – we’d like to say hi and tell her that we always consult our spouses before major purchases and that we would never do anything like buy a new pickup truck and hide it at a friend's house for a month because we were afraid to bring it home. Bill did that last year and it probably won't be the last time. Mrs. Anagnostopulos, your husband is loads of fun.

This last item was why our debate about each other’s sanity was not as one sided as you may have originally thought.

Here we are the next morning. Rob pointed out that this crane is probably capable of lifting Remedios onto a barge that we could then take across the Atlantic and pretty much watch TV all the way. But, we are pretty sure Bill would think that was nuts, too.