We'd planned to set out early in the morning for Fairport, but the lift bridge just minutes from where we were tied up had water that needed to be pumped out before they could lift the bridge. We had breakfast on the boat while we waited for the work to be done. Less than an hour later, we were on our way! We had two locks to pass through and several bridges to pass under as we headed to Fairport, as well as a few pop up showers. We arrived in Fairport in the early afternoon and found a spot on the canal wall in the heart of town and eagerly waited for our Looper friends, Vince and Pam on R.A.M.B.L.R. They arrived a few hours later and took the space right in front of us on the wall. We hugged and made plans to leave for dinner in a short while, after Vince and Pam took time to settle in after a full day of travel.


We also met Kevin and Michelle on Knothin's Easy. They were parked a few boats behind us. Michelle realized that we'd met one another at the AGLCA Looper Lifestyle in Louisville just a few weeks earlier. Kevin and Michelle would join us for several fun events during the 2 days and 3 nights that we stayed in Fairport. Kevin holds the strong opinion that Fairport is the BEST town on the canal! He's cruised the entire canal at least 5 times, so he's a pretty good source! Here are some of the fun things we did in Fairport -

  • Enjoyed dinner at the Irish Pub across from the canal
  • Walked 2 miles to Wegman's grocery store and then walked to McDonald's and then walked to Target and took the bus back to the marina with our groceries and then missed our stop and got off at another Wegman's grocery store and waited almost an hour for the next bus to take us back to the marina.
  • Enjoyed the wine and cheese bar next to the canal. Played BINGO there and then enjoyed open mic night there.
  • Stumbled upon a guy named Bill doing podcasts from a small studio nearby and sat down with him and told him about the Loop. He recorded our conversation and told us that we'd be on one of his upcoming podcasts! We'll keep you posted!
  • Watched the 4th of July parade travel through town and over the lift bridge (boats had to wait for the parade to finish, but trains interrupted the parade more than once). Then we shared hotdogs and hamburgers with everyone in the afternoon. Others brought baked beans, deviled eggs, chips and salsa, tomatoes, onions, and lettuce, corn on the cob, and buns. It was a proper 4th of July feast!
  • We met back up with Bob and Mary Kay from Pillar! They live in Fairport and saw our boat docked at the canal and called us! We should have looked at our boat cards to know which Loopers we might see along this route!
  • We enjoyed the view of the lift bridge. In the evenings, their were lights on the bridge and fireworks lit up the sky both nights from various locations nearby. On the 4th of July, the bridge lit up red, white and blue. There was also lots of boat activity to watch around the bridge. One morning, we saw one of the rented canal boats hit the bridge with their boat. They should have asked the bridge operator the lift the bridge for them!
  • And we tried gelato (twice) and ice cream! The highlight was the spaghetti and meatballs gelato. Just think of that old playdough toy that turned playdough into spaghetti. That's what they did with gelato. Chocolate chunks acted as meatballs and strawberry sauce acted as tomato sauce. It was tasty!

We also enjoyed meeting Loopers Paul and Jean on a boat named Camelot. They spend the summer on their boat on the canal wall in Fairport. The Looper boat Manatee passed through Fairport while we were there. They've done the loop 30+ times as the cruise back and forth from north to south following the seasons. We plan to see Mary Kay and Bob on our way back through Fairport, maybe Kevin and Michelle too.


On Wednesday morning, we hugged Vince and Pam good-bye. They would continue their journey west towards Lake Erie as we continued our journey east towards the Finger Lakes. We look forward to seeing them again someday!