We woke up to a gloomy, drizzly morning this past week and wanted a change of scenery. We'd heard about the Erie Canal Town Museum in Canastota, NY, and decided to give it a try! Boy, we were not disappointed!

It was a very pleasant drive to Canastota along Route 5. There are numerous little communities strung like pearls down this old "Seneca Turnpike," as Route 5 was once called. Beautiful, grand old houses, neat yards, sidewalks, trees lining the streets, small shops... this vista of small-town America was such a refreshing sight for a person weary of the cluttered, ugly milltowns and endless political bickering of greater Utica. Canastota is a town in its own right, and it is obvious that the residents have made it a community. Truly a lovely village.

The Canal Town Museum was not difficult to find, although the building is a tiny-looking little thing.

The museum is filled with everything imaginable-- cookstoves, vintage clothing, signs, boat models, tools, farm implements, art, inventions, antique curiosities like the mutoscope... too much to mention! I wrote a post about our adventure. Read about our visit at New York Traveler.net.