Canal and River

A few weeks ago we took an interesting walk along the Wabash and Erie Canal. This canal went across Indiana and Ohio in the 19th Century. It was built near the Wabash River. Mules would walk along the towpath next to the river. pulling a barge. Once railroads were built, the canal was neglected and finally closed to traffic. But there are parts of it that have been restored so we can see what it used to be like. Delphi, Indiana has restored several miles of the canal and has very nice paths along it. Above is a picture of grandpa near the canal in Delphi.


Delphi was a place that the famous Indiana poet, James Whitcomb Riley liked to visit. He wrote a poem called "On the Banks of Deer Crick", which is the way people in Delphi used to pronounce the word "Creek". Here is a picture of Deer Creek Fall which we visited on the same walk. You can find the poem if you search the Internet.













The next week, we went to southern Indiana, to Clifty Falls State Park. There was hardly any water in Clifty Falls, but we did enjoy looking at the Ohio River. Here is a picture of the Ohio River with a very large barge. We could see it from the patio of our hotel room. It has an engine to push it instead of mules to pull it.