Dragonfly Boating: Baldwinsville to Sylvan Beach, NY

We are moving everyday now, and doing longer trips than originally planned, since there is a stretch of lovely weather, and there is rain forecast for Thursday into the weekend. We cast off early from Baldwinsville, and cruised through Lock 24 after calling ahead. It turned out to be a warm day, getting into the low 90s, so our bimini shade was up most of the day. After about 20 miles, we reached Brewerton, NY, on the west end of Oneida Lake, and stopped for gas. Oneida Lake is quite large, 80 square miles (about twice the size of our home waters of Lake Pepin), and can get choppy in a breeze. Since the winds were light to nonexistent, we kept going, and crossed the 21 miles of open water without issue, arriving at Sylvan Beach on the east end of the lake around 4:30 PM. We tied up to the busy town wall and did our usual walkabout, before enjoying dinner at the 90-year-old Eddie’s Restaurant on Main Street. Sylvan Beach is unique and much more touristy than the other canal towns we’ve been on. There is a very large public beach and an amusement park, which was closed yesterday, and the place reminded us of a small Wisconsin Dells. For some peace and quiet, we walked across the canal into nearby Verona Beach, where we stopped at their historic lighthouse, one of three on Oneida Lake. Map link: Sylvan Beach, NY