Canal Park Field Trip

Today we went to Delphi, Indiana, to Canal Park.  It was a fabulous tour!!  We all learned so much!  The man that gave the tour grew up right there.  He pointed out the house he grew up in and still lives in while we were doing the walking tour.  He knew so much of the local history and made it so interesting.  They have restored part of the canal.  There is a museum & interpretive center there.  

 This is the canal boat that travels the canal every weekend for visitors to experience life as it was in the early 1800's.  It is in the storage shed right now.

 This is an old scale that someone donated.  Our guide, Dan McCain, had the whole group stand on the scale so he could weigh us.  We weighed 2,221 pounds.  They used a scale when the canal boats would dock to weigh their cargo, so this scale helped replicate what it was like during canal days.

 This is a kiln that was also donated.  The canal group volunteers took it apart piece by piece, and put it back together beside the canal.  They used the kiln to cook big pieces of limestone until they turned into powder.  

 Yet another donated item--this bridge.  The canal group took this apart piece by piece too.  Dan said there were 1000 bolts in the bridge.  We were able to walk across it.

 The water in the canal was actually this beautiful aqua color.  The quarry there in Delphi supplies the water for the canal, and the limestone makes the water this color.  Dan said sometimes it even sparkles.

 We saw two families of Canada Geese with their babies.  So cute!

 This is the source of the water for the canal.

 The girls said the water was cold!!

 The canal group had several log cabins and buildings that they had moved in and restored to create a pioneer village.

This is a canal boat for the kids to play in.  The girls said it had secret passages.  They had a blast playing in it.

This is the Museum & Interpretive Center.  The facade is made to look like the main street of Delphi in the 1850's.  Everything there was first class.  We're looking forward to going again and taking Dad with us!