Over the summer I read an awesome travelogue about a writer, Dana Spiotta, and her friend who canoed a portion of the Erie Canal in order to experience the waterside view and feel of the towns and landscape along the waterway. Okay, maybe it wasn't a travelogue in the true sense, but this article for the New York Times Magazine sucked me in. The small towns dotting the Erie Canal are long past their prime. Commuters and truckers on I-90 race past these long forgotten towns day and night, without much thought. One of the landmarks that struck me in her article was the recently abandoned Beech-Nut factory in Canajoharie, NY. I sought out the Erie Canal on a recent trip back east and found myself drawn to this old factory. I passed it several times during my travels at various times of the day. Always beautiful, not a soul around, and the distinct hum of I-90 in the background.
