canal boat

Grand Rapids, Ohio


While Rachel was at her class in Bowling Green, we had stayed the night before, just outside Grand Rapids, Ohio. This town is just north-west of BG. We stayed at a tiny little campground the night before, and saw some signs about the Miami Erie Canal. After having lunch with Rachel, we headed back and found the little town was chocked full of history and still had a canal filled with water!

Across the Maumee river, there is another section of the Miami Erie canal that is not only still filled, but has a functional mill on it, a working lock, and a canal boat that you can ride! We paid the $12 and me and the kids took a ride on the canal that once helped the state of Ohio grow from nothing to a very prosperous state.

I’ve wanted to get as much of the old canal rebuilt and working again as possible, since I was a 5th grader in Vandalia (another place the Miami Erie went through). Perhaps some day I’ll see my dream come true!

More photos to come!