The Erie Canal is amazing. This magical ribbon of water, running from Albany to Buffalo, was the engineering marvel of its time, and today is a watery sentinel to the past. Once, it was a busy, hectic place of commerce and shipping, but today it is used for pleasure craft only. But while the glory days of the Erie Canal story are now in the past, the legacy lives on in the many historic “canal towns” which dot the water route. They were once bustling with business, and now are bustling with tourists.