Over the past few years, we have offered our clients ”Georgetown by Land and Sea,” “Georgetown GLOW”, “Georgetown In Winter”, “Georgetown By Circulator,” and “Georgetown By Twilight” safaris.
Now, thanks to the Georgetown Heritage Organization and the District of Columbia which funded the construction of a new boat, the C & O Canal boat rides are back and so we can offer this new “Georgetown by Land and Canal!” photo safari!
On this new safari, we first start at the Potomac River waterfront and photograph the Post-modern complex of Washington Harbor, with its columns and fountains and beautiful views of the DC waterfront. We then walk up to capture the unique colonial-style architecture of the homes, restaurants, and storefronts of Georgetown’s streets, including views of the C&O Canal and the picturesque Grace Episcopal Church.
During our last hour we get into a newly renovated canal boat (now powered by engines instead of mules) that takes us up and down the C&O Canal for 75 minutes, allowing us to photograph all the buildings bridges, homes, and scenery along the way, guided by a period-costumed narrator who gives us the history of the canal going back to the 17th century.
Part of the fun also includes photographing the crew members straining to open the huge wooden 19th-century locks that move the canal boat up and down in a “water staircase.”
George Washington dreamed of a canal that stretched from the Potomac to the Ohio River Valley – connecting the east to the west. A groundbreaking ceremony took place on July 4, 1828. Washington eventually got his wish in name, but not in practice – the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal (C&O Canal, as most refer to it today) stretching 184.5 miles to Cumberland, MD, by the time it was completed in 1850. The Canal operated for nearly 100 years, initially serving as the main method of transportation for coal, lumber, and agricultural products as they made their way to markets along the Potomac River. Carrying both cargo and passengers, the Canal boats of the mid-to-late 1800s were pulled by mules who walked along the towpath – harnessed to the boat with ropes.
Flooding periodically damaged the Canal and rendered it temporarily inoperable. When another significant flood occurred in 1924, railroads had already revolutionized transportation in the United States, and the waterway closed as a business enterprise. Designated as a National Park in 1971, the C&O Canal stands now as a surviving example of US canal-building technology. The new 80-foot long, 12-foot wide canal boats are powered by an electric motor and even have restrooms!
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