The D&L Blog

Spend a pleasant summer evening cruising on the Lehigh Canal aboard the Josiah White II, listening to songs and stories about life on the canal while enjoying a delicious Victorian-style picnic dinner. The first of the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor’s “Conversations on the Canal” begin on July 26 with a two and a half hour trip to Hugh Moore Park’s Lock 47, the only working lift lock remaining on the Lehigh Canal.

As we float serenely down the canal, towed by the lovable mules George and Hank, history will come alive through the songs and stories of canal life and lore by canal historian Rich Pawling. In addition, the National Canal Museum’s archivist, Martha Capwell Fox, will recount the history and national significance of the Lehigh and Delaware canals, as well as explain what is happening as the Josiah White is lowered and then raised in Lock 47, which is also known as the Abbott Street lock.

The dinner menu will feature picnic foods from the nineteenth century, prepared by The Culinary Experience of Hellertown, voted the Lehigh Valley’s best caterer of 2014 by Lehigh Valley Magazine. The ride aboard a canal boat is smooth and silent—we’ll have breaks in the entertainment and interpretative talks to allow us to listen to the quiet of the natural surroundings of Hugh Moore Park.

The cost for this event is $39 per person or $75 dollars for couples. Two other “Conversations on the Canal” evening lock rides are currently scheduled, for August 23 and September 27, and a Saturday afternoon lock ride is tentatively scheduled for October. For information on reservations and tickets, please contact Loretta Susen at [email protected] or 610.923.3548 Ext: 221