Okay, 2.5 miles on the canal, and it’s my favorite walk. I start at the oddly-named Henpeck Park and walk west past the steps down into Canal Park, and don’t encounter much else before turning around for the return trip. I would expect the canal edge to be prime real estate, but there are only a couple of houses along this stretch. In summer there are plenty of small pleasure boats, but yesterday I saw a feisty working craft pushing an empty barge. I’m not sure what cargo could be carried economically along the canal these days, but there was a time when mules plodded along the towpath I use and the Erie Canal was considered a modern marvel and the key to the growth of such cities as Rochester and Buffalo. It was opened on October 26, 1825 and was only four feet deep. Even when it was improved to a 7-foot depth, special flat boats had to be built in towns all along its path to take advantage of its commercial promise. I get a kick out of taking my walk in the presence of New York history.