This post is from yesterday, May 29, 2012.  We slept a little later than usual and borrowed a shopping cart from the Dockmaster to go grocery shopping at Hannaford's Food & Drug across the bridge in Troy.   On our way was Don & Paul's Coffee Shop so we stopped in for breakfast, parking our shopping cart outside.  Their breakfast special is 2 eggs any style, toast and coffee for $1.70 and that's what the Captain ordered.  I had an egg and Swiss sandwich on a toasted roll for $1.65.  Again the food was good, the service was fast and friendly, and the prices are unbelievable.

It's a several block walk to and over the bridge to Troy, but we enjoyed seeing more of Waterford.  It is the oldest continuously incorporated village in New York State since 1794.  

Now about Hannaford's.  We had been warned by the Dockmaster to let the staff at the grocery store know we're boaters and were bringing our own cart from the Visitor Center so that they could unlock the wheels for us when we left.  Okay...little did we know that when our wheels "touched down" on the parking lot when we arrived, they locked up.  Ralph found Dawn from Customer Service who trekked out across the parking lot in 89 degrees of heat to unlock the wheels so we could go IN.  There is a sensor imbedded into the perimeter of the parking lot so the carts cannot be stolen.  It's a great idea.  As a courtesy to boaters, however, they will unlock the wheels so you can wheel your groceries back to your boat.  We found Hannaford's to be clean, well stocked, and the staff was helpful and courteous...and once again, we asked them to unlock our wheels so we could wheel our groceries back to the boat.

It rained intermittently all afternoon, but we met some new friends on the bulkhead and took a walk.  By 6:00 PM there was torrential rain, thunder and lightening and whitecaps on the Mohawk River where we were tied up.   Striper was a wreck -- so frightened of storms, but with the AC running, it was noisy and she finally calmed down and fell asleep.  

Here are a few pictures:

Parking our grocery cart outside Don & Paul's Coffee Shop

Historic Waterford since 1794 -- over the bridge to Troy

Hannaford's Food & Drug, Troy, NY

The high water mark from Hurricane Irene in August 2011 on the bridge abutment (bridge spanning the Mohawk River)

White caps on the Mohawk River just before the thunderstorm began

Striper, upset by the thunder and lightening, finally fell asleep