Clowes Lock to Kilmarnock, wall

From Clowes Lock it was only a half hour trip to the to Merricksville Locks. We talked about just heading there the night before, but we were all tired since it would be another triple lock. Now, however, it was a shame we didn't. Merricksville was quite a stop.

There was only one small boat looking to lock up when we got to the blue line. We all fit in the chambers just fine. It was a soggy morning, though, drizzle to rainy throughout the locks.

Once we got to the last of the three, however, we could see the town itself. And it looked adorable! So Russ and I called an audible and pulled over to do some shopping and stay for lunch. Merricksville was a very small town but a tourist destination, with cute shops like a bakery, cheese monger, coffee, fudge, grocery, and a liquor store, not to mention a variety of restaurants. It was worth spending a couple of hours there.

inQuest always gets attention. Usually "What the heck is that?!"

The ye old town gelato place.

Me and Maurice.

While there were a number of restaurants we had a quick lunch
at Bob's, sharing a 2 piece fish and chips.

No longer rainy, just a lazy day on the water.

Not sure what the heck is happening here but it 
reminded me of the high water issues we've seen in the past.

Around 2 pm we headed back into the waterway and to go and through the Kilmarock lock. 

When we first started boating we thought we'd do a lot of "stop here for lunch" type of things. But we almost never do. This seemed a perfect place to enjoy an afternoon.