Vault aboard a hinge boat with Marie Duess as she nimbly navigates the historic waters of the Delaware Canal. Any ramble along the now-serene Pennsylvania waterway will show you why its beauty inspired so many famous brushstrokes. But only on a voyage with Duess will you dock at hidden places that doubled as underground railroad stops and Prohibition-era speakeasies and witness the inventive genius of Josiah White and the instinct and muscles of the endearing mules that hauled the nation into the Industrial Revolution. By journey's end, you will be reluctant to part with your newfound boatmates after looking into the hopeless eyes of five-year-old mine laborers and listening to the rousing choruses of boat captains who poured a hearty lifetime into steering coal from Easton to Bristol.

Emerging from the Catskills, the Delaware River winds along the border between Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the Atlantic, offering hundreds of miles of magnificent scenery. Its sparkling waters supported the Lenape tribes growing maize along its banks. English explorers sailed the river in search of the mythical Lake Laconia, believed to be the source of all northeastern rivers. Urban growth pitted railroads, industry and energy companies against protectionists in continuing fights over appropriate use of the river. Hunting, fishing and boating remain vital local traditions passed from one generation to the next. Author Frank H. Moyer charts the life and legacy of the mighty Delaware.

These humorous and inspirational blog posts from 45 of the best midlife bloggers offer proof that tumbling over the far side of 45 is worth the journey. This anthology includes the true story of the middle-aged woman who attempted to give her husband a lap dance in the kitchen but the result was anything but steamy. Another writer describes how you’re allowed to teach your grandchild descriptive words such as “dingleberry” and “fartcake” without an ounce of guilt. Other bloggers offers poignant stories about aging, caregiving, and how to celebrate Mother’s Day after the children are grown and live far away. These feisty females will encourage you to keep your chins up and your reading glasses handy!

The Encyclopedia of New York State is one of the most complete works on the Empire State to be published in a half-century. In nearly 2,000 pages and 4,000 signed entries, this single volume captures the impressive complexity of New York State as a historic crossroads of people and ideas, as a cradle of abolitionism and feminism, and as an apex of modern urban, suburban, and rural life. The Encyclopedia is packed with fascinating details from fields ranging from sociology and geography to history. Did you know that Manhattan's Lower East Side was once the most populated neighborhood in the world, but Hamilton County in the Adirondacks is the least densely populated county east of the Mississippi; New York is the only state to border both the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean; the Erie Canal opened New York City to rich farmland upstate . . . and to the west. Entries by experts chronicle New York's varied areas, politics, and persuasions with a cornucopia of subjects from environmentalism to higher education to railroads, weaving the state's diverse regions and peoples into one idea of New York State. Lavishly illustrated with 500 photographs and figures, 120 maps, and 140 tables, the Encyclopedia is key to understanding the state's past, present, and future. It is a crucial reference for students, teachers, historians, and business people, for New Yorkers of all persuasions, and for anyone interested in finding out more about New York State.

This is the first comprehensive encyclopedia on the history of the vast and varied ways human beings have used the world's waterways for business, protection, and recreation. Seas and Waterways of the World: An Encyclopedia of History, Uses, and Issues offers a comprehensive introduction to humanity's historical reliance on the world's seas and waterways and how that reliance continues to evolve. Over the course of two volumes, this extraordinary resource describes the world's major nautical features, the wide variety of uses for those waterways, and a number of essential issues arising from water-borne commerce. The encyclopedia marks the emergence of the aquarium, cruise, energy, fishing, insurance, mining, trade, transportation, recreation, and sport industries, and includes entries on harbors, ports, and coastal development that play a part in the economics of commercial water use. Also included is coverage of a number of significant themes such as the rise and fall of the Erie Canal as the gateway to the Midwest, and the declining popularity of the Panama Canal.

Describes the scenery, history, and points of interest along three hundred scenic routes across the United States

The river, the road, the rails, and the ribbon of canal--these four parallel transportation arteries define the historic corridor that is the Delaware River Scenic Byway. From the French and Indian Wars and the definitive Battle of Trenton in the colony of New Jersey to the mule-drawn barges, river steamboats, and puffing steam engines of the coal-fired Industrial Revolution, this corridor supported the formation and growth of the country. From the barracks and battlefields of Trenton to the mills and farms of Prallsville and Frenchtown, the modern visitor can trace an explosion of invention and ingenuity. Delaware River Scenic Byway showcases the rich industrial, commercial, and recreational history of this landmark New Jersey roadway.