Horse Drawn Boat Ride Through A Canal

The highlight of this weekend’s visit to Roscoe Village was a ride on the canal boat Monticello III. Not only was it a relaxing way to finish my tour of the village, it was informative and a little like stepping back in time.

A lot of people don’t realize this but a boat navigating a canal was pulled by a team of horses or mules.

Look closely and you’ll see the rope in this picture.

You feel like you’re gliding and the experience here is positively peaceful.

While you glide along the old Ohio and Erie canal, the Captain narrates the journey with stories from the construction and life along the canal. He is a great storyteller who sprinkled his narrative with enough detail to make you feel like you learned something without being dull.

If you go, you can buy tickets at the landing or at the Roscoe Village Visitors Center. It’s less than a mile to walk there or you can drive. Learn more here.

A Stroll Through Roscoe Village

On Saturday, I headed up to Roscoe Village for a tour and canal boat ride. Roscoe is a popular living history community in Coshocton, Ohio that easily provides a day’s worth of entertainment.

The town is restored to the 1830s era with a combination of costumed interpreters and kiosk videos relating stories about the past. More specifically, it tells about life in this town when it was an important stop on the Ohio and Erie Canal.

In fact, less than a mile away, you can take a canal boat ride. Check back tomorrow for more about this as it was my favorite part of the day.

The bulk of the town is occupied by private shops and restaurants which visitors can enjoy without a tour ticket. However, there are some locations staffed by costumed interpreters like a blacksmith and a print shop where I especially enjoyed seeing a printing press demonstrated.

For other tour spots that aren’t staffed, your admission ticket gets you a key fob that grants you access to buildings where you can explore at your leisure with the help of a kiosk video. I liked these because I typically didn’t have to share the spaces with others and it felt like stepping into a time capsule.

I should add that the videos feature a person telling you stories about the space, the items on display and what went on there. They tend to be fast paced and interesting.

The school was one of my favorite stops.

And I just really liked the feel of the tree lined streets. Save for the modern traffic and clothes, it felt like stepping into a nineteenth century painting.

The experience reminded me of a miniature Colonial Williamsburg without the solders.

A veggie sub from McKenna’s Market provided great picnic sustenance and a candy store visit persuaded me to pick up some Amish made candies.

If you go, be sure to watch the introduction video at the visitors center. It is short but informative. Here you can buy your tour and boat ride tickets. The restrooms are clean too!

There’s a museum available for an additional cost but I’ll have to visit another day. I ran out of time!

Want to learn more about visiting Roscoe Village? Check out their website for hours, prices, events and other details.