July 10th
We are currently in the Thousand Islands on the St Lawrence
River. (Full disclosure: There are over 1800 islands in the Thousand Island
area) Lore has it, when the islands were more accurately counted, it was
decided not to change the name to 1800 Islands because they would have to
change the name of the salad dressing that was developed at an Inn in the
Thousand Islands. In order for a piece of land to be designated as an island
here, it must have at least one tree and one shrub growing on it and be above
the water 365 days a year. We saw “islands’ that were no more than 20 feet
long.
To get to the Thousand Islands, we had to cruise northwest
up Lake Ontario. The original marine forecast was calling for a pleasant
cruise, however, when we left the shelter of Oswego Marina and entered the lake
it was quite clear that it was not going to be that smooth. While the waves
were not that high, the swells quickly sent me to the cabin for Dramamine.
Our first stop was in the city of Clayton, NY. It is a sweet
town directly on the river with lots of shops and restaurants. On our second
day we visited the Antique Boat Museum. They have a large collection of antique
boats ranging from canoes, kayaks, row boats, skiffs to beautiful early models
of wooden lake and racing boats.
Yesterday, the morning of July 9th we took a
short cruise further into the Thousand Islands to Alexandria Bay. We docked at
the town dock and took a commercial cruise of the area that took us around the
American and Canadian Islands, past multi-million $ homes and small homes that
take up all the land on very small islands. We also stopped at and toured Boldt
Castle whose construction started in 1900 but in 1904, after the death of his
wife, Boldt halted construction of the six-story castle and it was never
completed. It is now owned and operated for tours by the Thousand Islands
Bridge Authority.
Today, we have sheltered in the boat all day due to heavy
rain, thunder and high winds.
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