We make the move on around Lake Ontario to the mouth of the St. Lawrence Seaway and New York's Wellesley Island State Park. This park is on one the larger islands in the famous Thousand Islands region.We would have liked to go along the scenic lake shore route but there were supposedly a number of bridges that we would not fit underneath. So we went as far as we could and then shifted to the faster but boring Interstate routes.
The Wellesley Island State Park campground has 434 campsites but by the time we tried to reserve one there was only ONE left that could fit us in.
As it happened, we think we got one of the best in the entire park.
The target for this particular stop was the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, NY and as it turned out we hit the Annual 51st Annual Boat Show and Auction.
This made for large crowds but also many more boats on display.
John was hoping to find an example of his old boat on display but that didn't happen.
But there were lots of other cool boats.
Lots in the water and many more out.
And some great names: Chris Craft, Gar Wood, Hacker Craft among many others.
We had a really nice lunch at Bella's Cafe on the shore of the St. Lawrence Seaway watching all the boats.
Day 2 we do a bit of exploring on Wellesley Island and wind up touring the Boldt Castle Yacht House - the boat house for one of the huge mansions of New York's rich and famous.
The huge yacht house doors allow for the sail boats to slide right in, masts and all. And of course a mechanical lift system to raise the steamer yacht out of the water in winter (with a team of about 20 attendants at the mechanical screw jacks)
There are a number of Great old boats inside. This is one of what they call the "Numbered Boats" that were built specifically for the rich folks to race against each other. Also - the Gold Cup Boat Races (now hydroplanes) started right here!
Then we took the shuttle across the river to Boldt Castle itself. It was built from 1900 to 1904 and was to be a gift for his wife. Construction was halted at about 95% complete when his wife died suddenly just before he was to give it to her on Valentines Day. By his orders - no one ever actually lived here and it sat empty and abandoned for 73 years. It's an incredible story.
It sits on its own island (one of about 1800 in the Thousand Islands region) and the grounds are just gorgeous. It's currently owned and operated by the Thousand Island Bridge Authority - a state agency - which has been working to restore it to its original grandeur.
And the likes of this guy just sail past all the time heading up and down the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Day 3 we embark on a boat tour through a portion of the Thousand Islands area to marvel at some of the other island homes and take a tour of the Singer Castle - built in 1905 by Frederick Bourne, founder of the Singer Sewing Machine company.
It too is on it's own island but in this case, the family actually lived here. It was built complete with Secret Passageways, Sliding Bookcases, a Dungeon (of sorts), an Underground Tunnel and all maner of other amazing additions.
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