Clayton, NY - Thousand Islands 07/31 - 08/03

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.

Four Mile Creek State Park, NY (Niagara Falls) 07/26 - 07/31

We continue the travels up past Niagara Falls, NY and set up camp at one of New York's first state parks:  Four Mile Creek State Park.

We are learning that New York really knows how to do parks.  And after learning about all the things in the area we extend our stay an extra day.






Sun, 7/27 is primarily a set up and laundry day but we are also treated to another series of great sunsets across Lake Ontario.

We can also clearly see the Toronto skyline across the lake.





Day 2 it's off for a packaged Gray Line tour of the US side of Niagara Falls beginning with the Maid of the Mist boat cruise.

Everyone gets a fancy blue raincoat and yes you sure need 'em.

The views of the falls are terrific - first the smaller US side falls and then right into the mist of the Canadian side Horseshoe Falls.

It's hard to comprehend the sheer volume of water and the power of these falls.  And this is after some 80% has been diverted for electrical power.















At Cave of the Winds everyone gets a pretty yellow raincoat and has the opportunity (?) to get right into the flow of the water.  Once again - it's just amazing.





Day 3 we start with a short trip into downtown Buffalo.

Did you ever wonder where Buffalo Wings originated and why the name Buffalo?  Well it was here at the Anchor Bar!  And they were mighty good.

John also gets another brief submarine and Naval history fix at the Buffalo Naval and Military Park.

Then it was time for another Gray Line tour into Canada for a late afternoon and evening tour of the Canadian side attractions but primarily seeing the falls from the Skylon Tower at night.

Day 4 we made our way back across the border on our own to visit the town of Niagara on the Lake.  Most of the buildings are on the Canadian version of the National Historic Register.

It's now a upscale arts and shopping town.

We had a really nice dinner at Zee's and found some really good Canadian wine - from the Baco Noir grape which we'd never heard of before.

We extend our Niagara Falls area trip by an extra day when we learn of all of the Erie Canal history at the nearby City of Lockport, NY.

We wind up taking the three hour tour up and down the canal and through two locks.

And finally to Carousel Park in the small town of Olcott where John also gets to see some really sweet wooden boats.

Lake Erie State Park, NY 07/24 to 07/25

Heading further east we cross through the tip of Pennsylvania and into New York state along the shore or Lake Erie.

We spend the two busy weekend evenings at Lake Erie State Park.

Our campsite backs right up to the shore of Lake Erie high on bluff.  The view out our rear window is spectacular!

And the sunsets aren't so bad either.

And Lo and Behold - We have found ourselves right in the middle of New York's Lake Erie Wine Country in the towns of Westfield and Portland, NY - Imagine that!

So it was off to visit Johnson Estate Wines (they claim to be NY's oldest winery) and lunch at Brazill's on Main in Westfield.  We also hit Westfield's summer art festival.




And then it was off to Vetter Vinyards and the 21 Brix Winery in Portland.

Their wines are mostly not in line with our normal tastes but we managed to find a few to take back to the trailer.

Oberlin, OH 07/22 - 07/23

And it's on to Indiana and Ohio stopping at Schaun Acres Campground outside of Oberlin, Ohio.  John's parents, brother and almost all of his Aunts and Uncles attended Oberlin College.

The purpose of this stop was to visit a cousin of John's, Ellen Adams, who just celebrated a milestone 100th birthday in April.


The campsite at Schaun Acres turns out to be a really nice one and we have just a little down time on a very pleasant afternoon.

It even had a WiFi signal that worked well enough to allow John to get caught up on the trip blog.




We spend a really nice day with Ellen including lunch at her favorite Pizza place, a trip to Wal-Mart and dinner at another favorite: the Black River Café.

She is just amazing!

South Haven, MI 07/20 - 07/21

We make the trip down the shore of Lake Michigan to Muskegon and finally South Haven, Michigan.



The first stop was at the USS Silversides Submarine Memorial in Muskegon.  This boat was an active Navy Reserve boat at Navy Pier in Chicago when John was growing up and probably had something to do with his interest in subs.

Even Mary will admit that it is a really nicely done museum.











After setting up at the Van Buren State Park we took a brief walk on the beach on Lake Michigan and waved hello to John's sister Marty right over there on the other side of the lake.

In the morning we dropped in on John's high school and college friend John & Ellen Nielsen in South Haven and went for a walk on the beach and all through downtown.








The lighting in the photo is bad but the afternoon, dinner and evening were just great on the Nielsen screen porch

Lake Leelanau, MI (Traverse City) 07/16 - 07/19

We made it!  Got ourselves set up in the Leelanau Pines Campground in Cedar, MI near Traverse City and linked up with friends Vinnie & Colleen from Phoenix.

I have realized way too late that I did not take nearly enough photos to document our travels in this location - sigh ...

We spent a really great afternoon and evening with Sue Wells Danielson, a grade school, high school and college friend of John's, visiting her home on Glen Lake, wine tasting & dinner at the Cherry Republic in Glen Arbor, MI .

And then a trip through the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive

Vinnie and Colleen (and Sophie) Scharneck were terrific hosts and our RV was parked just down the row from their summer home.

We had a wonderful boat ride on Lake Leelanau with a Bald Eagle performance, a shopping and lunch trip into Traverse City and a couple of Wine Tasting stops.

John has always been known as a submarine Bubblehead but this poster puts a new spin on it.

But we do celebrate each day!

And we did thoroughly enjoy this part of Michigan.  It was a real eye opener and I think we are destined for a return visit down the road.

Vinnie took us to something he discovered deep in the Michigan woods - a really interesting private covered bridge / church

And we had a final dinner at The Cove restaurant in Lehland, Michigan at the north end of Lake Leelanau where it pours into Lake Michigan.  It was a really nice evening including some other friends Jane & Jim and Don from the campground.