June 18 – Short drive today to Clayton, NY. Our campground, Merry Knoll, has a section on the St. Lawrence river and that’s
where they parked us. The front on the
road is VERY wooded and they put smaller seasonal units there. We are parked by a Winnebago Tour that’s 42’,
very nice RV and very nice neighbor. His
wife’s children and grandchildren live here so this is where they summer. They are full timers and winter in Tucson.
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| Boldt Castle |
Once we set up, put in a load of
laundry, and had lunch we headed out. We
had reservations for the 2:30 Uncle Sam’s Boat tour called “Millionaires Row”
north in Alexandria
Bay. It’s only an hour tour and since none of the
places (Boldt Castle) are open, it was pretty much our
only choice. You have to wear a mask
while boarding, unboarding, going to the snack bar or restroom. You must stay in your designated area on the
boat. We requested seats up top and they
have
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| Boldt Guest House |
removed, I would say, 2/3 of the benches.
So we had our own little space and could stand or sit and the seat in
front or behind is 6 feet away. We took
jackets but in no way needed them. Boy,
it got hot up there.
The young lady who gave the tour
was excellent. This area is called “1000
Islands” as the river has probably that many
islands from one big rock sticking up to multiple acre islands. There are little houses built on some that
don’t look like there is any land left.
The
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| Boldt power plant |
Boldt Castle has a huge island and the
mansions are amazing. Most can only use
generators for power and are strictly seasonal homes but there are some who
paid for an underwater power lines there are year around. The castle has it’s own power house. There’s a tiny lighthouse just off the shore
we left from. Only 2
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| Our new place |
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| "Living on the edge" |
kinds of commercial
boats can use the river and it does freeze in the winter and the islands have
all varieties of animals that migrated to them during the winters. The river is fished all year long as they ice
fish in the winter. She named a long
list of fish that reside here and are caught.
Pictures don’t do it justice and I would love to come back and go in the
castle. It has a sad story but it’s an
amazing looking place to visit. www.boldtcastle.com.
After the tour there were too
many people out and about for me to venture into any shops so we headed to Cape Vincent
at the south end where Lake
Ontario flows into the
river. At the cape in the Cape Vincent
lighthouse (which is closed) but
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| Island Cottage |
the grounds are open to look out over Lake Ontario. One of the displays showed Charity Shoal
Lighthouse waaaay out
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| Cape Vincent LH |
there. I was able
to get it with my new camera!
There was another old lighthouse
listed but we didn’t see any signs as to where it was so we pulled into a
convenience store and asked the first couple to come out. Luckily there were locals and told us the old
one was moved up the road beside the store.
We thanked them and drove the half mile to its new home in front of one
of the town buildings.
It was about dinner time and the
couple also told us their favorite
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| Cape Vicent Breakwater |
restaurants in Alexandria Bay
so we drove back there to O’Brien’s.
It’s down across from the bay.
There were not many diners, mostly drinkers at the bar. They seated us by the window away from anyone
else. I know I’m particular about
food. I want “good” quality when I pay
for a nice meal. Well, the clam strips
were strips and chunks and like elastic!
The side of crab salad was delicious but for the price I’m pretty sure
it was not crab but imitation. The
poutine appetizer we shared was yummy and my Riesling was delicious! Bill had chicken parm and brought part of it
home.
We strolled some of the shops now
that the afternoon crowd had died down.
Didn’t really see much of interest, the normal tourist items.
We were both beat from the time
in the sun and read until bedtime. Bill
set up the TV but didn’t watch it.
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