Clayton to Wellesley Island anchorage

Monday, July 24 -- Clayton to anchorage in Lake of the Isles, Wellesley Island -- 20 miles 

We spent the morning at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton. An absolutely marvelous museum for anyone who likes old boats. John was in hog heaven. Janet was tolerant. We'll share only a small number of the gazillion pictures that John took. 

After the museum we had a delightful lunch on the riverside patio at Bella's, then walked back to the boat and were underway about half an hour after the official 1pm checkout time. 

We ran down the river, under the Thousand Islands International Bridge, towards the town of Alexandria Bay. There were lots of interesting cottages along the way of all shapes and sizes.

 

As we got closer to Alexandria Bay the cottages got bigger and older -- late 1800s looking. This is the area they call Millionaires Row. The Thousand Islands were an eight-hour train ride from Manhattan and were a popular summer vacation spot for wealthy New Yorkers. 

On an island right across from Alexandria Bay is the "cottage" that beats them all -- Boldt's Castle, which is now a tourist attraction owned by the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority. George Boldt made his money in the hotel business, started this house in 1900 and stopped construction when his wife died four years later. 

After admiring more, but smaller cottages, we rounded the eastern tip of Wellesley Island and worked our way through the shallow bay and narrow channel into the Lake of the Isles, where we anchored for the night. There were a couple local boats anchored as well, but they all left by six and we were alone for the night. There were a few cottages in sight, but no signs of life in any of them, and we had a quiet evening.