9 Jun 2024 - Clayton NY, Antique Boat Museum, Tibbetts Point Lighthouse

 

This morning we loaded up the pooch and a cooler, and headed north to Clayton NY, a sleepy little town on the shore of the St Lawrence River.  Monday we will return to Clayton to board a glass-bottomed boat tour to a nearby lighthouse on an island.  But today the mission is to visit the Antique Boat Museum.

This place is not just a building full of boats, it is a campus of five buildings plus a working yacht house and docks on the St Lawrence River and operational antique boats on display that you can ride.  I took over a hundred pictures but will try to keep this short, kind of !!  

The Museum starts in the Haxall building where you pay a small admission fee, watch a movie, learn about the museum's origins, and see some introductory displays.  There is even a library if you want to research anything related to old boats.  

From there we toured the Small Craft Building.  On display is half a building of paddle craft - old canoes and kayaks of all sorts, from the 1820's to the present.    

The other half of the building features skiffs.  The term "skiff" is a catch-all for a variety of small boats with specific characteristics.  Skiffs are known for their simplicity, open design, and shallow draft, which allows them to navigate in shallow waters like rivers, estuaries, and flats.  These skiffs have been meticulously restored and are amazing.

Next stop was a photo-op and Doreen looks like a natural skipper!  This is a 1960's Rocket Runabout, a 14 ft Arkansas Traveler that was found in a field just a few years ago.  It was donated with the intent it would be used as a photo-op.  It was beautifully restored, but it is Fiberglas!  It was finished to make it look like it is wood!

We then entered the E. J. Noble historic stone building.  This is where craftsmen restore the old boats.  There was no work actively being done today as it is Sunday, but you can tell it is a real live workshop.  There were some interesting displays around the perimeter including various woods used in boat building and tools. 

Built in 1886, the stone building housed the steam engine and boiler that powered a wood working mill for a timber and staving industry

In 1931 the building was badly damaged by fire.  Charred beams and wall areas are still visible.

A boat being restored

Next stop was McNally Yacht House.  There were some absolutely beautiful antique wooden boats docked and ready for use.  Apparently you can pay to ride in these.  I cannot imagine the amount of maintenance required to keep these beauties looking so nice.  

The "Flat Top" is a 1955 Chris-Craft semi-enclosed cruiser and was donated to the museum by country music star Alan Jackson.  It is an incredible boat! 

 On our way out we passed through the Dodge Launch Building that is full of more beautiful boats, engines and a nice display of very old outboard motors.  

Last stop was across the street in the Morgan Building.  The theme for this building is "Quest for Speed.  The Story of Powerboat Racing".  The building is full of old racing boats, all the way back to 1929!

Pardon the picture dump, but this museum is incredible and the boats and craftsmanship are amazing.  I am thankful we were able to visit here.

From Clayton NY we drove SW about 40 miles to visit the Tibbetts Point Lighthouse.  There are several structures here including the original keeper's quarters, the fog horn building, an oil house, the visitor center and another old house.  The lighthouse is a working lighthouse, so it cannot be climbed and the other buildings are not open to the public, so except for the visitor center, we walked around outside, took some pictures and departed.  The wind was blowing strongly and it was starting to rain.

The original keeper's quarters next to the lighthouse

The oil house

The fog horn building.  Notice the horns at the top of the tower

That is it for tonight.  Tomorrow I am going to try for an oil change on the truck in the morning and then we have the glass bottomed boat ride in the afternoon.  Hoping for good weather!

8 Jun 2024 - Arrived at Ft Drum near Watertown NY

 Another travel day today.  We departed the Daisy Barn Campground near Wilson NY this morning shortly after 0800 hrs and headed southeast to catch I-90 eastbound.  Once we reached I-81 we headed north to Watertown NY and Fort Drum Army base.  We arrived at 1300 hrs after driving 250 miles today.  We had a tail wind for quite a while so the fuel mileage should have been a bit better.  We will be here for five nights.

This is our first visit to Ft Drum. It is a huge installation at 107,265 acres. Their FamCamp is called  Remington RV Park and Cabins, and it is a hidden gem.  They have about 20 cabins and a a dozen or so 50A full hookup RV sites. Ours is also paved!  The laundry facility in the back of the office building has two washers and two driers at a reasonable price.

Google Maps is outdated which threw me off a bit when we drove in.  The office is not staffed on the weekends but I called the contact number on the door and they had moved us into a different site than previously assigned.  

We've never stayed in an RV park with this much room between sites!  It is awesome and the sites are also very long.  They could each be divided into two.  

We chose this location so that we could explore the northern part of New York state including the area around the St Lawrence River.  There are several lighthouses we wanted to visit both on the St Lawrence as well as the eastern shore of Lake Ontario,  The town of Clayton has an interesting antique boat museum we want to see, and we reserved a ride on a glass bottom boat that will take us to a lighthouse also.  Ft Drum is the home of the 10th Mountain Light Infantry Division and they have a museum here that looks interesting. 

This afternoon we drove around the post a bit looking for diesel but none of the Exchange gas stations offer it, which is not uncommon.  Back at the campground we walked Liberty around a bit and also watched our grandsons playing in separate baseball tournaments on Game Changer.  Calvin was in Des Moines and Daniel was still in Bettendorf. Liberty was up for a nap!

   Tomorrow is Sunday and quite a few venues are not open, but we planned a loop starting at Clayton NY and then southwest to visit the Tibbetts Point Lighthouse.

7 Jun 2024 - Lighthouses, Grandson Baseball and Last Day on Lake Ontario

 

Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse

This is our last day here at Daisy Barn Campground on the south shore of Lake Ontario.  Even though we have previously visited the lighthouses along the shore here we decided to drive east and revisit three:  Olcott Lighthouse, Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse, and Oak Orchard Lighthouse.  Two of the three (Olcott and Oak Orchard) are reproductions - Lake Ontario weather was not kind to the originals. Thirty Mile Point is original with some minor outbuilding changes and it is magnificent! 

Olcott Lighthouse:  The Olcott Lighthouse guided ships on Lake Ontario from 1873 to 1963,  The lighthouse moved from the pier to the shoreline around 1930.  A local gentleman took on the task of reconstructing an exact replica to scale and finished the project in 2003.  Private donations totaling $6000 funded the project.  It is 27 ft tall constructed of "white pine in a Dutch Lap design".  That was all done without any blueprints or plans - all from old pictures.  The lighthouse was open when we arrived but the inside is just an informational kiosk - nothing to climb.  

The Olcott Lighthouse, nicely presented!

Many old pictures on display inside

On the end of the pier in 1908

After looking around the lighthouse we made our way to a nearby souvenir shop and they had the stamp for Doreen's lighthouse passport book. 

  Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse:  Located in the Golden Hill State Park, again, right on Lake Ontario, the Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse is a gem. It gets its name because it is located 30 miles east of the Niagara River. It opened in 1876 and served continuously through 1959 when it was automated.  The second floor of the lighthouse is a full-service, 3-bedroom suite that can be rented!  From their web site, "Today’s lighthouse residents are not asked to mind the light or perform other tasks required of the lighthouse keepers, but they do get a small glimpse into what life was like for a keeper along this isolated stretch of Lake Ontario."  It is built from locally quarries limestone and it is beautifully maintained.  There are RV camping sites (electric + water) nearby and they appeared full as we drove in.

As we entered the park the attendant told us the lighthouse and visitor center did not open for another hour and she did not charge us the park entry fee.  Since we had toured it before we did not wait for it to open.  Instead, we walked around the outside and marveled at it's beauty.  It is exquisitely maintained.  The grounds were manicured  There is a walkway that takes you down to the lake but it was closed for maintenance.  Some of the outbuildings had been relocated over the years including one of the oil houses and the carriage house.  If you appreciate the beauty and history of lighthouses this one is a must see!

A view from the visitor center

The second oil house

The carriage house

Oak Orchard Lighthouse:  Oak Orchard Light operated on the shores of Lake Ontario from 1871 to 1916.  There were originally two piers and they were maintained until 1905 when they were abandoned by the Government. In 1914 a storm washed a large hole in one of the piers and on December 23, 1916 the lighthouse and what remained of the piers were demolished by another storm.  In 2010 a historically accurate replica was built near the original site at the Orleans County Marine Park Point Breeze.   The keepers house is now a private residence located nearby. The lighthouse was not open today, so we just looked around the outside.

That is about a wrap from here at Daisy Barn Campground.  On the way back from our little lighthouse tour today we refueled the truck in preparation for our journey tomorrow to Ft Drum near Watertown NY.  We will spend five nights there before moving on to the Burlington VT area.  We are really looking forward to exploring the St Lawrence river, the lighthouses, a boat museum and various other venues.

We closed the evening watching WNBA Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever winning a close one over the Washington Mystics 85-83 on Directv.  Simultaneously we watched our grandson Daniel (via Game Changer app) playing baseball at a tournament in Bettendorf Iowa.  They won their first game tonight 11-1 on a walk-off grand slam home run by Daniel!  He hit 2 for 3 with 4 RBI's.  He also pitched two innings of zero-run ball in relief striking out five, giving up just one hit and walking two!  So proud of him and the team and so glad we are able to tune in to our grandkid's activities while we travel!  

All three of these lads hit homeruns tonight!  Grandson Daniel on the right in the picture.

Our son Dan with grandson Daniel and the grand slam ball!

6 Jun 2024 - D-Day, My Sister's Birthday, Visit to Niagara Falls

 

Our thoughts today are with the families of those brave American and Allied warriors who gave the ultimate sacrifice on D-Day, June 6, 1944 when they hit the beaches of Normandy France during Operation Overlord.   This was the largest amphibious invasion in the history of warfare. The Allies used over 5,000 ships and landing craft to land more than 150,000 troops on five beaches in Normandy. German casualties on D-Day have been estimated at 4,000 to 9,000 men. Allied casualties were documented for at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead. 

This morning we drove about 30 minutes southwest to Niagara Falls State Park on the US side.  The last time we were here we visited the Canadian side to get a great view of Horseshoe Falls.  We also rode the Maid of the Mist before so we were not going to do that again this time.  In planning this visit I spoke with a very nice person at the State Park and in addition to providing a great map she provided some great advice having to do with parking for the big ol' brown truck.  

So with the suggestions she provided we drove to the State Park and crossed the American Rapids bridge to Goat Island and parking lot #2.  That worked perfectly as it was not busy at all so plenty of room to park, and we had great access to Terrapin Point and an up close and personal view of Horseshoe Falls.

Terrapin Point from a distance

The railing right next to the water!

And the Horseshoe Falls, USA side, is right there, almost within reach!!  

The Canadian side in view.

The Maid of the Mist boat ride below.  They are getting soaked!

A beautiful rainbow in the mist of Horseshoe Falls!

We finished our viewing at Terrapin Point and then headed past Cave of the Winds and across the pedestrian bridge to the American Falls.  

A view upstream from the Pedestrian Bridge towards the American Rapids bridge

The water is really moving!

A view of American Falls from Prospect Point.  I take terrible selfies!

Near Prospect Point is parking lot #1 and the drop-off point for school and tour buses.  As we made our way to Prospect Point, hundreds of school kids were headed for a view of the falls!  Around the corner from Prospect Point is the entrance to the iconic Maid of the Mist boat tour.  It has been operating since 1846.  There is a similar one on the Canadian side.  They have two 600-passenger boats scheduled to depart every 15 minutes.  Tour duration is 20 minutes.  

A beautiful rainbow leading to the Maid of the Mist tour boat!

The Canadian tour boat.

Hundreds in line to exchange their voucher for a boarding ticket!  This is 1030 hrs on Thursday morning!  Imagine what it is like on the weekend! 

We finished at Prospect Point and walked back across the pedestrian bridge to parking lot #2 and our truck, and headed back to our campground.  Once there, Doreen did some laundry and I started downloading and processing the pictures from Niagara Falls.  Later in the afternoon we drove back down past Niagara falls to Grand Island to visit some Alliance friends Tom and Gayle Taylor who we met at St Ignace Michigan in the summer of  2021.  They are staying at HTR Niagara Campground on Grand Island.  Tom is the retired fire chief from Moses Lake WA and also retired from the Army, plus Tom and Gayle own an Alliance Paradigm 310RL just like we have, so we have a lot in common!  It was great to see them again and get caught up on their travels and lives!  I failed to get any pictures there, but here is one from 2021 at St Ignace MI.  

Tonight I called my sister Karen for her birthday.  We visited her back in April in southern Texas.  Sounds like the temps have been blistering down there and resulting in water shortages.  

Also tonight Doreen captured some neat sunset pictures over Lake Ontario:

This evening the skyline of Toronto Canada was in clear view!

 

Tomorrow we will wrap things up here and make preparations to depart Saturday morning and head upstate to Ft Drum army base.  So I need to fuel the truck, do tanks, etc tomorrow.  We may even revisit one of the nearby lighthouses, just for old time sake!