Taking advantage of the rental car in Sackets Harbor, we took a side trip to visit the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, NY and to take a boat tour on the St. Lawrence River to Bolt Castle in the Thousand Islands.
Grounds around Antique Boat Museum 
Some boats were under a covered boat dock
There were building of antique boats and boats in covered dock slips.
Dodge boat from the 1920’s 
Looks like an old time car steering and guages
This one’s from Nashville, TN 
This house boat had 2 cabins, 2 heads, and lots of wood!
Cute little Owl boat with this light on front
There was a building for speed boats and speed records broken.
After a couple hours looking at antique boats, we headed over to Clayton Bolt Castle tours. The first part of the tour was boating through the Thousand Islands. There are actually 1,864 islands in the Thousand Islands. To be an island you had to meet two criteria: 1) must have at least one tree, 2) must be above water for 365 days per year. Here are some pictures of some of the islands we saw.
Not an Island – no trees – Cormoran(?) Bird sanctuary 
This house has a full-sized Bear weather vane on top.
Some facts about the Thousand Islands include: The St. Lawrence water is so clear due to zebra mussels, making this a number 1 dive destination. The St. Lawrence waterway freezes solid in the winter and a snow plow is used to make roads to the many houses on islands. Thousand Island Dressing is said to have originated from the Thousand Islands.
George Boldt built the Boldt Castle for his wife, the love of his life, and there are hearts found everywhere.
George truly loved his wife and wanted to give her this castle on Feb 14th, her birthday and their anniversary. However, she became sick and died in January of that year, so George Boldt immediately stopped work on the Castle and never set foot on the island again.
George Boldt
Now there has been millions of dollars spent to get the castle in its current condition for touring.
Wedding being held 
Kids playhouse 
See Stag Deer on top of boat entry 
Boldt Castle in Thousand Islands on St Lawrence Waterway
Main Entryway 
Library fireplace 
Main Entryway 
Larry in Main Entryway w/dome 
Pool inside 
Pool outside – note stag on top of the building
After Boldt Castle, we went to Rock Island Lighthouse in the Thousand Islands. the lighthouse used to be built on top of the house, but now stands on the waterway.
The black band in the middle of the lighthouse marks the original lighthouse (that was on top of the keepers house) and the bottom of the lighthouse was added later.
light house keepers home 
There was interesting displays about the large vessels that move through the St. Lawrence Waterway
After a full day of touring, we stopped with our buddy boaters, Yvonne and Peter for dinner and played a game of JENGA.
Larry & Mary’s Great Loop Blog 