Our last post was on July 3rd from Brewerton as William and friends were moving his new boat from Massachusetts back to Door County. I am happy to report they made it back to Door County on schedule and without problems.

Since the last post, Amy and I spent the 3rd of July enjoying Brewerton and the festivities they had to offer, moved to Oswego, NY on the 4th, moved to Alexandria Bay, NY and explored, moved back down to Clayton, NY, and then found our way to Kingston, Canada!

We enjoyed all Brewerton had to offer including a boat parade and fireworks.

They had over 200 boats in their annual boat parade.

The fireworks show was great and we were able to see it from the marina.

The next morning, July 4th, we moved to Oswego, NY via the last lock on the Erie Canal for us, and then down the Oswego Canal.

It was a nice easy run up the canal system to Oswego and we were lucky to lock straight through all the locks.

This is the split! To the right is the Oswego Canal and to the left is the Western Erie Canal that goes to Buffalo.

This is the first lock on the Oswego Canal, O-1. Amy and I really enjoyed the Oswego Canal much more than the Erie Canal.

We continue to go down to Lake Ontario on the Oswego Canal.

The doors open and we continue downbound.

Someone on shore sent us this picture going by their house on the Oswego Canal.

Another lock, it looks like you can go to the right, but there is an 8′ waterfall that would not be good!

The second to last lock coming into Oswego.

Looking across the river into downtown Oswego.

Our home for one night in Oswego.

We had plenty of time to walk the entire downtown area and see what Oswego had to offer. This is a very old town with some great buildings. Most everything was closed for the 4th of July as they would be celebrating July 7th.

We did find a riverside restaurant for dinner that was great. And yes, we did wear our 4th of July bling!

July 5th, we moved across Lake Ontario and downstream on the St Lawerence River to Alexandria Bay, NY.

We ran across the open water and then slowed down to see the 1000 Islands area.

Departing Oswego Marina.

We couldn’t get through the break wall as we departed due to a little boat in our way!

Once the ship cleared the opening, we were off and running toward the St. Lawerance River and Seaway. This is the entrance to the 1000 Islands area and the river.

It was a very busy day on the river. We felt like we were going the wrong direction.

We stayed at the once famous 1000 Islands Yacht and Country Club. This was the playground of the rich and famous in the early 1900’s as the area became popular.

Looking back at the boathouse and clubhouse as we departed. You will see some pretty cool pictures later of this facility from the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton.

The water was very clear, so Memphis got an hour of swimming off the swim deck. She was a very happy, tired, girl that day.

Dinner at the clubhouse on the veranda.

We spent two nights here, so we could explore the area and some of the famous castles that were built during the gilded age of the area.

The most famous is Boldt Castle. We did our own dinghy ride around the island, and then jumped on a tour boat of the area with a stop at the castle.

Pano of the castle. Mr. Boldt never lived in the castle as he was building for his wife and she suddenly died at age 42 before the castle was completed

Getting ready to hop on the tour boat. This ride was fun as they told us all about the area, and took us through all the famous houses on private islands.

Dinghy ride picture of the Castle.

A statue of St Lawrence on the bank of the river where he was killed, by being burned to death over a grate. The statue is holding a grate. Kind of weird!

Standing by the front porch at Boldt Castle.

We also did a night dinghy ride to see the castle all lit up. Here are the daytime and nighttime shots.

It was a really clear night. You can notice the stars above the castle.

This arch is where they would greet guests that would come to the island.

The arch looked magnificent at night.

We also spent some time walking Alexanderia Bay and really did not enjoy the town. It was very much like a trashy cruise ship town!

We moved back up stream to Clayton, NY two days later. This was a very easy 10 mile run that we did slowly.

Departing the 1000 Islands Yacht and Country Club.

Arriving at Clayton, NY. This was a charming town that was much higher end than Alexandria Bay.

The waterfront in Clayton.

Enjoying a great lunch at Belle on the water.

We were tied up just inside the break wall. We did get some surge with heavy boat traffic, but it calmed down every evening. We stayed here for two nights to explore the Antique Boat Museum.

A memorial on the waterfront.

There was constant freighter traffic on the river all day and night.

We also got to see our first sunset in a very long time. We finally got so look at some water to the west.

The next day we spent 2-1/2 hours at the museum.

The museum is made up of 6 buildings with indoor and outdoor facilities.

This building was full of different manufacturers that produced wooden boats in the area and across the United States.

This picture was from the speed building. The history of speed records and some of these boats were incredible.

This houseboat was built by Mr. Boldt, the builder of Boldt Castle. He built this for his family to spend summertime at the 1000 Islands Yacht and Country Club. It does not have an engine, so they had a private tugboat that would pull it around.

A shore view of the boat house that we tied up right in front of for two nights.

The museum had these two pictures and the history of those who belonged to and visited the 1000 Islands Yacht and Country Club.

After two great days in Clayton, it was time to move into Canada. We had a nice easy day going back up stream and crossing into Canadian waters before arriving in Kingston, Ontario.

Arriving in Kingston and the sailing school was practicing right in the channel. Just like in the U.S.

Downtown Kingston from the water.

The military academy just across from our marina.

This is a large marina very well protected with large break walls.

All tucked in for two days. We originally planned to stay here only one night, but with the weather coming up from the recent hurricane, we will stay here and avoid being at anchor in the storms.

There is a lot of seaweed in this harbor. I am sure we will be cleaning out our AC strainer before we leave here.

We took a couple hours and walked around town. There are a lot of great looking restaurants in this town.

King Street is full of shops and restaurants.

We found a Moosehead bar on the water. Amy and I met on $1 Moosehead night at a bar in Farmville, VA many years ago, so we had to stop and have one. We have not had a Moosehead beer in a very long time, but we both agreed that the beer tasted pretty good!

Our view from the bar back toward the marina.

We will relax tonight and go out for dinner. Then we will explore Kingston more tomorrow as the weather permits. We will move to Trenton, Canada on Thursday and prep for the canal system.

I hope you all have a great rest of your week, and I will try to post again from Trenton before we slide into the Trent Severn canal system.