Clayton, NY

We had a short cruise in the 1000 Islands on Mon., July 23 leaving Cape Vincent by 9:20.  David joined us aboard Zendo for the trip to Clayton.  It was a partly cloudy day and the waters were calm as we departed from our snug dockage. We were looking forward to our visit to the Antique Boat Musesum which had been reccommended by so many of our friends. 

We took the established route around some of these tiny islands though we could have taken a short cut based on local knowledge.  Since it was such a short trip anyway, we chose the longer route.  Jonny generously encouraged David to pilot the boat for the majority of the journey.  

Shortly after tying up at the Clayton Municipal Marina, Mary Ann met us. She had driven over from Cape Vincent to ferry David home.  After saying our goodbyes and thanking them for their generous hospitality, we set out to explore the town.  Clayton is a charming small town, very well kept and full of shops and restaurants. 

We ate lunch at a restaurant on the water called Bella’s but there was a wait for a table so we sat at the bar.  This was a good decision because we had a very charming British bartender and Jonny and he swapped stories about London and Cornwall.  Lynn had a surprisingly delicious lobster roll for lunch, overflowing with lobster and not expensive - the best combination.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon at the Antique Boat Museum.  David had given us free passes because he is a docent there.  We loved the museum which is in a group of very attractive buildings along the waterfront.  It houses a collection of the most amazing wooden boats.  Most of them were from 1900 - 1950 and were used for cruising, fishing, and racing in the 1000 Islands.  The majority of those islands are only accessible by boat, even today.  There were fascinating examples of old wooden boats including  canoes, sailboats, and powerboats.  Most of them were meticulously maintained and we were even able to go aboard some of them.  The displays were engaging and informative.  The museum has additional warehouses full of even more boats.  It was interesting to see how many of them still had their registration numbers on them meaning they had been in recent use. 

We spent a good three hours at the museum and on the way back to Zendo stopped at a local pub for a flight of beer and some wings.  We spent the evening relaxing aboard Zendo and skipped dinner altogether.