Travels of Mark and Pat: Thursday

Hello from the Thousand Islands on the St. Lawrence River. We arrived in Clayton 4 hours after leaving Oswego. Lake Ontario was a little choppy but improved as we went along. The biggest surprise is that we were chilly....along with jackets and hooded sweatshirt, I was bundled in a blanket. We went 63 miles and seemed strange to be out on a big body of water with all the wave action after the calmness and serenity of the canals

The books describe Clayton as "charming" and we totally agree. Lots of restaurants (several along the water), cute shops, ice cream, coffee, etc. and all close to our marina (Clayton Municipal). It is a very nice marina but only a few boats here. Lots of boats on the water along with the huge freighters that come thru here from the Atlantic via the St. Lawrence Seaway.

2 huge freighters

We rode our bikes downtown and had a wonderful lunch at Bella's - sat outdoors with this eclectic furniture, old-timey table cloths, shawls, blankets and afghans on backs of the chairs to keep warm with a pretty view of the water. Mark left on his bike to tour the Wooden Boat Museum - largest collection of wooden and classic boats in North America. I set out on foot and checked out some shops (left more for tomorrow), walked around some neighborhoods and wandered around the farmer's market. As chilly as it was on the water, the temps warmed up nicely in the afternoon to 75.

We've never been to Clayton but cruised thru some of the Thousand Islands (where the salad dressing originated) in 2011. It is beautiful and a popular vacation spot in the summertime.

Around 5 I walked back downtown (Mark rode his bike) and we picked up my bike which was left from lunchtime. We went for a little ride (enjoying our new tires) and then thoroughly enjoyed the concert in Frink Park. The 4-piece (3 guys, 1 lady) band "Amarillo" sang mostly country but other oldies including Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, etc.....Very entertaining.