I Cover the Waterfront

There's that damned view from the porch again. Don't worry; this is the last of the 2010 Great St. Lawrence River Vacation blog posts. We're just going to cruise up & down the river a little bit today.

This "little white cottage" was all decked out for the Fourth of July weekend with patriotic bunting, and a flag snapping in the breeze.

When I was a kid, I would have flipped out if we had suddenly moved from our 1950's suburban rancher to a place like this. Houses like this had towers and spooky hallways. Cobwebby attics. Dark, drippy cellars. Nancy Drew & the Hardy Boys couldn't turn around in an old house without finding a secret passage or a trap door, so surely there'd be a few of those in a house like this one.

Here's a bigger view. This house is on a private island, and the private island has its own little private island! The whimsical footbridge leads to a button-shaped islet with what looks like a croquet lawn in the middle.


Meanwhile, ships cruised past Sadie's place...





The freighters & tankers were nearly silent, surprisingly. If I had my head stuck in a book, they were easy to miss. The pleasure boats, on the other hand, sounded like bees or mosquitos buzzing by.


This house had all kinds of flags flying around the perimeter of its island.

This island had no house on it, and was a big hunk of granite rising up from the water. We watched people diving from the cliff into the water.

The water was choppy on the morning we took the boat to the town of Alexandria Bay for breakfast. We ate at Chez Paris, which is a funny name for a plain ol' all-American diner.
This picture shows Heart Island, with Boldt Castle poking up from the trees, directly across from town.

A view of the waterfront at the Village of Clayton, taken from the deck of La Duchesse.

Just around the bend from Sadie's place, the Carrier home overlooks the river. That's Carrier as in Carrier air-conditioning. Notice that the third floor windows on a very hot afternoon are open. Perhaps they need a service call. Nothing stops a Trane.

Going west from Sadie's dock, around the rocky point of Gypsy Island, the river took us by Point Vivian. Here we see the old store with the town social hall upstairs. I don't know what it is used for today. I believe the store is closed, but it figures into the dark but colorful history of Point Vivian that you really should read next.

Pleasant homes line the shores of Point Vivian, which was a late 19th Century vacation haven for the middle class. Although there are many examples of summer homes of the wealthy along this stretch of the St. Lawrence, Point Vivian is still a vibrant community of more modest resort homes.

The final photograph shows a small island off the west bank of Point Vivian. This is clearly someone's playground. There's no house, but there are little buildings and a gazebo, lawn furniture and umbrellas, a little footbridge, a swimming platform, and a small dock. I could have stayed here all day when I was little, and it would have been a pirate's hideout or an enchanted island.

I'm really grateful that I was able to return to the Thousand Islands this year, thanks to Sadie's hospitality. I saw sites familiar from last summer's visit, and discovered new places. I traveled with a group of friends who also enjoy a life of sobriety, and like to live each day to the fullest. We had a marvelous time together relaxing, exploring, eating, reading, boating, swimming, napping, and laughing.



When I got back home, I ordered a thank-you gift from Canvas on Demand for Sadie to hang in her office. It really looks sharp, and the customer service couldn't have been better.

How Big Is Your Rowboat?

Another day quietly begins on the St. Lawrence.
I was usually up in the mornings by five o'clock while on vacation, but one morning I was wide awake at four. I tried to get back to sleep, but I gave up at 4:20 and got out of bed. I started a pot of coffee, and got the ingredients out to make a coffee cake. A friend gave me this recipe, and I like it for its old-fashioned taste. It is quite plain, no bells or whistles, but that's what makes it so good. I enjoyed being in the kitchen before the sun was up, baking a homemade treat while my companions slumbered. This cake is easy to make, and it was still warm from the oven when they wandered out of their bedrooms, looking for coffee.

Swiss Coffee Cake
¾ cup butter
1-1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
½ cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Cream butter & sugar. Add flour & baking powder – crumble together with hands like you would pie dough.
Take out 1 cup of crumbs and set aside for top.
Now add eggs, milk & vanilla.
Place batter in a lightly greased 11x7 pan. Top with crumbs.
Bake at 350 about 30 minutes.

Once everyone was coffeed & caked, scrubbed & dressed, we drove to the village of Clayton. On the way into town, we stopped and made Robespierre pose beside Paul Bunyan's golf bag. Robespierre is a good head taller than the rest of us, so we don't get to see him looking short very often.

The land around Clayton was originally held by the Algonquins, but then the Iroquois told them to get out. Then the white man came along, and we all know how that turned out. Clayton experienced boom times with the installation of a railroad line in 1873. During this era, the concept of vacationing became popular and accessible to the middle-class, not just the wealthy. Tourists came from the cities, and many hotels were built in Clayton to accommodate them and lighten their wallets.

Clayton was the northern-most point on the New York Central Railroad, and during July & August over 30 trains per day arrived & departed Clayton. Tourists either stayed in town, or boarded steamships for other points along the St. Lawrence River.

Clayton argues with nearby Alexandria Bay over which town is the true birthplace of that condiment we all know so well - Thousand Island dressing.

We spent some time shopping along Riverside Drive, and bought hot dogs from a stand to eat alongside the river. Then Sadie bought us all tickets to the Antique Boat Museum, which was a first-class operation. Thank you, Sadie! The museum was a vacation highlight, and I recommend a visit to anyone who travels to the area.

Museum tickets include a guided tour of George Boldt's houseboat, La Duchesse, built for him in 1903. Cameras were allowed, so I have a bunch of pictures to show you.

La Duchesse
After George Boldt died, the houseboat was purchased by Edward John Noble, a candy industrialist who popularized Life Savers candies and was the founder of ABC, the American Broadcasting Company. You need a lot of money to float a boat like La Duchesse.

The galley was updated after the boat was sold by George Boldt's estate. It was large and efficiently laid out. Robespierre is walking through the butler's pantry, which is about the size of my kitchen.
However, keeping La Duchesse afloat proved problematic, no matter how much money was available. You also need reliable plumbing. In 1943, a pipe burst under a bathroom and flooded the hull, sinking the vessel up to the top of the first deck. When the houseboat sank, it rested on two submerged pilings which pierced the wooden hull.

(In AA, we call these "high-class problems")

This working brass fireplace is decorated with starfish and mythical dolphins. There is another working fireplace of green marble in the grand salon on the upper deck.
The hull was patched, and the boat refloated. It was purchased by one of the many Andrews McNally of the Rand McNally publishing dynasty, who had it towed to his summer home. The McNallys used La Duchesse as a party boat for entertaining. Their summer place is across the river from Sadie's property, and she remembers seeing the houseboat docked across the river when she was growing up.

Guest cabin
The interior of the boat is finely crafted, and features Honduran mahogany for its beauty & durability. Mahogany was prized for boat construction prior to steel because mahogany does not rot in water like many other woods. The original hull of the boat used this wood, but the hull was replaced with steel in 1958.

There were plenty of bathrooms on board!
La Duchesse was constructed to serve as a residence, a true house boat, as well as a place to entertain guests. It was never self-propelled, and was towed to its desired locations. George Boldt lived on it at times during the summers he was building Boldt Castle. Andrew McNally used it for entertaining, and for overflow guest space. Speaking of overflow, I wonder if the bath water sloshed out of these tubs if a passing boat created a large wake?

Another cabin for an overnight guest.

Yet another cabin on the first deck. This boat had more guest space than most homes. There were six cabins on the first deck. Also, two servants' cabins and bath across from the galley.

The master bath on the upper deck. I love the nautical-theme hamper. Note the bathmat with the La Duchesse logo.

George Boldt's study.

The owner's sitting room on the upper deck.

A nook for a piano or small band for party music.

The promenade deck, above & below. This deck and the adjoining grand salon were the only parts of the boat that many party guests saw (or remembered).

La Duchesse was just one exhibit of many at the Antique Boat Museum. Whether you are an avid boater or a landlubber like me, there were many things of interest to see and experience.

Sadie poses on a climb-aboard exhibit.

Sheldon in the galley, thinking of what he can whip up for dinner.
This was in an old boat-of-some-type-I-cannot-remember that was used for fishing in its former life. Schooner? Trawler? Sampan? Ocean liner? It's a foreign language to me, but I appreciate the craftsmanship.

Sadie, about to be attacked by a killer whale in downtown Clayton.

We close today's post with a picture of Sadie & Sheldon, Couple of the Year.
The next post should finish up my Thousand Islands adventure series. We'll take a boat ride up & down the river, checking out more scenery and peering at people's houses. See you next time!

Breaking Bread on The Porch

There's that bewitching river view again, as seen from Sadie's porch one evening. I could spend hours on that porch. Come to think of it, I did. It was the perfect place to read a book, sip coffee, watch the ships & pleasure boats go by, and have conversations with my fellow vacationers. I hope you like the view, too, because there are more pictures to follow in later posts. One of the places we visited was an excellent antique boat museum, and I'll show you pictures from our tour of La Duchesse, a luxurious houseboat from 1903.

The St. Lawrence River separates the state of New York from the province of Ontario, Canada. In the photograph above, the distant shoreline is not Canada, but Wellesley Island. This 50-mile stretch of the river is called the Thousand Islands region, but there are actually close to 1800 islands, ranging in size from barely large enough to support a single tree to Wolfe Island (48 square miles). Wellesley Island is the second largest of the Thousand Islands, with three state parks and several residential communities.

One evening we drove over to Wellesley Island for dinner at an old resort hotel.

We had a leisurely meal on the spacious wraparound porch of the Wellesley Hotel, circa 1903. The hotel is across from a playground in the beguiling community of Thousand Islands Park. In the picture above, we have Sheldon, Sadie, and Robespierre being watched by two creepy antique dolls; they stared at every bite I took. The Wellesley Hotel has an indoor dining room, but the place to eat and be seen is on "the porch." You get a better look at the place below.

Thousand Island Park had a vaguely surreal feel, at least to me. It was mannered & manicured, impeccably clean, orderly and achingly charming. There was an old-fashioned ice cream parlor across from the front of the hotel, while from my chair on the side porch I watched two boys, one black & one white, play tether ball in the playground beside the village green. The green sloped down to a large pavilion on the riverbank. People strolled down the sidewalks, or drove past sedately in cars or golf carts. It was pleasant, so pleasant...


"Won't you have more bread, sir?"

Oh, yes, but I will, though I shouldn't; because this bread is so good; it's everything I have ever wanted, all any of us have always wanted. Everyone on the porch, all the diners at each table, tear their bread and lift it to their mouths and, nodding, slowly chew.

"More bread, sir, and butter. You must have more. We make it right here. And the butter comes from our own cows, and the only thing the cows eat is our bread from our very own ovens. Here is more bread for you. There is always more bread."

This waiter is so beautiful; he is a portrait of salubrity. His hair is the color of butter. The flawless skin of his arm is tanned but seems bloodless, like the golden crust of this delicious bread.

"Eat as much bread as you like. All of us here in the village eat it every day. In fact, it is the only thing we eat."

"Yes, more bread," my companions murmur, reaching, "More bread, please."

"Yes, more bread," the nodding waiter assures them, "There is always more bread. And do not forget the butter. The butter is for the bread. Be sure to butter your bread. Stay. We will make more bread forever."

His eyes are so...blue. How can they be so pale and blue? They are like a vast morning sky, and I can see something there, something small and faraway and terrible soaring in his eyes as he holds a bite of crust to my lips.

I hold my lips stiff, and tug my eyes away; like a piece of cheap paper ripping from top to bottom, my vision comes in a jagged race of other diners, children in the playground, a bicyclist, all slowly chewing mouthfuls of bread; my eyes slide to a rest on the dolls in the window. The taller one blinks at me. The other doll leans against her, staring at me, as a thick trickle of saliva runs from her mouth to her rotting linen collar.

A car horn toots, and a dog dashes across the street to the park. There seems to be a suction and my ears feel as though they've popped. The dolls pose in the window just as they have been since we were seated, with one staring into a tree and the other at the porch ceiling.

"More bread, sir?" the waiter inquires, blandly.

"Good heavens, no. What's for dessert?"

The village of Thousand Island Park is undeniably beautiful. It is pristine and serene, and slightly other-worldly compared to most resort towns. Founded as a Methodist religious resort in 1875, during the Third Great Awakening, today it is a private seasonal enclave with an astounding number of Carpenter Gothic and Victorian homes. With 1760 acres and 294 buildings, I could have spent an entire day here taking photographs. By the time we finished dinner, the lighting was not favorable, so I only have a few to share with you.

Row upon row of houses emphasize vernacular architecture with wide verandas, elaborate decorative woodwork, and upper sleeping porches. The village continues to be a thriving resort community; and, despite my insistence at seeing Stepford Wives & families everywhere I looked, it was a place I would consider for a rejuvenating vacation.

By peering around Robespierre, you can see that nothing is out of place or in need of weeding or cleaning at this village shop.

The town library (below) is located by the playground. Peyton Place is probably banned from the bookshelves.

Next we see a row of homes that are typical of Thousand Island Park. I hope I can return to get some close-up shots of the craftmanship of the trimwork on these houses. Although these homes face the village green, there are many narrower streets with cottages nestled beneath arching trees. Each home seems to have a unique bit of woodwork or detailing that speaks of a carpenter's love for his craft.

Whew! We got away from Thousand Island Park with our souls intact. Completing our photo-tour today, we have some oddball pictures that I'm throwing in as a sort of lagniappe. First, we have the ramshackle old boathouse at Geraldine Island. I like how its lines are no longer square. This island has a large old summer home that Sadie's parents used to rent before her father built her current place. A private island sounds good, until I remember that I'm the type that grumbles when I'm on the first floor and need something from upstairs. I'd probably amuse myself to no end if I had to crank up a boat motor and head to the mainland.

I think this quaint brick Victorian house with Carpenter Gothic trim was in the town of Depeauville, but it may have been Chaumont. Probably home to a business nowadays. I didn't notice the Canadian flag until I looked at the photograph.

I was a little surprised to learn that this area in upstate New York was settled (by white Europeans, that is) relatively late compared to my little neck of the woods. Jefferson County was founded in 1805, when the third president was in office. Other than the land that fronts Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, it is mostly a rural landscape. Lot's of cows; lots of dairy farms.

And when the farmers get tired of milk, they head into town for something stronger. This has to be the cutest liquor store I've ever laid eyes on. For some of us, cute but deadly. I'd better stick with the bread.

The Wary Palate in Ontario

See the pretty boat? This view of the river was my starting point each day on vacation, and since I have several shots from this perspective, we'll include one here even though this post is about our day trip to Canada. It also gives you an idea of how wide the St. Lawrence River is in front of Sadie's place.

I'll remember our Canada adventure through some photos, and will post other vacation pictures later. I know that you guys have short attention spans, so I won't cram everything into one post. Plus, I'm easily distracted, so I don't want to bite off more than I can chew. Today's tour starts at the end of my time in the 1000 Islands, and we'll go back to the first part later, just to jumble things up and keep everyone on their toes.

We drove to Canada on my last full vacation day before heading home. Upon crossing the bridge to our northern neighbor, we headed west on the Thousand Islands Parkway. The scenery was lovely, mostly rural, and there was a bicycle path to the side of the road separated by a generous median. It was hot as blue blazes, but there were a surprising number of sweaty, intrepid cyclists. They were probably all saying to themselves "I can't believe how F-ing hot it is out here. This is CANADA, for crying out loud! I don't remember this hill. Why am I doing this? I'm an idiot." Temperatures were 20° above the normal average high for July while we were there.

The first town we came to was Gananoque. I memorized the pronunciation by repeating the rhyme "The right way, the wrong way, and the Gananoque" in my head. Thank goodness for wikipedia; I also found out that Gananoque is the First Nations name for town on two rivers.

We thought Gananoque was a pleasant town. It has a population of around 5200, and we shopped along King Street in the old downtown section, which is about a dozen blocks from the river.

I liked the bowling alley/theater combo. It turns out that five-pin bowling is played only in Canada, and is the dominant form of the game in most provinces. The balls are handheld so there are no finger holes, and there is a rubber belt around the pin (which is depicted in the sign below). The pins are set up in a V formation.

We also found a curling arena in town. Between curling and five-pin bowling, we felt like we were really getting somewhere other than the USA. We were in a foreign land with strange customs and very pretty paper currency.

From Gananoque, we made our way to the port city of Kingston (aka Limestone City), which is much larger than Gananoque with its population of nearly 200,000. Kingston served as the first capital of the united Canadas, but only for a short while in the 1840's. The city was a haven for Loyalists fleeing the new United States, and was a base for a British naval fleet during the War of 1812. Today, the Royal Military College of Canada is located here, along with Queen's University and St. Lawrence College. It was a busy little city, and Robespierre was immediately impressed & ready to move there.

Kingston made a favorable impression on Sheldon, too, but for a different reason. Here in Kingston, right around lunch time, Sheldon spotted a McDonald's and he was determined to eat his lunch there. I told him I wasn't setting foot in McDonald's. I'm not a food snob - okay, that's a lie. I am a food snob about fast food chains. Take me to an unassuming little roadside diner, and I'm as happy as a lark. Sit me down at a place that serves regional fare, and I'm as happy as a clam at high water - I'm happy as Larry. I'm a happy camper. Happy, happy, happy. But, no way am I driving to Canada to go to McDonald's.

I went to McDonald's.

But only to take a picture of Sheldon. You can see how disgusted Robespierre feels about the situation.

Sheldon wants you to notice the tiny Maple leaf in the middle of the Golden Arches.
Sheldon claims that he has "the tastebuds of a five-year old," but I don't buy it. He cooks good meals for himself at home using whole foods, not convenience items. He grows nice vegetables in his garden each summer. He'll tackle new recipes in the kitchen like the chocolate silk pie he's made several times that involves whipping the heavy cream and dragging out a double-boiler. He likes looking through cooking magazines.

I think he believes fast food chains are safer than restaurants operated by locals. He's gastronomically xenophobic. That's my theory. He's a closet gourmet with germophobia.

While Sadie, Robespierre & I ate lunch at a restaurant with real food, Sheldon wandered around taking pictures. The Kingston City Hall, built in 1842, is shown above. Below, shops & restaurants along King Street. The main shopping street is Queen Street, but you don't want to overlook Princess Street, either.

After a late lunch, we had to race to the docks to catch the ferry to Wolfe Island. The crossing took twenty minutes. We landed at the township of Frontenac Islands, and then we zipped straight across the island to catch the last ferry of the day back to the United States. If we'd missed it, there would have been quite a few kilometers to backtrack. We saw lots of those huge wind turbines on Wolfe Island.

Wolfe Island has more wind turbines than any other place on the planet! That's not true, but it got your attention for a moment. The Wolfe Island Wind Farm is the second largest turbine project in Canada.

The ferry from Wolfe Island to Cape Vincent, New York, was quite a bit smaller than any of us expected.

I read that the ferry from Wolfe Island to Cape Vincent was first licenced in 1802, and has been operated by the same family ever since. I wonder if they're operating the original ferry?

The Customs House at Cape Vincent was about the size of a porta-potty, with two border guards in control. They were thorough about examining passports and searching the car, and they nearly drew guns on a Canadian who walked up to ask a question, so I decided against telling them to pose for vacation photos.

Robespierre & I left the next morning for home. Sheldon stayed a couple more days and returned by plane. The drive home was long and exhausting. There is a stretch of I-81 in Pennsylvania that, in 30+ years of travel through that area, I have never seen free of road construction.

The pictures below were taken at the end of Sadie's driveway. It was hay baling time in the upper reaches of New York.



Here's what I'm talking about! We were feeling peckish by the time we reached Lafayette NY, so we stopped for lunch. Robespierre spotted a likely spot with a dual moniker: Old Times Cafe or Cindy's Family Restaurant. Take your pick. I had a fantastic cheeseburger (white cheese!) that was obviously not a frozen-from-a-box imitation of an honest diner burger. Hand-cut fries provided the classic side, and they were excellent as well. Robespierre couldn't decide what to order, so he got two lunches. Not to be outdone, I finished things off with a slice of homemade strawberry-pineapple pie with whipped cream. Yes, it was so good I wanted to smack my grandma.

Now, that's good roadfood when you're on vacation.