This morning was, how shall I say it, a bit unusual.  I awoke like I normally do at around 5 am.  Ok, check on things, trip to the loo and then I think I’ll lay back down for a bit.  Didn’t think that would accomplish anything, but would you believe it the next time I looked the clock said 7 am.  I can’t remember the last time I slept that late.

Early on Barbara asked if she could have one more opportunity to find the grave makers for the Burns family that she was unable to locate yesterday.  Well, why not.  We’re not going to be back up here again so it is now or never.  Back to the Sterling Cemetery for another graveyard search we went.  The end result?  Barbara found everything that she was looking for!  You just have to love it when a plan comes together.

After the heat of yesterday, today is a really nice surprise.  Temperatures in the mid 70’s, no humidity to speak of, and a nice gentle breeze coming through the open entrance door screen and the other windows.  It’s so nice to be able to turn the AC off and air out Graybeard.

By the way, remember rule #1 of full time RV living?  That’s right, be flexible.  Guess what?  We’re not moving tomorrow, nor the day after, in fact we’re not leaving until Sunday morning.  Long story, ask me some time.

OK, let’s go back to the Antique Boat Museum.  Today we’re going to tour the Cleveland E. Dodge Memorial Launch Building, the McNally Yacht House, the Morgan Building,  we’ll take a look at the La Duchess and we’ll share with you our 45 minute ride on the river in a 30′ triple cockpit Hacker craft called the Miss 1000 Islands II.

Before we begin let me share with you some facts I discovered regarding the Museum:

• The mission of the Antique Boat Museum is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret boats and other objects related to the history of boating in North America and to enhance public understanding and appreciation of the contributions of the St. Lawrence River region to North America’s boating history.
• The Museum presently has more than 320 boats in its permanent collection.
• the Museum collects boats from the earliest days of pleasure boating in the mid-19th century until approximately 40 years before the present.
• The Museum collects not only boats but inboard and outboard engines, service manuals, written material, historic boat building tools, boat hardware and equipment, and everything else boating related

On now to the McNally Yacht House.  This is where the Museum’s in-water fleet is kept.  This displays changes throughout the season as new boats are acquired and others are brought in for service.

Here are two of the boats that are part of the in-water fleet resting in their docks.

Here is the best of the best, Pardon Me, at her berth in the Yacht House. She is 48 feet long with a beam of 10 feet.  She was built by Hutchinson Boat Works.  Sometimes called the world’s largest runabout this boat was primarily a day boat for short pleasure trips.    However, she boasts a galley, enclosed head and sleeping accommodations below decks

This is the main cockpit

This is a picture of the aft cockpit

Of course, it takes power to move this much boat and Pardon Me had it in spades.  She was powered by a World War II era 1000 hp supercharged Packard PT engine.  For those with class A motorhomes who bemoan their fuel mileage, consider this, this engine consumed nearly 100 gallons of high octane fuel per hour!

There are two other boats that are part of in water fleet that were not here the day we visited.  But the posters about them are on the wall.  The first is Zipper which is the flagship of the Antique Boat Museum’s in-water fleet.  She is 46 feet long with a beam of 10’6″.

The second is Miss Thousand Islands II which later in the day would be the boat to carry us out on the river.  She is 30 feet in length with a beam of 7′ 2″ and is made entirely of mahogany.

We move now to the Cleveland E. Dodge Memorial Launch Building.

Within this building is the exhibit entitled The National Boat Show.

This exhibit includes launches, runabouts and so much more.

Now why a National Boat Show Exhibit?  Because at one one time boats were only for the very rich but in time it became a popular middle-class pastime.  But how to convince people to become boaters?  The answer – a National Boat Show

Here is a picture of just one of the boats on display an Elco 42 Foot.  Take a look at the price back when it was built, I wonder what that equates to today.

How would you like to paint this baby?

What a fantastic main cockpit.  Look at the wood work, the brass, absolutely beautiful.

This is the view looking forward to the bow.  What a majestic boat.  Must have been some sight when out on the water.

Next is a picture of a neat little 3-point hydroplane.  This type of boat is nimble, fast, but always one blink away from flipping over backwards.  I built something like this once, was a lot of fun until it caught on fire!  Oh well, nothing lasts forever.

 

We’re moving now to the Morgan Building also known as the Quest for Speed Building

This is the sign that you see as you enter the door.  Get the feeling that this is a building and a display all about speed?

Some of the world’s finest raceboats are on display in this building.  This is one of the best known raceboats of its era known as the Chrysler Queen.  The Queen, as she is affectionately known, is powered by 392 cubic engine Chrysler hemi V-8 producing more than 900 horsepower.  With a dry weight of only 2080 pounds for the boat and engine this added up to a very potent package.

As one can see this boat and its driver were national champions for many years.

There were many, many other boats on display but time and space does not permit pictures and descriptions of each of them.  Hopefully, someday if you haven’t already you’ll be able to see them yourself in person.

Less we think that this was just a man’s sport, the women also got involved.  One of the more famous woman in the sport was Betty Cook.  She started racing rather late in life at the age of 52.  However, by the time she retired in 1982 she had amassed 17 wins, 3 race record speeds, 3 US National Championships, and 2 World Championships.

One more exhibit, this one is too big to put anywhere except at a dock outside.  This is the La Duchesse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We didn’t have time to tour this boat but here is what we discovered about it with some pictures we were able to grab from the web.

• The boat is 106 feet long with a beam of 22 feet
• The boat has no engine and relied on a tug to move it about
• The boat was built in 1903 exclusively for George C. Boldt
• She remained in the Boldt family until after George Boldt’ death, when she was sold along with much of his estate to Edward. J. Nobel
• Tragedy struck in 1943 when she sank in her slip after a broken pipe allowed her hull to fill with water. When she finally settled on the bottom, she had punched a hole in the deck on a submerged pile and her entire lower deck was filled with water.
• A few months after the sinking, Nobel agreed to sell the boat to Mr. and Mrs. Andrew McNally III (of Rand-McNally), for a nominal sum of $100 and the agreement that the they would remove the boat from the boathouse. In due time a diver went down to repair the hole in the hull, ‘La Duchesse’ was towed to her new home on the McNally estate.
• The McNallys commenced repairs a few years later including bleaching the woodwork on the lower level to remove the water stains, replacing all of the plumbing and wiring, and replacing the wooden hull with a new and stronger steel one.
• In the late 1980’s Andrew McNally bequeathed the houseboat to the Clayton Antique Boat Museum, which passed to them a few years after his death in 2003.
• The houseboat was finally brought to the museum in May of 2005, and they were able to open it up for guided tours to the public in July of that year.

This is a stained glass skylight in the upper living area.

A quiet place to sit and reflect.

The dancing deck also used for afternoon tea.

A brass fireplace covered with sea shells, starfish and sea serpents.

Our day was not over yet.  We were scheduled for 45 minute ride on the river in a 30′ triple cockpit Hacker craft called the Miss 1000 Islands II. 

Our boat was a replica of a 1930’s design that was built in 1999 and is powered by a big block Chevy engine of over 500 cubic inch displacement.  Top speed is between 60 to 65 mph.

Here you can see the 3 cockpit layout.

Soon enough we were all onboard and on our way.

As we made our way around the bay and river, I was amazed at some of the homes built on islands that appeared to be no more than a large rock in the river.  What happens when a big wave comes along?  Or a strong wind?

This brings us to the end of our visit at the Antique Boat Museum.  I wish I could have shared with you all the pictures that I took, and shared with you all that I learned.  I hope, though, that you enjoyed what I was able to bring you in this and the last blog.  Maybe even whetted your appetite to perhaps visit the Museum yourself someday.

Our day is now drawing to a close.  It’s been fantastic in so many ways.  Barbara got to successfully finish her graveyard quest.  Oh, and she also managed to somehow get all our laundry done.  I got us ready to move tomorrow, only to discover we’re not moving after all.  I also finished the blog on the Antique Boat Museum.  A fulfilling and rewarding day anyway you look at.

So for now, we will say thanks once again for joining us.  We hope you also had a wonderful day, a day in which perhaps you were able to do something you really wanted to do as well.  As the day comes to a close here is something for each of us to ponder:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, we were going to go digging up bones.  More to the point, we were going to Sterling, NY to try to discover what we could about the Burns family.  Barbara had already done considerable research with my dad when he was alive and after his passing had continued his work.  Since the Burns family came from Sterling, it was a natural starting point for her continuing research.  So to Sterling we went so Barbara could consult the town historian, so we could visit the small museum that was there, and then try to locate my relatives graves in the Sterling Graveyard.  I will say with a good deal of pride, this was all Barbara and she discovered quite a bit today.  Not to mention she walked up and down the Sterling Cemetery in today’s heat until she discovered several grave markers of my really distant relatives.  But before we share with you what she discovered were going back in time.

We’re going to go back several days to our visit to the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, NY.  When we discovered that the Walmart in Watertown was no longer allowing overnight parking we needed a plan B.  What was in the area?  Well, I remembered that friends of ours had visited the Antique Boat Museum recently so I decided to check it out.  That’s when I discovered a visit for us was doable.

Here is what we discovered during our time there.  We’ll cover some of our visit tonight and another part tomorrow night and then we’ll finish up the night after.  There is just that much to see.  We had by the way called ahead and received permission to park in their storage lot.  Thankfully, we chose at the last minute not to take them up on their generous offer.  Once there, we found the lot to be terribly unlevel and trying to stay there would have been a disaster.  The option we exercised was to stay at a winery that was part of Harvest Hosts of which we are members.  It was the right choice and the perfect place to spend a night.

Now for the Antique Boat Museum.  We approached the parking lot and saw

Leaving the parking lot we began the walk to the entrance.  This is the front of the main building.

This sign confirmed we were in the right place so we proceeded to the visitor desk.

This is an unrestored air boat that was on display in the lobby just past the desk.  The air boat has remained a constant form of transportation in the 1000 Islands for over sixty years.  Air boats are user boats and built as such.  A painted plywood hull, a re-purposed car seat and whatever could be found to power it.

In this case, the engine of choice was an air cooled radial power plant from a Stearman 75 biplane.  Because of the torque of the engine it was always in danger of flipping over.

These are some of the logo’s on display on each wall leading to the theater.

 

Yes, there is a wonderful movie about the area and the museum and its history.  After watching the movie, the question then became, what direction to go in?  Understand, there are a number of different buildings and exhibits scattered around the grounds and also across the street from where you get your tickets.  So which way?

We started with the Small Craft Building.  In this building there are canoes, skiffs, and various other small roundabouts.

Just inside the door is a beautiful display of canoes of all shapes and sizes.

As I worked my way through the exhibit this canoe in particular caught my eye.  It appeared to be a sailing canoe, and knowing what I know about sailing I couldn’t help but wonder how in the world did they actually sail it?  I mean sail boats tend to tip quite easily.

Look at this picture and you understand how they did it.  Bottom line you obviously had to be quite agile and quick to keep from going in the water on a regular basis.  It gives new meaning to walking the plank, or in this case sliding out on the plank.

Then I came upon a really unique kind of canoe, you can take it apart and take it with you – on a train, backpacking, in a car, or whatever.

 

This is the canoe when it is together.

Here are the pieces when it is apart

Looking down inside you can understand how the pieces are fastened together.

Moving on deeper into the building the next display was on the St. Lawrence skiff.

This is a general view of the various skiffs that are on display.

This is a display of one skiff in particular called the Katherine that was built in 1885.  This skiff was designed to carry a simple spirit-rigged sail that could be put in easily if the wind was favorable.  This skiff is a fine display of superb design and craftsmanship.

 

In the picture below, note the circle in the front which is where the mast would go.

Now we come to the last section of the Small Craft Building.  In this part of the building are a number of general runabouts of various types.  The first is the Dorothy

 

This is Dorothy looking from the front down along the side

This is Dorothy showing the engine and the inside looking aft.

This is an old picture of Dorothy out on the lake.

Now we move to the Fawn.  The Fawn was found abandoned and neglected in the weeds.

 

This is a picture of the Fawn looking aft.

This is a picture of the inside of the Fawn looking toward the bow.

We are now finished with the Small Craft Building and are going to move over to the E.J Noble Historic Stone Building.  This is where volunteers and staff work together to restore and build boats.

This is who the shop is named after.  Edward John Noble is the man behind that little piece of candy called a life saver.  That little piece of candy made him a very wealthy man.  He established the Edward John Noble Foundation in 1940 and which initially supported education, art and health care.   In the 60’s the Foundation began to support the Antique Boat Museum.

This is a general picture of the overall shop.

This is a picture of a high school project that ran out of money and the museum is working to finish it and then donate it back to the school.

This is a picture of a boat donated to the museum that they are working to restore.

This is a picture of the historic boat Comet that cannot be restored.  On its last run the boat’s engine literally exploded soaking the inside of the hull with oil and fuel to the point that the wood cannot be cleaned and restored.  Instead, they have lofted the boat meaning they have taken and created blue prints of the boat for anyone to purchase who wants to make a replica.  To date, 14 sets of blueprints have been sold.

We’re going to call in a night now.  Much, much more to cover in the following days and blogs.  We have the Morgan Building, the Cleveland E. Dodge Memorial Launch Building, the McNaily Yacht House, and our own on the water speed boat ride to share with you.

We thank you once again for sharing our day with us.  We had a great, but admittedly a hot day, but one as always that we journeyed through hand in hand.  We also hope that you had a great day, and hopefully a bit cooler than we did!  For now a closing thought for each of us to ponder:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

 

 

I must say we are getting more unretirement like with each passing day.  Another day, another early morning for both of us.  However, it was for a good reason.  Today, we were going to Niagara Falls to ride Maid of the Mist.  It was a 2 hour ride each way, but what the hey, it’s only time, and time we always have a lot of.

It is, of course, Sunday and we would much prefer to find a place to worship but we haven’t been too successful as of late.  After a really bad experience in the past we are a little gun shy of trying other churches for just one week.  We both are looking forward to getting back to Florida and again having an opportunity to worship at what has become our home church.

But I digress.  Up and at it, we were on the road in no time at all.  A quick stop for breakfast at McDonalds.  Then it was down the road we went.  It really wasn’t that bad a ride and it didn’t seem as long as it actually was.

Once there, now the issue was – where in the world where we going to park?  The first and most convenient lot had a big sign in front that said Lot Full.  But wait, there was a park attendant standing guard at the entrance, pardon sir, do you happen to know where we can find a handicap spot?  Wait here he said and let’s see what I can find.  So off he went down into the full parking lot.  Five minutes later he was back There is just one spot down along the back wall.  Oh yea, did we ever luck out.  Not to mention from where we parked it was only a short walk to the park.  So here is Barbara at the entrance.

This is a display of the park at its entrance.

Soon enough we were at the visitor center.

Then it was time to get on line for tickets for the Maid of the Mist.  

Thankfully the line moved right along and soon enough Barbara was getting our tickets.

But wait there was one more line to get on, this was the line for the boat itself.  What was really interesting just an hour later when we were returning there was not one person on line!  I wonder where they all went?

And here is the goal, the Maid of the Mist, the boat is 80 feet long, it weighs 145 tons and will carry 582 passengers. But way back when the Maid of the Mist was not a sightseeing

boat at all.  As early as 1834, small boats were the only way to transport people across the Niagara River.  The Maid of the Mist I was launched on May 27th 1846. However, this large ferry boat service was short lived by the completion  of the first International Bridge.  So to stay afloat financially the Maid of the Mist had to take up the role as a tourist sightseeing service to remain viable.  And the rest as they say is history.

The most famous story told regarding Maid of the Mist involves seven-year-old Roger Woodward and his 17-year-old sister Deanne, both of Niagara Falls, New York.  On July 9th 1960, they set out on a boat ride through the upper Niagara River with uncle, James Honeycutt.  Unfortunately, the small boat they were in developed engine problems and the boat got caught up in the current and was swept through the rapids toward the American Falls.

Deanne was rescued before being swept over the falls.  Roger and James were not so lucky.  Both went over the American Falls to the gorge below.

The crew of the Maid of the Mist spotted tiny Roger Woodward bobbing up and down in the water. After eight minutes and three approaches, they finally rescued him by using a life ring.  He suffered only minor cuts and bruises.  Unfortunately, James Honeycutt drowned to death.

After all the lines, we waited on, it was time to get onboard.  Here is the boat in front of us being loaded.

The Maid of the Mist takes you up Niagara Gorge

Past the American Falls as seen here from the observation deck.

However, on the boat you get to go past the base of the American Falls – and yes the ponchos are needed because you do get soaked!  However, on a hot day like today it was a welcome soaking.

And then it is on to Horseshoe Falls and into the mist at the base of the falls.

 

 

Soon enough it was time to turn back to the dock.  Yes, just a short 20 minute trip but worth every minute of it.  We can now cross one more must do off of our bucket list.

By the way, here is the Rainbow Bridge that leads to Canada.

And the divide between American and Canada in the middle of the bridge.  After our trip on Maid of the Mist, we toyed with the idea of going over to Canada until we noticed that traffic heading that way was backed up and stopped to the middle of the bridge.

So another long day and but absolutely worth it!  We’re so glad we had the opportunity to go and so thankful how everything – including a place to park – just fell right into place.  We’re sure they’re was much we missed but this was a spur of the moment thing so perhaps another time we’ll come back with a better plan in place.  For now, though, no regrets whatsoever.

Better yet, we left the AC on since Marti was home alone and what a welcome relief when we got back home.  Hot indeed outside but oh so cool when we got inside.  Oh, we also found out when we went to pay for the AC – remember we were told there was an additional charge for AC – that there really was no extra charge.  What?  I’m not going to argue.  It is what it is.

So our day is done, a day done the way we like traveling along, singing our song, hand in hand.  Thanks for coming along with us.  We’ll bid you good night for now and hope to see you tomorrow.  Hopefully you had a great day as well.  As always a closing thought for each of us to ponder:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

So we awoke this morning to the sound of rain on the rooftop.  It was on again, off again.  We were able to get the bedroom slide in, the jacks up and on the road before the next down pour.  We motored on down the road to a local breakfast spot for a bite to eat before we headed south to our next home.  Sadly, breakfast was only so-so, it filled our tummies but it was really nothing to write home about.  It is what it is.

As we headed south, on I81, the rain began again.  Not that hard and it didn’t last that long.  Within a few miles the rain had stopped and the skies began to clear.  In no time, we were off the interstate and headed toward the campground that would be our new home for the next 4 days.  One hour down, another hour to go.

Soon enough our GPS took us to the front gate and the drive leading to the front office.  We’re going to spend the next 4 days at this campground.  This campground has a total of 106 sites, only 20 though were for transients like ourselves.  The remaining sites are all seasonal.

Check-in was straightforward.  At check in we found out that there is a basic rate, but if you want, for instance to use your AC it would be an additional charge.  Same for 50 amp.  And so on and so forth.  That’s why I’ve decided to name this the nickel and dime park.  Well, they didn’t make any extra money on me!  Maybe this is the new norm for campgrounds but this is the first time we’ve encountered anything like this.  So be it.  Check in complete we were escorted to our new home.  Here it is, site #77.

Our site is a narrow pull through, hard packed gravel, it takes a nose dive to the front which made getting level a bit of a challenge, but the utilities were all conveniently located.  As the picture shows there is really no site separation but there is thankfully ample shade.  Shade is good especially since the heat wave has made itself known in this area of the country.

Well, so much for tonight.  Once again we have a long day tomorrow since we are going to Niagara Falls for the day.  Another one of those examples of stay flexible.   Therefore I’m calling it a night.  After all, I need my beauty sleep.  I know, I know all that kind of sleep is not going to do me a bit of good!  In closing a thought for all of us:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before