More Fun Events

Earlier this summer, we went to the Wooden Boat Show at Mystic Seaport in CT with Bill, Lynette, and Ashley Metz. We had a fantastic time looking at the different wooden boats (some traditional but others were strange but ingenious projects) and browsing the vendors’ tents. Dave and Bill rented a sailing dinghy and went out around the harbor looking at schooners and vintage boats. The van trip to and from the show was also a great way to get caught up on all the news with good friends. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so I have no pictures to share of our adventure.

However, I have lots of pictures of another boat show event that we always attend in early August. The Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, N.Y., holds an annual show and auction in the Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence Seaway. This is an all day event for us with not only looking at all the antique, classic, and new reproduction boats being displayed, but also the museum itself is amazing! The auction is always fun to watch, although this year only a small percentage ended up being sold, due to very few people bidding high enough to reach the reserve prices.

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This year’s featured boat builder was Gar Wood Custom Boats, which was special since they are made in Brant Lake near us in the Adirondacks. These boats are so perfect, right down to the smallest details.


Every year we try to spend at least a few days in the Thousand Islands around the time of the boat show. This time we also went into Canada to attend a get-together of some of the Hope Town Sailing Club members in Kingston, Ontario. Since we were only a little over an hour away (depending on the length of time it takes to go through Canadian/U.S. Customs and Immigration), we couldn’t resist surprising them on Sunday. Our hosts, Jean and Bob White were so gracious that they gave us their bed for the night (they have a sailboat at a nearby marina that they enjoy sleeping on), so we could stay and enjoy the festivities and camaraderie longer.

The plan for the day was to go on a trolley tour of Kingston, but there just happened to be a triathlon race through the city, so the trolleys weren’t giving tours. Plan B ended up being even more fun since we went to the Kingston Mills locks On the Rideau Canal. The locks, which are manually operated, are in a beautiful park with a small museum.




Watching the boats go through and reading about the area, made us all want to attempt this trip in the near future.

Then it was time for a quick break…”I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!

The next stop was the Bellevue House National Historic Site of Canada, which was the home to Canada’s first Prime Minister, John A. Macdonald. After touring the museum, we attended a tea which was very entertaining, with the maids of the manor in era dresses, serving us our choice of many different types and flavors of teas, scones, and fruit. I think our lively group also entertained the maids.

Then it was back to the White’s house for dinner and the planning of our next summer’s get-together, which we are looking forward to!