Kim's Thoughts

It’s Mystery Day Tour time, again! On July 1st, I got on a bus with about 40-ish other adventure seekers and we departed Batavia about 7:00 am with no clue where we were going or what our Tour Guide, Kathy, had in store for us! It was another wonderful adventure put together by the good folks at First Choice Travel in Batavia, NY. Up until a couple days before, we were experiencing nice, pleasant temperatures, so I was hopeful that we’d have nice weather for the day. Then, the forecast said it was going to be extremely HOT and MUGGY!!! UGH!!! But, it did turn out to be a perfectly lovely day, weather-wise….yeah, it was hot, but where we went was a tad cooler than here at home and there was a constant perfect breeze to keep the heat at bay….and NO rain until just a little on the way home and even that stopped when we got back to our cars and had to get off the bus!!! PERFECT!!!

Wanna know more??? Well, here are all the deets and pics:

We boarded the bus, it pulled out about 7:00 am, and we headed east on the thruway. That was our first “clue”….anything to the west of us was eliminated as a possibility! hehehe

We had a quick pit stop at a rest area in Fort Byron on the Thruway. Some grabbed a snack because Kathy let us know that lunch was going to be a bit later than usual.

Sometime after Syracuse, we took an exit that was just after several billboard signs for a place called “Old McDonald Farm”…..my heart did flippy flops — I thought “oh, we’re gonna go see some critters”!!! But, we kept going and it was obvious that I guessed wrong…..that was a bit disappointing – but just temporarily, cause it wasn’t much longer before we found out where we were REALLY going and it was definitely NOT just a consolation prize!!! (although, I’m gonna be looking up “Old McDonald Farm” to see if it’s worth a drive to visit it someday.)

We arrived in Clayton, NY – a village in the Thousand Islands area about 10:30-ish. I was happy to see where our first stop was…..I’ve been to the Thousand Island area many times – Henderson Harbor, Alexandria Bay, etc., but to my recollection, I’ve never been in the village of Clayton. We were dropped off downtown and given a couple hours on our own to explore the town, shop, or relax along the St. Lawrence River to watch the boats and jet-skis. I did a up and down the main downtown street, checked out a few shops, and got some good pictures, but mostly I sat by the river and enjoyed the beautiful breeze and views! What a perfect way to spend the morning.

The downtown district is so quaint with lots to see and do!

I spotted that popcorn shop and decided to grab a bag to eat on a bench overlooking the river…..but, it was closed…..probably a good thing – it saved me from spoiling my lunch! But, I did go into a great candy shop to get some fudge (for later….it’s a rule to take fudge home from most trips) and I also got a salted vanilla caramel bon bon to enjoy on that riverside bench and enjoy it, I did – YUM!!!

The river side area was pretty awesome, too…..lots of places to sit and watch the boats go by – some shady areas and some areas for basking in the sunshine! The breeze coming off the water was a blessing on a hot day!

We boarded back onto the bus and headed out to stop # 2 about 12:45. The next mystery spot was just up the road a ways – still in Clayton – to take a ride on a glass bottom boat out on the St. Lawrence River! Color me happy — I got to get out onto the water — always a good thing in my book — put me on or near the water and I’m in my happy place!

We got off the bus and picked up our bagged picnic lunches and boarded the glass bottom boat. We ate our lunches on the ride to Rock Island Lighthouse! OK – so, now I’m even happier…..I have a “thing” for lighthouses and always enjoy seeing one up close.

There were several different sandwiches to choose from and I picked the BLT — good choice!!! It was delicious, lots of filling, and the bread was sooooo good – fresh and a really nice flavor! the cookie was pretty good, too! Very nice for a bagged lunch – I’m glad I didn’t get that popcorn earlier and spoil my appetite!

This is our captain and guide — the guide talked all along the ride telling us all about the Thousand Islands and stories about the area. He did a good job! We went right to Rock Island Lighthouse, but had to cruise around a bit because there was another boat there getting ready to head out. We saw and heard about several of the Thousand Islands on the way to Rock Island and after on the way back to Clayton. This wasn’t a full Thousand Island boat tour, but it was a really nice cruise and Rock Island isn’t a stop that has been on any of the previous TI boat tours I’ve been on, so it was a real treat!

Some of our folks getting off the boat to explore Rock Island…..I took this from the shore after I got off the docks.

They allowed anyone who wanted to climb up the lighthouse to do so….I just went inside and took a photo up the spiral staircase! Definitely not something I am able to do anymore – plus it was hot and they said it was VERY hot inside the staircase! Nope – I was fine just looking up and enjoying it from the outside! LOL

There was a little museum and gift shop inside the light keepers house. I got a t-shirt and a refrigerator magnet.

We saw several big ships going down the river in both Clayton and here at Rock Island. Very cool!!!

This was the glass bottom that ran the entire length of the boat down the center — the guide had us look down when we were passing over particular points of interest.

Here are some points of interest I captured during the cruising time:

After we left the boat ride, we headed out for dinner. The skies were getting ominous looking and the wind really started picking up. But, we managed to outrun the storm that was about to dump onto the Clayton area (apparently, they had a bad storm that morning before we got there, it cleared up for our visit, and then it looked like they were going to get another one after we left).

Dinner was an hour and a half or so away in Syracuse at a place called “Coleman’s” – an authentic Irish Pub. What a cool place that was! Smack dab in the middle of a residential section of Syracuse outside the main city area. It looked awesome and even more so once we got inside. They had an outside area where they were showing the World Cup games on a big screen and there were LOTS of young people partying and watching the games. Looked like fun!

Once inside, we were seated in a private area off the bar and they finished setting up a really nice buffet dinner for us. The buffet had rolls, salad, vegetable medley, rice pilaf, individual shepherd’s pies, roast turkey slices, and a fish of some kind (I think they said cod, but I’m not a fish fan, so I didn’t pay that much attention and didn’t take any). Everything was SOOOOO good!!! Those little shepherd’s pies were great – a cool way to serve them. The turkey was moist and full of flavor. We ate till we were stuffed and then they brought out dishes of ice cream with chocolate syrup…..!!!!….WOW!!! Our waitress was so sweet and she did an awesome job taking care of our big group. Bravo to Coleman’s in Syracuse – a place I would definitely recommend and remember if ever in the area again!

These old-timey telephone booths were outside the restaurant…..the small one says “Leprechauns Only”! LOL What a hoot!

So – another great Mystery Day Tour in the history books! It was a long day — left Batavia at 7:00 am and returned about 10:00 pm….I was exhausted and full of new memories! It was so much fun and I loved how relaxing and peaceful this one was……I love the “busier” ones, too, but it was nice on such a hot day to be a bit more laid-back. I loved being on and near the St. Lawrence River and dinner was awesome! All-in-all, a fantastic day!!! Thanks to the staff at First Choice Travel for putting it together, to Kathy Hamm for always making our adventures so special, and to our driver (I have no clue how to spell his name, so I won’t embarrass myself by trying – I apologize to him if he happens to read this) from Bedore Tours for getting us there and back safely!

The next one is in October…..unfortunately, I have a conflict and can’t do that one unless my schedule changes….in which case, I’ll definitely check to see if there is a seat still available! I do enjoy these mystery days!