Megan and I are back at the Thousand Islands region of New York. (http://mikekraus.blogspot.com/2016/07/a-1000-reasons-to-love-thousand-islands.html) This time in the winter. And not brave enough to camp this time.
View from our room at the 1,000 Islands Harbor Hotel looking toward Pine/Bluff Islands
Tried some Saint Lawrence Spirits at their new tasting room at 510 Riverside Drive in Clayton, NY. Megan and I sampled a couple flights of vodka, gin, and moonshine.
As you can tell, these didn't last long...
Moving on to the absinthe. There's nothing like a show before having a drink.
If you don't know (because I didn't), this use to be set up during your meal. While you ate, the ice in the bucket on top would slowly drip onto the tray below. That would slowly make it's way to the sugar cubes before falling into the cup.
Thousand Islands Inn. There's conflicting stories who and where Thousand Islands dressing was created. But, this place claims to be the place it was "first served." Was it "first eaten" here is another question for another sign to answer...
All good vacations include a hot tub at some point.
So romantic. Didn't plan on it being Valentine's Day Weekend. Nice perk since it came with this, chocolate, a cheese spread, crackers, chocolate covered strawberries, and champagne. Wonder what would have done if we came up when we originally planned; Super Bowl Sunday?
Swans in love
View from our room looking toward Grindstone Island.
View from our room looking toward Calumet Island
Megan and I returned to Wellesley Island State Park to do some winter hiking. We were largely unsuccessful. The snow largely melted before we arrived. Then it all froze to the grass and rocks before getting a dusting of snow. We fell a few times before we even got to the hilly and rocky section because it was too treacherous. Very unfortunate.
Ice Fishing on Eels Bay
WELCOME TO ALEXANDRIA BAY!
And we owned that town. If you've ever been here in the summer, you know how strange this sight looks. Both times I've been here previously, this was three blocks of motorcycles parked on top of each other.
Uncle Sam's Alexandria Belle docked for the winter
Lion's Field ended up being one of the best things we did in Clayton. Only reason we knew about it was because Megan saw it as she looked down the side streets of Highway 12. It's an all purpose park that seems to host every type of sport on a small field. Around the football field, they've turned it into an ice track.
Megan getting ready to show off her speed skating skills.
A kid sliding down the ice hill.
Ice skaters need to yield to the speeding, crashing sledders.
2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic 500 metre speed skating time trial...
And she's off!
What a fun and relaxing weekend in the Thousand Islands. It's so amazing to have a place like this so close to home.
