Oswego, NY – Sackets Harbor, NY – June 30, 2008

Last night across from us was the Grand Mariner, a small cruise ship of the American Canadian Caribbean Line. This ship cruises where the big ships can’t. It cruises the canal systems, rivers and lesser known destinations. The Grand Mariner has 50 cabins and a maximum of 100 passengers. They docked and lowered their pilot house to be ready to go through the canal system this morning.

We left Oswego this morning at 6:45 and started across Lake Ontario. Our destination was Sackets Harbor to the northeast of Oswego. We are still in New York but very close to Canada.

We had become used to the smooth ride of the canal system and were soon reminded of the unstable, rolly ride of a boat in big water. After we got in deeper water the seas became more calm and we had a nice, 4 ½ hour crossing to Sackets Harbor. We arrived and docked at 11:30. There is a dock at the waterfront. It is a visitor dock with a limit of 4 hours and no overnight allowed. This is a beautiful town. The waterfront is very nice, with a gazebo, picnic tables, benches, flowers and many trees. It was nice just to sit on the benches and look around.

Margaret and Beth went out to explore (read: check out the quaint boutiques). There are many cute stores here as well as several restaurants. The town of Sackets Harbor has about 1800 residents with the number increasing greatly in the summer when visitors fill the cottages. Fort Drum is near here and is home to the 10th Mountain Division. We also discovered there is a large Menonite and Amish population in this three county area.

Darrell and Bob heard about a place here that brews its own beer, so they went off looking for it. They found the Sacket Brewing Company and, of course, needed to sample the local brew. It was a nice place and the beer was good.

We left after our 4 hour limit at the dock and anchored near the entrance to the harbor. We rafted with Bellissimo, discussed our next few day plans and had dinner together.