Rainy day in Clayton: 1000 Islands Cruise Day 9

What do you do when the weather socks you in for the day at Clayton, New York?

First, you dock the boat under a roof at Islander Marina and Lodge. Then, you head for the famed Antique Boat Museum across the street. It's an amazing place that easily can preoccupy you for a whole afternoon.

One of the hundreds of boats on display the museum is La Duchess, a 106-foot house boat of the Gilded Age. She was owned by George Boldt, the wealthy hotelier who conceived and financed Boldt Castle at the turn of the 20th century.

The closest we came to finding a power catamaran at the museum was this inverted-vee runabout.

We were lucky to hook up with Robert Matthews, here showing us the extensive collection of 1000 Islands postcards and souvenirs that he and his wife, Prudence, have donated to the museum.

In the Matthews collection, the Admiral checks out a stereoscope, also known as stereopticons or stereo viewers, one of America's most popular forms of entertainment in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Originally, we planned to head down river to Singer Castle on Dark Island, even though the weather forecast wasn't all that great, but when we telephoned Singer and learned they planned to close for the day due to weather conditions, it was a no-brainer to stay in Clayton. In addition to the Antique Boat Museum, Islander Marina has an excellent lounge complete with a large-screen TV where the Admiral was able to get her Food Network fix and watch the latest dance competition.

During a long walk around town, we discovered fresh produce at Big M, said to be the largest supermarket in the 1000 Islands, and at Clayton Harbour Channel Marker 225 Winery Shop, we loaded up with three bottles of Wagner wine from the Finger Lakes, a Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvingnon, and Merlot.

The hunt for famed Thousand Islands Dressing came to a successful end at the Gold Cup Farms River Rat Cheese Shop, a paradise for cheddar cheese lovers.