Mike LaJara and Josette DeJesus made the trip to the North Country from Westchester County this week. It was a chance for them to take a break from the hustle and bustle, sit back, relax and enjoy the beauty of the 1000 Islands.

"We don't know what to expect, but we're looking forward to some fresh air and clean water," LaJara said before hopping on a local tour boat.

What You Need To Know


  • Clayton Island Boat Tours provides trips along the St. Lawrence River

  • Trips feature spots such as the Rock Island Lighthouse and Boldt Castle

  • Families can learn about the history of the 1000 Islands, its luxurious homes and some of the fun stories that happened long ago

Expectations turned to excitement as the couple boarded the boat for a guided tour of the Islands. Clayton Island Tours, based in Clayton, takes guests out on the St. Lawrence River, sharing its history, its stories and bringing you right to those million-dollar views.

"There is no place like this. There are 1,864 islands out here to explore, of all different sizes and shapes with all sorts of stories to learn about,” Clayton Island Tours Guide Brad Minnick said.

As the tour moves up the river, you're brought back to the Gilded Age, when the wealthy built up the islands. You get stories of how they lived, including Herculean efforts to beat prohibition laws. There's even a legend of how one island – Maple Island – became a hideout for one of the men believed to have conspired with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln.

"It's just a fascinating place and spectacularly beautiful," Minnick said. "Our glass bottom boat gives people an opportunity to look at some of the shipwrecks we have here in the river, as well as some of the other topological features under the water line here, some of our shoals and such.”

This tour is centered around a beautiful piece of history. Rock Island and its lighthouse are now a part of the state park system, but 100 years ago, it was a critical part of ship navigation.

"It was a very treacherous and dangerous [area to] traverse, so they built lighthouses to guide captains and mariners and navigators," said Peter Hopper of the Rock Island Lighthouse State Park.

The Rock Island Lighthouse, whose first keeper was the pirate Bill Johnston, celebrated each year in nearby Alexandria Bay, has been in three different locations on the tiny island. It began, in the late 1800s, on top of the original keeper's house. A few years later, it was built up to its current size, 65 feet or so, and placed behind the current house.

"It was massively heavy, constructed out of steel and cast iron. There are no records that can be found,” Hopper said of moving a large, heavy item on an island in 1903. “There isn't any kind of a diary or a log or a work record of how it was accomplished, so it's like the mystery of Rock Island.”

As the tour winds down, there's one more mystery likely to never be solved: The Isle of Pines. There's some who believe it is haunted. About a decade ago, the TV show “Ghost Hunters” checked it out, bringing rock star Meat Loaf with them, but there were no paranormal signs detected.

"After they finished that investigation, the only paranormal activity on the Isle of Pines that week was Meat Loaf himself," Minnick said.

The tour was the exact escape the Westchester County couple needed.

"You just get on the river and forget about everything else, instead of being in the city where it's always congested, [and] everyone is out. You don't have the time to do everything you have here," DeJesus said.

"Jumping on this boat was therapeutic and also exciting at the same time," LaJara added.