Cape Vincent, New York: Tibbetts Point Lighthouse

Attention, geography fans.

Speaking as someone who once drove to the spot where the Erie Canal either ended or began at the Hudson River, you'll love Cape Vincent.

All of the Great Lakes eventually drain into the St. Lawrence River, and Cape Vincent sits on the spot where Lake Ontario turns into a river. The place is marked by the Tibbetts Point Lighthouse. The brochure on the town lists the lighthouse as the top local attraction.

Captain John Tibbetts donated the land for the lighthouse way back in the 1820's. They named the place after him. The Coast Guard still has control over the facility, but it does it by remote control in Oswego. There is a visitors' center that is open Memorial Day to Columbus Weekend.

You get there exactly the way you'd think you would. Get off at the last exit on Interstate 81, take a left, go on Route 12 to Route 12E. Eventually you'll run into a road that's marked as a dead end, but actually extends a handful of miles west to the lighthouse.

It's a nice little spot for a summer visit.

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Alexandria Bay, New York: Shortest "international bridge" crossing

Care to go from one country to another via bridge as quickly as possible?

This is the place to go, according to the tour guides.

On the left is Zavikon Island, which is located in Canada as part of the Thousand Islands. On the right is Little Zavikon Island, which is said to be in the United States, If you click on the picture, you can see the bridge between the two a little better. It is 32 feet long.

But there's a catch. It's not true.

According to official maps, both islands are actually on the same side of the border - Canada.

But I sure wish this was true.

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Alexandria Bay, New York: Boldt Castle

Boldt Castle is, at its heart, a love story.

George Boldt moved to America from Prussia in the 1860's, and worked his way up to become the manager of the Waldorf-Astoria. That hotel set new standards for luxury; the original version was where the Empire State Building is now.

Boldt was well compensated for his work. He had enough money to build a summer home in the Thousand Islands that could remind him of the castles back in the homeland. George thought it would be a great tribute to his wife, Louise. The construction of the building went on and on, with nothing overlooked. The family did spend a few summers there while the work continued.

However, Louise died in 1904. George sent a telegram ordering a half to construction, and he never again set foot in the building. It was left to rot, or least be hit by the elements and vandals, for more than 70 years.

Finally, in 1977, the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority bought the place and started the business of renovating. So here we are, 36 years later as of this writing, and they are slowly turning into the showplace it was supposed to be.

If you are building a mansion, you want to have a grand entrance. This is a pretty grand one, as the stairs move up from the fireplace. It was a much better picture from the top of the stairs than the bottom. The ground floor includes a dining room, ballroom, billiard room (a Clarence, N.Y. company even donated the pool table), and reception room. It all looks terrific.

The second floor has some finished bedrooms and bathrooms which are decorated in the 1900 style. The upper floors aren't done, but they do offer a look at what sort of shape the place was in when the Authority took it over. The grounds are particularly nicely kept. Boldt Castle has become the top tourist attraction in the Thousand Islands, and that's no surprise.

You can get there by a tour boat - one leaves from Alexander Bay every half-hour - or by private craft. There is a customs bureau on Heart Island to check on Canadian visitors. Put it this way - it's worth a trip every so often just to see how the renovation project is going.

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Alexandria Bay, New York: Thousand Islands

More than 100 years ago, some of the rich and famous wanted to get away from summer's big city heat. The Thousand Islands area was a good spot for that. So millionaires headed north and started to construct unique summer homes on the islands there.

Many of those buildings are still there, and you can still see them. However, you'll have to get on a boat. There are tours up and down the St. Lawrence that allow a relatively close look at such homes. Just be sure to avoid some of the cargo ships that go through the St. Lawrence - they do make for quite a sight on the river.

You probably can think of all of the problems involved in building a house like the one shown above. How does it get power? Telephone lines? Where does sewage go? How do you bring in building materials? The general answer is, if you have to ask about cost for such a structure, you can't afford it.

Millionaire's Row is the best part of the cruise. Some of the names of the original owners are still well-known today, such as the original executives behind Macy's department stores (Abraham and Straus) and George Pullman of railroad car fame. Down the river a bit is the Singer Castle, built by Frederick Bourne of sewing machine fame.

There are 1,864 islands in the Thousand Islands. Anything that stays above water year-round and has a tree is considered an island. In other words, the picture on the right is an island, although probably the housing is a bit cozy for most people.

For those who know something about history, this was a rather popular spot during Prohibition. It was rather easy to transport certain beverages across international lines up here, particularly at night. And if the authorities turned up en route, the bottles of evidence were dumped into the river. In fact, divers say bottles are still on the river bed., 

The Thousand Islands are quite pretty in season. A local told me they roll up the sidewalks once fall arrives, since the temperature can be as low as 35 below at times in winter. It should be mentioned that the area right around the river is by far the best part of the region; there's not much to see or do if you get a mile away from the water - which I blurted out is "a river of pretty."

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Sackets Harbor, New York: Battlefield

The little village of Sackets Harbor probably is best known for a horse, at least now. In 2003, Funny Cide captured the hearts of the horse racing world by winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. Once was the Belmont was over, Sackets Harbor returned to being a cute little village on the edge of Lake Ontario.

It wasn't always so quiet. The entrance to the harbor was the scene of a battle during the War of 1812 between the Americans and the British. The 200th anniversary is coming up as of this writing. The base guarded the end of the lake as well as part of the St. Lawrence River. By the way, the Americans won.

The grounds have been preserved in tribute to those who died in the War of 1812, and the state runs it. There is a visitors center. The grounds are a nice place to look out on to the lake and harbor, by the way.

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Sackets Harbor, New York: Old McDonald's Farm

It's tough to tell from the website if someone named McDonald really does, or did, have a farm in Sackets Harbor. Then again, it probably doesn't matter. The owners have turned this particular farm into a tourist attraction called Old McDonalds Farm in Sackets Harbor, which is off Lake Ontario near Watertown, New York.

It's open for tours in season, which is mostly when the weather is warm. You can see several hundred animals while visiting the facility. Yes, the pigs live on Pork Ave. The visitor center, shown above, has the usual assortment of stuffed animals and locally produced farm products. The kids must love it all.

One tip - be sure to check to see when it is open. No use making the drive for nothing.

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Kingsland, Georgia: Welcome Center

Nothing says welcome to a state like a torpedo.

This, oddly enough, is the big attraction of the Welcome Center in Kingsland, Georgia (although I've also seen it as Deer Run) ... unless you have to use the, um, facilities. It's on Interstate 95 northbound, just a bit north of Jacksonville.

The torpedo is a "gift" from the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base nearby. The explosive device is from the World War II era, as it was frequently used until a better model came along. There probably is some sort of marking explaining this, but I couldn't find it.

Welcome Centers are an interesting part of the road. It's an investment in tourism, of course, with plenty of maps and brochures of attractions, hotels, etc. available.

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Utica, New York: Distance Running Hall of Fame

It's difficult not to see a Hall of Fame when visiting Central New York. Utica decided to get into the act when it opted to host the Distance Running Hall of Fame.

Why distance running? Utica hosts the Boilermaker race, a 15-kilometer event that attracts runners from all over the world. It's the biggest party weekend of the year for Utica, and so there's a good connection. As you can see on the sign in front of the Hall, the countdown to the next Boilermaker is already on. (The race has its offices on the third and fourth floor.)

Alas, like the Volleyball Hall in Holyoke, this facility obviously suffers from a lack of funds. We stopped in when driving by Utica on the New York State Thruway on a Friday afternoon. There is a little on-street parking in the area, but once we found a spot and walked to the Hall, we discovered it was closed. Oops. Guess the picture will have to do.

I've been in it before, though. There's the mandatory gift shop in the front, plus exhibits on inductees, Nike, and Bill Bowerman, the legendary Oregon coach. It's certainly of interest to runners, but doesn't take long to get through.

By the way, the same financial problems almost mark the website. Either there have been no inductees since 2006, or someone is asleep at the switch because that was the last update. (To be fair, in another section of the site a couple of more classes of inductees are mentioned in news releases.) The hours of operations aren't posted either.

This is a good idea, especially with the Boilermaker around, but it could use a nice big sponsor to help out. The Hall is reportedly looking for a new location, one with more space and a closer location to the big race itself.  Here's hoping the search succeeds.

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Holyoke, Massachusetts: Volleyball Hall of Fame

The Basketball Hall of Fame casts a big shadow in this part of the world. It's a magnificent structure, filled with all of the latest bells and whistles. That Hall has become a major tourist attraction for Springfield.

Just up the road in Holyoke, another game for winter exercise was invented around the same time. It too has grown popular throughout the world.

Alas, volleyball isn't quite the star that basketball is. It's Hall of Fame isn't as well known, either.

The facility is located in a park-like setting along a canal in downtown Holyoke. The volleyball hall has one large room, containing displays to honor those inducted, some other informational areas, half of a volleyball court, and a small souvenir stand (might have bought something had there been an XL's left in shirts).

The staff member seemed very nice, and all of the people you'd expect to be there are there -- that is, if you have followed volleyball at all. Obviously, the place doesn't have a great deal of money for promotion, marketing, new exhibits, etc. Plus, some of the biggest names in the sport are foreign and aren't well known to an American audience.

For those who like the sport and/or enjoy visiting Halls, it's certainly worth a short visit. It's just too bad the place didn't have the money to be bigger and better.

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Foxborough, Massachusetts: The Ocean Spray Bog

Care to guess how many football stadiums have a working cranberry farm within the borders of its property?

I can think of one.

A short hike from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough is this farm, right behind Bass Pro. My guess is that the facility was around the property when the Patriots started developing it all, and someone decided to keep it.

You can take a nice half-mile walk around its perimeter, and look down and see cranberries growing. If nothing else, the contrast to the football stadium a short distance away is a large one. Plus, this seems like a good place to wait out the traffic on a nice fall day.

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