Lighthouses, castles, boating, farms and more – here’s a recap (and a video!) from an incredible 4-day weekend in The Thousand Islands and Lake Placid, NY! We crammed a lot in this short weekend and had such an amazing time, we plan on returning really soon, hopefully in the winter when everything is covered in a blanket of snow.

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The Thousand Islands

How We Got There

Although it’s driving distance in just a few hours from my house in Long Island, we preferred to take a direct light to Syracuse from JFK which was only 1 hour and 12 minutes. From there we rented a car and took a scenic drive to the Thousand Islands.

Where We Stayed in the Thousand Islands

The 1000 Islands Harbor Hotel located on the Lawrence River in Clayton, NY. The hotel was spacious, and the location was perfect with fire pits outside, beautiful landscaping and walking distance to everything.

Highlights of Our Trip in Thousand Islands

We started our trip in Sackets Harbor at the Old MacDonald’s Farm House, a family run business with 1000 animals you can feed, touch and walk among. Madison LOVED it there, and so did we quite frankly! The animals were so friendly they came right up to us and followed us around.

Lunch we went to Tin Pan Galley in Sackets Harbor, a quaint restaurant in a cute little town. I ordered a Fried Green Tomato Salad and a Cream of Asparagus Soup. Tommy got a French Onion Burger, both were great!

That afternoon we went on a private wine and cheese cruise with Classic Island Cruises directly from the Harbor Hotel to Rock Island Lighthouse which is a MUST! Jeff, our captain was so great, he gave us so much history about the Thousand Islands, the lighthouse and more.

Rock Island Lighthouse is a must is you visit the Thousand Islands. This gorgeous lighthouse on the crystal clear waters of the St Lawrence River is accessible only by boat. There’s picnic tables, a gift shop, great views and a very friendly staff.

One of the many Thousand Islands…

This is the first US Post Office which you can see by boat.

Jeff also gave us a bottle of the original Thousand Island Dressing!

For dinner, we dined at The Chateau, we LOVED this restaurant. The food, the service, the sunsets views – everything was excellent. I had an amazing duck breast, and Tommy had short ribs. The lighting was bad because it was late and dark inside, but I wish I could have captured my dish, but I did shoot Tommy’s.

Saturday morning we headed to Boldt Castle on Heart Island, a short ferry ride away from the Boldt Yacht House on Wellesley Island. The shuttle from the Yacht House to the castle runs every 30 minutes on the quarter hour.

Boldt castle was built on Heart Island for his beloved wife, but after her sudden tragic death, he stopped the construction and was so distraught, he never spent a single night there.

The Adirondacks

After the castle, we drove to the Adirondacks for the next two days.

Where We Stayed in the Adirondacks

We stayed at the Mirror Lake Inn Resort and Spa in Lake Placid, a charming Inn with beautiful lake views, an indoor and outdoor pool. We loved the smell of the fireplace in the lobby, Madison loved the unlimited supply of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and the board games we played together when it rained. The suite we stayed in had rocking chairs in front of the sliding glass doors so we can just sit back and enjoy the view.

Highlights of Our Trip in the Adirondacks

Aside from relaxing at Mirror Lake Inn Resort and Spa, there’s plenty to do in the Adirondacks year round. We didn’t have much time there, but we made the most out of our time there.

We hiked up a trail of suspended bridges to see the world from a different perspective at the Wild, Walk and Wild Center in the Adirondacks, not to be missed if you’re in the area if you’re traveling with kids!