We anchored Uproar and dinghied into the Thousand Islands Park docks. We were greeted by a cute young lady in a sundress, floppy hat and barefoot. She asked us if we wanted to buy gas! This was our introduction to the style and attitude of TI Park.

The Thousand Islands Park is a peninsula on the SW corner of Welsley Island. It was founded as a Methodist church retreat camp in the 1880's. There are a few pictures of those days with the campers formally dressed from head to toe while swimming. The camp evolved and beautiful homes were built on narrow streets. There are no garages and the streets are only wide enough for one car or two golf carts.

Wide porches, gingerbread trim and turrets adorn many of the houses which were built in the 1890s. Pastel colors with contrasting trim make for a delightful place to walk and gawk. There is an old hotel that has rooms and serves meals but it is not too late in the season and it was empty. Several large green spaces exist with plaques, stating that there was once a grand hotel there that succumbed to fire. One house adjacent the field has a sign, “Iron House.” It has steel siding and survived the fires.

A fire last year burned down a row of buildings across from the hotel. One of these buildings was the fire station! The fire destroyed the wiring and they couldn't open the door to get the fire truck out!

We were walking back to the boat after an ice cream cone (the only establishment in TI Park open to buy anything). We ran into Terry and Laura with their dog Ginger. We met them in Clayton several days ago and they said to visit them if we visited TI Park.

They invited us to their cottage and insisted we stay for dinner. They bought their cottage 5 years ago when it was in disrepair. Terry worked hard on upgrading it and Laura decorated it with antiques and comfortable, casual furniture. The cottage has a screened front porch, living room, large dining room with sitting area and modern kitchen. There are 5 bedrooms upstairs.

Laura walked a block to a communal garden and picked tomatoes and basil for the salad. We had a delightful dinner in their back yard picnic table. Sophie even got along with their King Charles Spaniel, Ginger.

They explained that the season is very short. Water to the park is cut off in October. There are a few homes who have wells but almost no one visits off season. There was talk of the TI Park association and as you can imagine, politics play a large role. The old timers know they have a good thing and want to keep it to themselves. Terry and Laura rent their house out when they are not there but the association wants to limit rentals.

This morning, we had coffee on the dock. The attendant was a girl, age 15 who lives on the island near the TI bridge. She said there are only 3 homes in her neighborhood occupied all 12 months. She rides with her parents (teachers) to school in a class of 34 students. We were struck by how open and conversant she was. What a delightful young lady.

This morning dawned gloomy, we were going to move about 5 miles to another anchorage. Lisa declared it a lay day and we are enjoying TI park for another day.