Boldt Castle

A nice thing about Watertown NY is that as long as you keep an open mind and look for things to do you can stay entertained and busy. One unique thing to do here in upstate New York is to tour the castles that are up by Alexandria Bay. The castle that I have visited (so far, but plan on doing more) is Boldt Castle. This castle has a very interesting love store attached to it.

The tale of a man who came to America with nothing and promising himself that one day he would be rich, rich enought to build a castle. He does become rich and him, his wife and daughter have built the castle now know as Boldt Castle. Sadly the castle didn't get finished while he was alive because he stopped work once the love of his life and wife dies. It is a interesting story and a huge and marvolous home. Boldt Castle is located on Heart Island in the 1000 Islands, Alexandria Bay, New York 13607. But becuase it is on an island you have to take a boat tours to get to Heart Island. Which means you pay a fee to ride the boat there and back. Or if you have a boat, docking is available. You also have to pay a fee.

The Castle is open daily, starting May 12th to September 30th, from 10:00am to 6:30pm. During July and August extended hours are from 10:00am to 7:30pm, for the days of October 1st to the 14th from 10:00am to 5:30pm. Adult – $8.00 (13+ years), Child – $5.50 (6-12 years), Infant – $0.00 (5 years & under) As always click on the name "Boldt Castle" above for a link to the offical website and more info on Boldt Castle.

Niagra Falls

Though Niagra Falls is a little bit of a drive (3.5 hours) it is still something unique to see while living in the area. It was a very enjoyable trip and we really loved seeing one of our countries beauties! My kids found it fasinating to know that some of the water that goes over the falls ends up at the Lake Onterio beaches where we swim. What a great sight to see!

Click on the name Niagra Falls above to go to the officle website and view more info on Niagra Falls.

Upstate NY Beaches

Though there are a lot less warms months then cold here in Watertown NY, those warm days can still be a good excuse to go to the beach! There are two state beaches (that I am aware of) to enjoy the Water, Sand and Sun! The first beach is

Southwick 8119 Southwicks Pl, Woodville, NY (315) 846-5338 We really enjoyed that beach because the water was clear and the sand was nice and sandy. Plus they do have life gaurds, snack shack, picnic area and a play ground. Its $8 to get in (being a state park you have to pay)but after 4pm is $6. So if your only going for a few hours better to save some money and stay away from the hottiest time of the day as well as all the crowds and go around 4pm. (the first two pictures are from Southwick)

The second beach is Westcott which is a good beach but it was smaller, more crowded and not as smooth ocean floor as the other beach. It is closer to watertown but is $10 to get in (being a state park you have to pay)vs the $8 at Southwick.

Click on the names of the beaches to learn more!

Ice Cream Obsessed

One funny thing about Watertown is how many Ice Cream stands there are. In just the Watertown area there is at least 10 different ice cream stands. For a place that gets so cold you would think they would have 10 or more Hot Chocolate stands. Funny! Here is a list of our favorite Ice Cream stands in Watertown NY. 1. Friendly's- diner with an ice cream windown for ordering outside 2. Frosty Ice Cream 3. Way Cool 4. Trolley Ice Cream

I have to admit that so far Trolley Ice Cream is our most favorite because it looks like a..........Trolley Car. And the Ice Cream was really yummy! Keep in mind that these are only a few, of many, ice cream places in or near Watertown. I know you have been holding it in so lets hear it, "We all SCREAM for ICE CREAM" LOL Click on the name of the different ice cream stands for a link with the Name, phone number, address and map of where these different ice cream stands are!

Strawberry Picking

Something more unique and fun to do with the kids/family is to take them Strawberry picking. There are two local farms that have strawberry fields where you go searching for strawberries and then pay by the basket. It is a lot of fun for the kids as well as the adults. But if you go with multiple kids than make sure that you have plans for the strawberries because your going to end up with a lot! One of the strawberry picking farms is Best by Farr Click the name for more info. Best by Farr offers Fresh vegetables, raspberries and strawberries. It is located at Val and Richard Farr 26809 Beckwith Rd Evans Mills, NY And the other local place is Backyard Farmer Fresh vegetables, herbs, berries, apples, honey, maple products, cheese, eggs Brian Sheley 12139 US Rt 11 Adams Ctr, NY

Thompson Park

Thompson Park is located with entrances off Gotham St, Academy St and Franklin St in Watertown, NY. Whats at Thompson park? The Zoo, playground, pavilions, stone stairways, Sledding areas during the winter, Watertown Golf Club, seasonal swimming, different viewpoints of the city, Exercise trails and country drives, Tennis courts, Outdoor skating area and Cross-country ski trails. Its a great place to picnic, play and just relax.

Watertown Zoo

If you have young kids than this is another fun activity that you can do. Though this is a small zoo it is still entertaining for the kids. If you think of it more like a nature walk then a zoo then you won't be to disapointed. You will find all kinds of animals like; Black bears, Bald Eagle, Bobcat, Owls, Snakes, Wolf, Turkey, Wolverine and a lot more. The address for the Watertown Zoo is New York State Zoo at Thompson Park One Thompson Park Watertown, NY 13601

Burrville Cider

Since we came in the Fall time we made it just in time for the famous Burrville Cider. This is my most favorite thing about Watertown so far. I have never had such good tasting cider! And really good tasting apples too! It is so good that at the end of the session I bought 3 gallons and froze one of them in the freezer. Just so that we could enjoy the yummy cider during the long winter. The Burrville Cider Mill address is 18176 Rt. 156/Plank Rd. Watertown, NY 13601 The Mill not only has the best cider but has yummy fresh donuts, homemade donuts and fudge too. If you are lucky enough to go to the mill on a day they are making cider than you can watch them as they wash the apples, smash the apples and make the cider. There is also an amazing waterfall that you can sit by, drink your cider and eat your fresh donuts. So nice! The sad thing is they aren't open for very long. The open on Labor day and close right before Thanksgiving! So enjoy the cider while you can!

Watertown Swim

The Watertown City School District does summer swim lessons for kids. There are two different session each include 20 classes, each class an hour long. The great thing about this program is that the classes are each day during the week. So it keeps you busy during the summer. This swim lessons are a lot cheaper and better then the others offer by the YMCA, at least that is what all my friends says.

Farmer's Market

Though Watertown is a small city there are still things to keep you busy as long as you look for them. A great and yummy thing is the Farmer's Market. Though you may think that it is a lot of local and fresh fruit and veggies, there is a lot more then just produce. You can find all kinds of yummy foods from baked goods made by the local Mennonites, freshly made Kettle corn, apple cider, crafts, face painting, hand crafted wood items and so much more. It is far from just fruits and veggies for sure! There is also local bands that play as you walk up and down the farmers market. You can have a great time outside and of course eatting some yummy food! You can go to the Watertown, New York Farmer's Market is on Wednesday from 6:30am- 3:00pm. It runs from the end of May through the beginning of October.

Watertown NY Hotels

There are many different hotels and when you have kids it really does matter which one you pick. It took us a little trial and error to find the right one for us but this is how we figured it out. We arrived in Watertown New York in September and so we knew that it would be important to find a hotel with a pool so the kids would have something to do if it was too cold, rainy or possible snowy outside. Another thing to consider is meals. We knew we needed a free breakfast because there was no way I was going to take two little kids out to breakfast each day on my own since my hubby was starting work soon. And finally clothes get dirty and you are going to need clean clothes at some point. Here are the hotels we stayed at and what each offered. Just in case one of them is full it is good to have choices. 1st. Best Western Carriage House Inn We stayed in this hotel for 1.5 weeks. It had a great breakfast, pool and very friendly staff. However it is an older building and the room looks a little old. We always had socks on when walking on the floor and didn't sit on the floor either. The wall paper was coming off but room service was great. It also had a small fridge and microwave for warming up food. 2nd Candlewood Suites We stayed in this hotel the shortest amount of time, 3-4 days because it was the most expensive. It didn't have a pool or breakfast but it did have landry service. So I was able to get all of our landry done. The rooms were nicer and bigger as well. But again not pool, or breakfast! But it does have a small kitchen area which was nice too. 3rd Comfort Inn & Suites We stayed in this hotel the longest because it ended up being cheaper and had most of what we needed. This room was the smallest out of all three we stayed in but it had a good size FREE breakfast and a pool. It was also attached to a Denny's resturant which made it very easy to go to meals if we needed to go out but didn't really what to go out. Good luck and don't forget to ask for a military discount!

Watertown, NY Housing

Even though Fort Drum brings in a lot of Military which means the military member plus their family moving to the area there is a big lack in housing. Descent housing that is! It is amazing how even if you arent that picking, for example you just want to live in a solid (not falling down) house then it feels like you are going to have to climb a mountain to find one. One of the first and most important things to do is get a good Hotels (See Watertown, NY Hotels) in Watertown, NY since you are going to need a place to stay. Now depending on the time of year you come up will depend on the Apartment and houses avalible. Some are lucky and get into a place in a few weeks but like the most of us you might end up living in the hotel for at least a month. Or in my case a month and a half. If you are military than on post housing is great, but you end up on a really long waiting list. For example we got on the Fort Drum Housing list as soon as we left our last post (August 2011). We even went on a month long vacation in between leaving our post and getting to Fort Drum. But still nothing was avalible for us. We are still on the waiting list and it is now July 2012 and there is no sign of us getting offered a house any time soon. Picture below is of Fort Drum housing. My advice is to find a good place off post at least for now, which again can be very difficult and frustrating. If you get a rental then you can always move onto post when it becomes avalible if you are willing to live in some of the rentals. My husband and I looked for 2 weeks straight at different rentals and were so discouraged by the grossness and smelliness of all the places. The rent is crazy for what you get. Example a 2-3 bedroom was $1500 and that didn't include utilities. Crazy I tell you! So then we started looking at buying a place, which was a big disapointment as well. The houses are falling apart and even the realitors admit that if the military wasn't here the all houses would fall down. I got to the point that I almost took my 2 young children and drove the 7 hours back to my inlaws. But last minute we found a place. Good Housing is hard to find and when/if you do than jump on it. FYI you will pay a lot for just the normal house or a fixer upper in Watertown, NY. Either way good luck!

Welcome to Watertown

Though Watertown New York is a small and kind of out there sort of place there are still events and activities to be found. Thanks to the 10th Mountain Division more and more events seems to come.As you can tell from the map Watertown is very much "UPSTATE" New York. It is 30 minutes from the boarder of The United States and Canada. And since it is upstate it can get very cold at times here. If you love the snow then this is a great place for you! Our last winter 2011-2012 was one of the mildest winters Watertown, New York has seen in a long time at about 50 inches for the Winter season. We still had to get our snowblower out a few times, since when it would snow it would be in bursts or chunks.I am sure it will go back to its normal winters though. Summers are usually in the 80's maybe 90's but this year we have it more higher days. Again not the norm for Watertown. It seems funny that as soon as we move here the norm doesn't happen. LOL

A change up

so since my Army wives blog didn't really work. As only myself and one other put anything on the blog I dedcided to change it up. I am not going to dedicate the blog to all of the experiences, resturants, events and other things that you can do in each place that I live. That way if someone moves into a new area or we go visit a previously lived place there will be great ideas to start from. SO here goes to my new and improved Army Wives blog.