We will be returning to the scene of one of our best trips in many years. I am of course referring to beautiful Alexandria Bay, NY and the St. Lawrence Seaway area. This time however, we will be traveling west by boat on the seaway into Lake Ontario. Departure is scheduled for MAY 14, 2011.

Arrangements have been made with Uncle Sam's Boat Tours to board at 6:45 AM and depart at 7:00 AM. The boat will proceed west where we will be viewing ROCK ISLAND LIGHT, TIBBETTS POINT LIGHT, GALLOO ISLAND LIGHT, EAST CHARITY SHOAL LIGHT, NINE MILE POINT LIGHT, QUEBEC HEAD LIGHT, and WOLF ISLAND LIGHT. The trip is scheduled for 7 hours but could take longer due to head winds on the lake.

Breakfast (assorted muffins & pastries, assorted fruit juices, coffee, tea and decaf) will be available on the boat. A check of restaurants in the area disclosed none that open before 6:30 AM thereby limiting our options. A box lunch with the following choices are available: Roast beef on wheat, Turkey on white or Ham on rye. One choice per person and that includes a soda or water, chips pickles, fruit and cookies. Please include your choice of lunch with your registration.

A total of 50 rooms have been reserved for Friday and Saturday night, May 13, 14th and 15th, 2011 at the Capt. Thomson's Resort. All rooms have a private balcony, cable TV, in room coffee, telephone and hairdryer. All rooms are non-smoking. Check-in is after 3:00 p.m. and check out is at 11 a.m. Anyone wishing to stay over Sunday night will notice a decrease in the room rates.

The group rates that will apply are $103 poolside, $113 lower harbor, $123 main channel/upper harbor single or double occupancy plus tax. All room reservations will be made by the normal reservation policy of charging the first night's room on your credit card at time of booking with the balance due at check-in. The resort is available Mon. - Fri. 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. during the winter season at 1-800-253-9229.

Please note that second floor rooms are accessible by staircase only (no elevator) and they do have several handicap rooms available upon request. Individual room cancellations are accepted 7 days prior to arrival without penalty. Please note you are with NELL when making your reservations.

The cost of the trip will be $125 per person. The trip will be open to NELL members first until March 16.

On March 17, St Patrick’s Day, (easy to remember) it will be opened to the public. Reservations need to be made ASAP to alleviate the problems we encountered last year. We need at least 80 people to run this trip. If we do not have the required number of attendees before April 12th we will have to cancel the trip on April 13th in order to receive a refund of our deposits. Send your check made out to NELL and registration form to: Kathy Santucci, 38 Lime Kiln Rd., Tuckahoe, NY 10707. Kathy would like to remind you that checks will not be cashed until a week before the trip.

Please make your sandwich selection when sending your check for the trip. We will have our meeting at the floating restaurant; Capt's Landing on Sunday, May 15th starting at 9 a.m.

If you have any questions call Bill Kent at 978-809-7133.