Thousand Island Boat Trip (8-5-2015)

Today is my mother's birthday, so she is definitely uppermost in my mind.  She would have been 91 today, and has been dead almost 19 years.  A sad loss, still.

Anyway, today's agenda was a boat cruise of the Thousand Islands out of Ganonaque, but it wasn't until 3:00, so Joe and I made a quick trip into Smith Falls to pick up a few groceries.  As soon as we got back, we loaded up and headed on a roundabout way to Ganonaque.  Marilyn had gone in separately to get our tickets from Lori Ann, her niece and the flower girl for her and Collins' wedding many, many, many years ago.  Marilyn then visited with her mother until it was time to hook up with us.  Collins directed us to Brockville, where he has a favorite fish and chips take-out diner, and then we drove down to the water and ate our lunch.  Very pretty area.

 They were mowing the grass here while we were eating, quite a good sized mower, it really covers some ground with each swipe.


We went over to the gift shop/visitor center, where a bear waited to greet us.


Then we drove down to the pier where we were to board the boat.  It wasn't in yet, but we got to watch it come in.

Lori Ann even came down to meet us.

So here we are, waiting in another line.

Although this is called the Thousand Islands (and the salad dressing is named for this region), there are actually 1,865 islands here, within a 50-mile radius, one of them artificial.  "The islands are tops of ancient mountains ranging in size from 40 square miles to tiny outcroppings."  One source says the minimum criteria of an island is to be above water level year round, have an area greater than 1 square foot, and support at least one living tree.  However, the narrator on the boat said to be an official "island," there has to be at least 2 trees and 6 feet of ground cover.  To "develop" an island, the requirement is two acres, although some we saw sure did not look like 2 acres. This body of water is the St. Lawrence River, or the St. Lawrence Seaway, where big ships travel to and from the Great Lakes. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any ships today.  But there is no tide along here, although the water level is controlled, and it is fresh water, not salt water.  Construction on the St. Lawrence Seaway began in 1954, and I vaguely remember studying about the importance of this waterway in school.  It opened to commercial traffic in 1959, so that was completed when I was in the 6th grade.  There are dozens of shipwrecks under the river's waves, which was included in the narration.  "The river stretches about 370 miles from Montreal to Lake Ontario, part of the interior Great Lakes.  The Seaway enables shipping trade from the Atlantic Ocean to travel deep into the heart of North America to Lake Superior."

There were a lot of lighthouses through here, although most if not all have been replaced by higher tech.  Some of the lighthouses were roosts for birds, as were the foundation they were mounted on.


We crossed under the Thousand Island Bridge, which takes you into New York, the town of Clayton I think.

And we passed along Millionaire Row, where homes built by some of the big boys (Astor, Rothstein) were in view.

Then we got to Boldt Castle, where we had 2 hours to tour the castle and outbuildings here.  This "complex" includes the castle, the dove-cote, the Italian garden, the Arch, the Alster Tower (also called the Children's Playhouse), the Power House, the Underground Passage, and the Yacht House, which was across the water and we didn't get to tour that.

The Yacht House

 The castle itself was to be 127 rooms. George Boldt was having it built as a testiment to his love for his wife, Louise.   Construction began in 1894, but was stopped immediately when Louise, passed away in 1904.  "From 1904 until 1977, Boldt Castle continued to deteriorate to a state of disrepair.  The Thousand Island Bridge Authority assumed ownership in 1977 and immediately began a rehabilitation program." 

There was beautiful landscaping around all of the buildings.

Some of the rooms have been renovated:

But there is still a lot of work to be done

The skylight in the atrium is beautiful.

And the ballroom with its beautiful floor seemed to inspire the tourists to waltz.

There was a pool in the basement, but not much else was finished down there.

I decided I should put my toes in the St. Lawrence River to add to my collection, but I almost fell in during this daring attempt.

The rocks shifted and I got a little dizzy, so I gave up on that, but I soon found a better spot and was successful this time.

Joe was interested in the inside of the powerhouse, where water pumps and generators were on display.

After some of us, most of us, got ice cream at the snack bar, we boarded the boat for the return trip.  We had been dodging rainstorms all day (like every other day), and got the tour in during a respite, but not long after we got underway, the rain returned.

We passed the "smallest bridge between the U.S. and Canada" on this trip, which goes between two islands, one is in the U.S. and the other island is in Canada.

We also passed the statute of St. Lawrence, for whom this river and seaway is named.

Joe became interested in some seagulls following our boat, and tried to get a picture of one in the rainbow.  They didn't line up exactly, but he got close.

Then some jet skiers got behind us and started doing tricks over our wake.

We finally arrived back at the dock, just before 8:00 p.m.  This was a 5-hour cruise, and we then had to go in search of dinner.  It was another late night, but a good day.

We are staying really busy, seeing lots of things, and Marilyn and Collins are getting a little family-visiting worked in among all of our tour drives.  Tomorrow has been declared a day off -- to do laundry, some maintenance, dump our tanks, etc.  No rest for the weary, but it will be good to get caught up on chores again.