The idea was to take advantage of any sun that was coming our way today! Steve commented that this weather has saved us a bundle on sunscreen :-)
The plan was to land at Boldt Island, check in at US Customs, tour the castle and then head to Spicer Bay for the night. More rain due in at 2 pm.
The trip was only 8 miles - half of it downstream going east, then turn and head upstream going west - against a 2 mph current at the worst of it!The Canadian Coast Guard Cutter was settled into a bay near the water borderline. We made our best effort to look like we were not a threat :-)
Rounding the turn (having crossed the water border to the US), it was quite easy so spot the Boldt Castle.We've been here 3 times now. I was here with my family in 1959 (thanks to my brother Historian Pat for that knowledge :-) ), my parents, kids, Steve and I in 1984 and now in 2014.
For a very nice link to the history and renovations to the castle, click here. It's really quite an amazing story but really? No one person should have that much money!!
When my family saw this place in 1959, the castle was open for "tours" which meant you could kind of just wander through what was left as it had been left open to the elements for almost 50 years at that point.
It all looked like the picture right. Plaster falling from the walls, lots of graffiti. The most vivid memory for me was the woodwork that had not yet been installed - laying around the grounds and inside still bundled - as if a worker would be in the next day to put it up.
I looked for my name on the walls but apparently my parent were not of the mind that they would let their kids write on the walls :-)
Some of the names though were quite old - like in the 30's and forward.
When we returned in 1984, the Thousand Island Bridge Authority had acquired the property in 1977 and had begun to restore the castle to it's intended magnificence. Thirty years later they continue the work. The part finished is truly amazing! The web site above shows most of the restored room.
Plan B: go to Alexandria Bay town docks (less than a mile away), check in at US Customs using the conveniently located videophone at the end of the dock, find a place for breakfast, fuel up and head back to the castle.
Seemed like that should work just fine and it actually did. I just love it when a plan B comes together :-)
We spotted a fun pirate boat along with it's little dinghy as we left the town dock. It was Pirates Week in Abay (the local slang for Alexandria Bay) - ok by us that we weren't staying there but sorry that the town has such cool not so nice weather.
Off we went to Boldt Castle - now that it was open for the day.
An amazing number of tour boats either just circle the island and/or drop visitors off - to be picked up by the tour boat company's next boat through. Some of the largest come from Gananoque on the Canadian side of the St. Lawrence.
The view of the river was of course stunning and I can only imagine what it would have been like on a warm sunny day.The castle is furnished by some of the original furniture owned by the Boldt family - much of it donated by the Boldt heirs. Work continues - much of the fourth floor still hasn't been touched. It would seem a lifetime job.
George Boldt at one point owned more than 60 boats ..... crazy.
The rain showed up at 2:00 as promised. By then we were tucked nicely into a dock at a very small family run marina on Spicer Bay just an hour west on the river.
Tomorrow: only four miles farther east to Clayton, NY.
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