Sharp's Travels

We hurried around this morning and headed into Gananoque. We were taking the Gananoque Boat Line out for their 5 hour Boldt Castle Stopover Tour from the dock in Gananoque.

We boarded and found a seat on the lower level, right up front. We had a great view of everything and it was close for Gay to walk out into the open bow to take pictures.

We headed out into the St. Lawrence River—home of 1000 islands (they really said there were 1864 islands). There were some beautiful homes on the islands—a number of the islands were so small the house covered almost all the island.

It took us about 1 ½ hours to reach the Boldt Castle. They dropped us off there for 2 hours. We had to have our passports along and go through customs because we were back in the US there.

The castle was amazing. It was molded after buildings in the 16th century. It is six stories high from the foundation level of the indoor swimming pool to the highest tower room, 127 rooms in all. George Boldt built this castle for his wife and when she died, he stopped all the work on the castle.

The lower floor rooms are completed and the grand staircase to the second floor along with 1 bedroom on the second floor. Construction is underway for the remaining rooms. People are allowed to wander around on the different levels.

We checked out the underground passage where goods were to be transported from barges by way of the tunnel to storerooms within the Castle’s foundation, thereby avoiding the main floor.

Also located on the property is the Alster Tower (or play house). The Play House was completed and occasionally occupied by the Boldt family during the years while the castle was being built. It even had a 2-lane bowling alley in the basement level.

There was a power house. The Bolts intended to electrify the island. It looked a mini castle.

The Yacht House was across the water on Wellesley Island. The family had 3 yachts and an enormous houseboat. The Yacht House was the first of these remarkable buildings to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

It was neat to walk around the island and check out all the buildings. We bought a cookie and an ice cream cone to tie us over until supper.

The trip back went well. We were able to get our same great seats. Seeing the millionaire alley was a site. What beautiful homes and most of them were just summer residences!

Back at our home dock we once again had to go back through customs because we were arriving back on Canadian soil.

Our boarding pass included a $10 ticket for each of us at the nearby casino. They gave us an extra $5 when we checked in. We played the nickel machines. I lost all my money and Gay quit when he’d made $18.30.

We drove uptown and spent the winnings on supper at Arthur’s. We had a prime rib sandwich with veggies and homemade fries.

A GREAT DAY!

Gay has uploaded pictures of the day. See album Boldt Castle.