R Island: September 1 and 5, 2015 1000 Islands NY

The 1000 Islands (actually 1864 islands) is where the Saint Lawrence Seaway meets Lake Ontario. We visited here on two different days. First with Gene and Linda and then a few days later to see some castles on a longer boat trip by ourselves. Ger can remember visiting here as a child, and he thinks they are using one of the same boats. He knows they are telling some of the same stories because one has you looking for a line in the water that is the Canadian border. He feels better now that Judie, Gene and Linda fell for the same trick!

We stayed at a nice hotel next to the Uncle Sam Boat Tours and ate at restaurants in town. The first day our tour took us past Millionaires Row, around small islands/homes, into Canada and under bridges that looked like green "Golden Gate" bridges. It is a beautiful area.

The boat house and staff housing in back is for the Boldt Castle! This is Judie's favorite little house.

Saint Lawrence

Our tour boat

Certainly the boat taken by Ger and his family in about 1958.

Lighthouse

Boldt Castle: Located on Heart Island, this 127 room vacation home was built as a gift for his wife by George Boldt; head of Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in NY and the Bellevue-Stratford in Philadelphia. She died 4 months prior to completion and it was never completed. After being vacant from 1904-1977, it is being restored by the Thousand Island Bridge Authority and is open for tours. All money from the tours goes into continued renovation and 2 of the 4 floors are completed to date at a cost of $28 Million.

View from the dock

Main Entrance

Entry Hall

Skylight at the interior stairs to 2nd and 3rd floors.

Dining Room seats 18

Kitchen Part One

Kitchen part two

Maids dining room

Daughter's "Receiving Area"

Power House

3 bronze statues

Statues over the receiving arch with draw bridge to welcome guests. Looks like the "Arch de Triumph" in France.

Singer Castle: Built in 1905 by Frederick Bourne, Chairman of Singer Sewing Machine Co. as a hunting lodge, and remains furnished as it was in it's hay-day. It is still used today for weddings, special events, and for $620 overnight stays if you wish. The Island is called Dark Island due to it's dark trees and foliage. The home is complete with secret passages for the staff to use to move around without being seen, and has a dungeon/jail in the turret.