Thousand Islands and Boldt Castle

After visiting the ECHO Center, we headed further west to the area of Alexandria Bay, NY where we camped at a brand new resort. By far the nicest place we had along our way. The sites were all concrete pads with pull-through access. It's own drive to the P&C next door. And it was right on the water with a marina. And a swimming pool with a tiki bar. Only thing missing were trees. They did have some small saplings they had planted but the drought was taking its toll.

But enough about the campground. We were here to take a two nation cruise of the Thousand Islands and a stop at the famous Boldt Castle.

The summer "cottages" on the American side were both older and more elaborate than most of those on the Canadian side of the St. Lawrence. Part of that had to do with the early development of the American side (late 1800s) versus the late development of the Canadian properties (1950s) and part of it had to do with restrictions placed upon developers on the Canadian side. There could be no clear cutting on the Canadian side, for instance. Builders could only remove enough trees to provide for the foot print of their homes and a buffer between the home and river had to be maintained. Still, a few took advantage of rock outcrops along the shore to have a clear view of the water.

American Cottages

American "floating" cottage

Catholic Church on the Canadian side

Canadian cottage

Canadian cottage

Canadian cottage and boathouse--It's for sale!

Statue of Saint Lawrence on the Canadian side

 We weren't the only ship taking advantage of the beautiful weather.

Canadian tour boat

Sister ship to ours.

This is the last span of the bridge on the northern end of I-81 crossing over to Canada. I've driven it many, many times. What I didn't know is that the construction of the bridge was a make-work project back during the depression. At that time there was no I-81 or the equivalent on the Canadian side. The bridge's construction was considered a frivolous waste of time and money. Today it's one of the busiest crossings.

Span of the International Bridge

Shortest bridge between two nations.

 If this guy and his wife have an argument, he can cross the bridge and be in another country! (Canada on the left, USA on the right.)


 Boldt Castle was being constructed at the turn of the century by millionaire George Boldt (manager of the Waldorf-Astoria in NYC and the Bellevue-Stafford Hotel in Philadelphia) as a gift to his wife, Louise. When she suddenly died in 1904, he cabled the construction crew to stop what they were doing and neither they nor he ever returned. The Castle was 95% complete at the time.

Over the years, weather and vandals had their way with the vacant building. Then, in 1977, the Thousand Island's Bridge Authority purchased the place from Boldt's heirs for $1 with plans to rehabilitate the Castle to its initial glory. The only stipulation is that it never be completed. The most they can do is bring it back to it's 1904 status.

They've been hard at work and the place is an amazing testament to the Gilded Age.

Heart Island and Boldt Castle

One of the many indoor fireplaces

The patio fireplace

The dove cote

The clam shell fountain

 To generate electricity, there were two diesel generators installed in the powerhouse.

The powerhouse

Another view of the powerhouse

The powerhouse seen from the water

 One area never completed was the main entrance. The stones they planned to use for the steps still lay on the lawn.

Planned original main entrance

 This side was to be the grand view looking back to the USA side of the St. Lawrence. The round extension in the front right is the indoor swimming pool.

Original main facade of the Castle

 Guests arriving by boat would have come through this archway and into a small, protected lagoon.

Stone Peristyle Archway

Stone Peristyle Archway

 Feel like taking coffee out on the lawn, there's a gazebo for that.

Gazebo

 Send the kids out to the playhouse to entertain themselves.

Alster Tower--The playhouse.

Alster Tower--The playhouse.

Two lane bowling alley

Terry-sized entryway to the tower

More entries to the tower and a covered patio--with fireplace

View from the docking area.

Boldt Castle's Boathouse on the Canadian shores.

Time to go home. And we did.

Straight down I-81.

The ECHO Center on Lake Champlain

When Terry was working at the EPA, she was coordinator of a clean lakes program that included Lake Champlain. As such, she worked with folks from both New York and Vermont. One thing they discussed was an interpretive center that could educate the public about the lake and its flora and fauna.

The ECHO Center in Burlington was the result. It was built after Terry retired, but she was thrilled to learn of its existence.

And it is quite a nice learning experience with an extensive aquarium, some research facilities and plenty of hands-on activities for children of all ages.

What does ECHO stand for? This:

Mt. Washington via Cog Railroad

After spending a night just across the border along Route 1 in Maine, we traveled on to Gorham, New Hampshire. This would be our jump off place for a trip up Mount Washington via the cog railway.

We learned that the first train of the day was the only time the steam locomotive was used so we got up early and hurried over to see if we could get tickets. Things didn't look too promising as we headed out. The clouds were shrouding the peak and we ran into a little drizzle as we drove around to the base of the railway but then--shazam!--things cleared up and it was beautiful!

I've hiked up Mt. Washington several times and ridden the cog railroad down once. (The fog was impenetrable that day.) This was the first time I would take the train up AND down. It was fun!

View of the track from the boarding area. Clouds still obscure the peak.

That's the base. The peak is considerably higher.

 The base also has some lovely steam tractors on display

Then there's the steam locomotive that will push us up the hill.

It's slanted like that because of the slope. The boiler will be level once the engine hits the slope.

And the clouds are (mostly) clearing away.

The Lake of the Clouds Hut (on the right) is partially hidden by the smoke from the stack

 The Lake of the Clouds Hut is one of many maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Club. I've hiked to it several times.

Visitors' Center at the peak. Things have changed since I was last here!

Lake of the Clouds viewed from the peak.

 The Lake of the Clouds Hut is 1.5 miles from the peak along the Appalachian Trail. The two lakes are the highest in New England.

A reproduction of the original peak house that was home to early thrill seekers.

Somewhere out there may be the Atlantic Ocean.

And over here may be Canada.

Wild Cat Ski runs to the east. I've hiked that ridge, too.

Rock cairns mark the trails above tree line.

As we headed back down, the clouds came rolling in.

They began creeping up the slope and covered the trails to the north.

They were a little thicker down the slope.

We were fortunate to have had such a clear morning for our visit. The clouds would roll in that afternoon and we would have some drizzle for two days as we headed off to the Burlington, Vermont.

Canadian Maritimes: Nova Scotia (the northern part) (Part 4)

This day would be a road tour along the Cabot Trail. This would take us along the northwest coast of Cape Breton Island. The scenery was fantastic!

The red Adirondack chair seems to be the symbol of the Canadian parks.

We did run into some construction as the road pictured here was being moved inland a bit.

After a while, however, all I could think about was this song from the Arrogant Worms:


This was our final day in Nova Scotia. The next day was to be along haul back to Maine.