We pulled away, waving goodbye to Susan and Gord, not sure when we’ll see them again. Travelling Susan was sad to leave Carrying Place Susan.
We gassed up in Trenton, then hit the road for Gananogue, north of Kingston. The traffic on the highway was light, until we drove through Gananogue. It’s a quaint historical village on the 1000 Islands archipelago, that draws tourists to the various site seeing cruises.
Colonel Joel Stone, who served with Loyalist militia during the American Revolutionary War, established a settlement on this site in 1789. Land was granted to Col. Stone for use as a mill site.
We researched the various cruise offerings, and decided to get out of the heavy traffic on narrow streets. Driving the truck and trailer down these roads was becoming more stressful by the minute, everyone late to get where they were going, not giving us a break to turn around and get the heck out of there.
We headed to Ivy Lea, north of Gananoque. The traffic was calm, with ample parking availability. We bought tickets for the one hour 1000 Islands Landmark Tour, and thoroughly enjoyed it, the highlight being Bolt Castle on Heart Island.
George Boldt (general manager of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, and manager of the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia) and his family enjoyed an earlier frame cottage on Hart Island (the island’s original name) for several summers, which they greatly expanded.
In 1900, George Boldt launched an ambitious construction campaign to build a huge masonry structure, one of the largest private homes in the United States. He engaged the architectural firm G. W. & W. D. Hewitt and hundreds of workers to build a six-story “castle” as a present to his wife. In addition, four other masonry structures on the island are architecturally notable.
The construction of Boldt Castle ceased abruptly in early 1904 after the death of Boldt’s wife, Louise Kehrer Boldt. Boldt never returned to Heart Island, leaving this structure as a monument of his love.
For 73 years, the castle and other stone structures were left exposed to the harsh winter weather and occasional vandals. The Thousand Islands Bridge Authority acquired Heart Island for one dollar, under the agreement that all revenues obtained from the castle operation would be applied towards restoration, so that the island would be preserved for the enjoyment of future generations.
We left Ivy Lea, and continued east on Highway 401 towards Brockville, Ontario. We arrived late in the evening, found a level spot in the Walmart parking lot, and rested for the night.
