We are on the road again on September 5.   We were lucky enough to find a spot to hunker down and    wait out Labor Day Weekend -- the last hurrah for the working people!

Our drive takes us east and then north along the eastern shore of Lake Ontario.  Mostly we are looking at farmland, but every now and then we get a great view of the lake.  The pictures on the right were taken at one of these vantage points.

We arrive at our campground at Sackets Harbor.  A last minute cancellation, and we are lucky enough to get the only spot available for a 34-foot motor home.  Man, oh, man, is it ever tight!  Ed wowed more than one would-be kabitzer with his ability to back this beast into a spot that was hardly bigger than we are in one pass.  It shows what practice does.  This man has talent!

This is definitely a party campground.  The sounds of people having a good time, children playing, and music coming from several sources fill the air.  Come Monday, it will all be over. 

Sure enough, as we slowly get our act together to head out, we have no problem with space.  All the people to our right are gone, and we have a straight shot at pulling out with the Jeep.  We are once again on our way -- destination Alexandria Bay, New York.

Alexandria Bay is a resort town in the Thousand Island area of the St. Lawrence River.  It is located just off Lake Ontario and into the river.  There are so many islands that several people count them from the satellite picture, and then they take an average of everyone’s results.  The total is way more than a thousand.

Monday afternoon is the winding down of a three-day party for these folks.  The town has had a Blues Festival going for the last three days.  We are lucky enough to get in on the last afternoon.  Good live music in a beautiful setting  -- what more could we ask for?  Too bad we couldn’t have been here for the whole weekend.  Oh, well.

On Tuesday we are ready to head out for a tour of the islands.  The Island Duchess is to take us past Millionaires’ Row on the American side, cross over and pass by Millionaires’ Row on the Canadian side, and finish up at Boldt Castle, where we can tour the castle, and then catch the ferry back to Alexandria Bay.

It is a beautiful day to be out on the water.  The homes that we are going by are palatial.  Most were built back in the robber baron days; however, there is some new money along the way.  Also, many have turned over to new owners.  The list of owners of these homes read like a Who’s Who of Wall Street.  I think it was the creator of Life Savers candy that sold his home to Alan Jackson recently as an example.

These are all summer homes or vacation homes.  They are not lived in year round.  The idea of building a mansion of this magnitude to live in for a couple of months, or in some cases a couple of weeks, out of the year is just plain crazy.  First you have to buy your island -- they don’t come cheap!  Then you have to build on that island.  Of course, all the materials and workmen have to be delivered by boat.  There is no bridge to these islands.  In the winter the river does freeze over in some places sufficiently to drive a vehicle out onto the ice. 

Of course, it is way too cold and miserable to be building anything at that time of the year. 

In order to qualify as an island, the piece of land must be out of the water 365 days out of the year, and it must have at least one tree on it as well as one other major piece of vegetation.

The smallest qualifying island has earned the name Tom Thumb.  It was purchased by a wealthy businessman who wanted to be able to say he owned an island in the Thousand Islands.  All he required was a place to drop a fishing line and room for his ice chest.  His tiny island is in the picture below.  This isn’t someplace to weather out a storm!

Below are two pictures of different spans of the international bridge that crosses from the U.S. into Canada. 

The day was picture perfect, and we lucked into discovering the best seats in the house for picture taking -- the bow of the Island Duchess.  The people on the upper deck were not allowed to move around when the boat was in motion.  We were free to move from side to side, sit or stand.

We crossed over the river into Canadian waters and were able to see what the Canadian’s with money chose to build.  As it turned out, many of the homes on Canadian soil were built and owned by Americans.  I guess when it comes to owning an island, it really doesn’t matter where it is in the river if you can afford it.

The two countries tried to split the islands down the middle.  If the international line would have gone through an island, whichever part was larger won the citizenship issue.

The statue overlooking the river is, who else, but St. Lawrence himself.  He is the only structure on this island.  Hopefully he is watching over all who sail on the river’s waters. 

Next on the tour was our stop at Boldt Castle.  This castle was built by George Boldt for his beloved wife.  Building of the castle began in 1900 and spared no expense.  The island was named Hart island; however, in honor of their love, the Boldt’s changed the name to Heart Island.  George Boldt even reshaped the island to look more like a heart.

As so  many  of these castle stories end, the castle was never finished.  Unfortunately in 1904 just before her 42nd birthday, George’s beloved wife, Louise Boldt, died of a heart attack.  George never set foot on the island again and ordered all work to cease via a telegram to the workers at the time of her death.  The castle sat unattended, falling into ruin, until 1977 when the Thousand Island Bridge Authority took ownership and started restoring the beautiful landmark.

The work being done is not costing the taxpayers of New York a dime.  All the money collected from admission to the property goes into the restoration.  Much of the castle remains in disrepair, but as you can see from the pictures below, what has been restored has been restored beautifully.

Ed is standing at the front door and pointing to where we must enter.  As a lady in passing noted, “I guess we aren’t good enough to go in the front door.”  Whatever the reason, the side entrance worked just fine.

The grand stairway was a thing to behold.  As I descended from our tour of the upper floors, I tried to imagine myself in designer evening gown, making my entrance to the hundred or so of our closest friends we had invited for an evening of festivities.  I particularly was intrigued by the little balcony-like features that were on both sides of the stairs.  I see that as the place to make important announcements, i.e., an engagement, a new business success, the reason for the evening’s celebration.

Like all of the other homes we have toured from this era, the woodwork was rich and warm and plentiful.  The poolroom fireplace and matching paneling around the room gave it a quiet richness.  The view from the windows looked out across the wide veranda and down into the yard.  This was a room you would want to spend time in.

The windows in the dining room caught my attention.  The view of the river just beyond the grounds was spectacular.  By the way, this table had seating for 16 people.  I suppose that was a nice cozy dinner the servants could whip up in no time.

The sitting room had a massive fireplace mantle.  The mirror a reflects the windows on the opposite side of the room that once again had a spectacular view of the river.  Remember, this is a island.  There is river on all sides.

How is this for a place to toast your marshmallows?  This porch with its outdoor stone fireplace could easily accommodate a large party or group a few chairs around the fire and have an intimate evening with friends.  Either way the view beyond the porch added to the peace and tranquility of this lovely space.

The upper floors of this castle for the most part remain untouched.  They are completed to the point of being able to see the floor plan; however, the walls are unfinished plaster and the floors are bare wood underflooring.  There is a widow’s walk (balcony for those of us who are landlubbers) that affords a great view of Alexandria Bay and the river.

Further up into the castle, at the highest point we are allowed to go, is another great photo op that depicted the interesting roofline as well as the river beyond.

Below is the final picture of the castle lawn taken from the porch as we were leaving.  I think I will have my lunch on the lawn today.

This has been a magical day with sun, water, great sights to see.  We have enjoyed our time here and are thankful to all the people along our way who recommended that we be sure to stop and spend some time in the area.  It was very good advice.

One final observation before we continue on our way.  As we were getting ready to board our tour boat this morning, we had some time to kill.  We took a stroll through the town to the far side where it so happens the U.S. Immigration office is.  Since this town is right on the water, it would be very possible for someone coming from Canada to pull right up to the docks, tie up and walk ashore. 

We found it interesting that there was a sign in the open, unmanned Customs and Immigration office to call such and such a number if you needed assistance.  Call someone so you can pay duty?  Call someone so you can enter the country illegally?  How is that going to work?  I guess in this case we are truly relying on our goodwill with our neighbors to the north to keep out the bad guys from their country so they can’t in turn enter our country through places like the Thousand Islands.