Alexandria Bay, NY

Boldt Castle.

The rain and wind has not let up, for this reason, we slept in until 9:30! Hard to believe? Andy is just getting over a cold that he has given to me now. I guess we both needed the extra rest. During our last journey out west, we were averaging driving 400 miles a day. This time we both decided to take our time. Now we are averaging only 150 miles each day! But what is the rush? We stop when we want. Get up when we want.

We are driving the scenic route along the St Lawrence River. Stopped at Alexandria Bay, just northeast of the river entering in Lake Ontario, by the 1000 Islands. On Heart Island is a Rhineland style castle built in the early 1900's by the millionaire proprietor of the world-famous Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, George C. Boldt. He built this grandiose structure as a summer home to display his love for his wife. It is a 120-room castle, complete with tunnels, a powerhouse, Italian gardens, a drawbridge, a dovecote, inside pool, and even a yacht house for the family's 3 yachts and houseboat. After four years of building and over $2.5 million invested, Mrs Boldt died suddenly and all construction stopped. The structure was never completely finished or ever lived in. Mr Boldt never returned to the island. For 73 years, the castle remained vacant, left to the mercy of the wind, rain, ice, snow and vandals. The Thousand Island Bridge Authority assumed ownership in 1977 and has since invested millions of dollars into rehabilitation of this stunning structure. The entire castle is open to the public (of course for an entrance fee). These pictures are only a few that I took.

The one photo is our campsite right on the St Lawrence River. We have our own beach access with a beautiful view of the sunset (!no sun today!) but most importantly, we have the entire State Park to ourselves! There are no other campers here, just tons of deer and wild turkeys. This is the perk of traveling off season in the middle of the week. The State Park runs adjacent to the Eisenhower Locks and overview of the giant cargo ships traveling between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes. We are hoping to see some ships tomorrow. Still too wet and windy to watch for them tonight.