Bicycling New England, the
Erie Canal, & around Lake Ontario 2005
Ivy Lea, Ontario

July 31, 2005
Rest Day

This morning we woke up because we were ready, not because we had a schedule. We walked over to "our" restaurant and ate breakfast, then we walked over to the marina, about a mile down the road, to catch a boat ride over to the castle. We caught the boat at 10:00 and enjoyed a boat tour through the 1000 islands area of the St Lawrence River. We left Canadian waters and crossed into the waters of the USA around 11:00. After a quick trip through US customs we were able to begin our tour the Boldt Castle. The Castle was constructed from 1893 through 1904. George Boldt built the Castle for his wife, Louise. He was a self made man, working his way up from a dishwashing position in a hotel to managing the Waldorf-Astoria, in New York City. Louise Boldt died unexpectedly in 1904 when there was still a year of construction to be completed. Mr Boldt completely stopped construction of the Castle upon her death and the Castle was never finished. George and his children never returned to Heart Island or the castle. Edward Noble, the Lifesavers heir, bought the castle from the Boldt children 2 years after George's death. It was a tourist attraction from 1919 until 1977. People paid to visit the Castle but no money was used to maintain the buildings. As a result, roofs leaked, tourists carved initials into the plaster walls, windows were broken, which resulted in major interior and exterior damage. In 1977 an organization bought the Castle and began the process of restoring the Boldt Castle to its condition in 1904. The portions that have been restored show fancy plaster ceilings, carved wood work etc. Their intention is only to restore the castle to it's 1904 condition, not to finish it. It was a great tour.

At 1:30 PM the boat returned and we continued our tour of the St Lawrence 1000 islands. We traveled back into Canada and went through customs in Rockport Ontario. At 3:00 PM we arrived back at our starting point. We ate a snack on Heart Island, so we weren't very hungry when we arrived back at the resort. Jim and Mary Kay had Bananas Flambee and Scott and Barb had Chocolate Raspberry Mousse. It was delicious.

We walked back to our hotel and did the laundry. An added bonus to our day was finding a free book exchange in the laundry room. We ate dinner in our restaurant overlooking the marina and got another bonus-tomorrow is some kind of national Canadian holiday, so the restaurant is serving breakfast 1 hour earlier. How awesome is that?? All together, we have about 2.00 to 3.00 left in Canadian money, which can easily be spent at the convenience store tomorrow. We have packed our clean clothes and wiped down and cleaned the bike chains and are ready for the 3 bridges and crossing back into USA tomorrow.