1000 Islands Area, Canada and USA
Intro
In honour of Canada’s 150th Birthday, we decided to take a trip to our great country’s capital. Our journey would depart the last week of June to soak in some of our Canadian culture in the heart of where it all happens. Trying to immerse ourselves in as much true Canadiana as humanly possible, we planned a few stops along the way that we have driven past in the past on our way to greater destinations.
Gananoque
Our journey started on a dark and gloomy day, with nonstop rain of varying densities all the way to Gananoque. It made for a boring trip with very little stops, mostly pee and snack breaks (Bar Minimum). The temperature and weather felt more like fall than summer.
When we arrived in Gananoque we were a couple hours early to check into our hotel so we decided to go for a walk. Luckily the rain stopped just as we arrived so we climbed out of the cozy dry car and sauntered down the single main street in the town, which took us right from the entrance to the exit cutting directly through the one block downtown area.
Downtown was patterned with art galleries and gift shops with the odd restaurant to throw off the monotony. As we passed locals standing outside the shops we were greeted with glares only worthy to be received by outsiders. I tried to say Hello to a gentleman standing outside a bar smoking, but he completely ignored me and ignorantly stared into space like he could see clear into another dimension.
The main park in the town was right on the waterfront and was littered with sculptures from local artists, there was nothing too impressive and most seemed kinda of generic, but it was good to see a small town letting artwork run so rampant. Just under the bridge, there was a group of kids fishing, I barely noticed them from on the ground because they kept ducking behind rocks and hiding. It wasn’t until we were on top of the bridge did we realize they were fishing literately directly below a NO FISHING sign. I’m pretty sure this sign was enforced by the honour system because we didn’t see a single cop the entire time we were there. The irony of small town living.
Finally, it was time to check into the hotel, the clerk was insanely friendly almost like she hasn’t talked to anyone but locals in a fortnight. She took the time to over explain everything and dove head first at the opportunity to answer my questions. After her detailed explanation of where everything was situated on the single street in town, we headed to our room.
It was a quiet motel style building with 4 rows of 10 units spread across quite a bit of acreage. The room was kinda small but was perfect for our one night stay. They had barb wire over the Windows in the back probably to keep out raccoons and local meth heads.
Thousand Islands Cruise
The day started with the sky blanketed in dark gloomy clouds and the definite promise of rain. After the usual wake and shower routine, we headed over to the main building for our complimentary breakfast. The grizzly breakfast consisted of nothing more the stale bagels, English muffins, sugar flavoured juice, day old coffee and the saddest looking fruit I had seen in a while. We choked down our breakfast and then went to pack the remainder of our things. We then checked out of our hotel and headed down to the waterfront to check in for our cruise
With very little hassle they checked our passport and tickets and we paid for the parking and castle entry, then wandered over to wait to board our boat. The line was short and the wait to board was even shorter. We hopped onto the boat and immediately headed to the top deck which was open and exposed to the elements. I figured we would enjoy the view until it started to rain, but not even 10 minutes in we climbed down a deck to sit inside because the breeze off of the river got too cold to bare.
On our hour plus journey to the bolt castle, we passed hundreds of islands all unique and beautiful in their own right. The speakers in the boat played soundbites that were in Que with specific islands as we passed them. They kept referring to videos and pictures on the screen in front of us, but it never changed so, for the most part, we had to use our imaginations to recreate their descriptions. There was a group of 2 Asian couples sitting at the bench table in front of us that seemed to be enjoying the trip more than anyone. They were constantly snapping dark gloomy pictures of the islands as we moved past them, smiling and laughing at everything as if it was the best thing they had ever seen. About an hour in, they whipped out a backpack full of food and started to chow from a spontaneous buffet that continued to pour out food throughout the day.
Boldt Castle
When we finally floated up to Boldt castle we passed what they dubbed as the smallest inhabited island in the region which with the water level being so high was no more than a small shack surrounded by sandbags. The flooded home of the 1000 islands hobbit was overshadowed by the magnificently beautiful site that is Boldt castle.
The dock that usually receives the tourist boats were completely flooded, so we were let off past the customs check-in point and right by all the shops that were also flooded. We exited the boat and were created by probably the most friendly customs agent I have ever met. She checked our passports and directed us through the gate to the castle.
We walked the main path up until a fork divided it in 2 directions. One heading to the main castle the other to a lookout tower. Hoping to be able to climb the tower and get an amazing view of the castle, we headed in that direction. Fitting to the gloomy disappointment day the tower was still under construction and we were only able to view the first floor. After a few photos of me and my girlfriend in front of the tower, we turned our attention to the main attraction.
We entered the castle from the ground level which was home to a couple of unfinished wine cellars, bare-bones bowling alley and some rooms used to store tools and yard maintenance equipment. We found our way up the stairs to the main floor of the house which we entered from behind the magnificent main staircase. All the rooms on the main floor were completely finished and were set up with furniture, antiques, and artwork true to the time period the castle was originally supposed to be completed. We later found out that sir Boldt’s family donated everything in the building from his private collection decades after he had passed on.
We climbed staircase after staircase popping in and out of each room on every floor basking in the opulence of this incredibly beautiful fortress. From the incredible views off of the balconies on the 2nd third and fourth floors to the insanely beautiful skylight that sat centered atop the main ceiling in the castle, sir Boldt spared no expense building this masterpiece of a home for him and his wife.
We exited the castle into the garden overlooking the yacht house and the made our way down and around to in front of the yacht house to take a selfie in front of it. One of the workers seen us struggling to line it up properly and came over to offer assistance. After a couple minutes of him struggling to try and figure out how to work my camera, I gave him a quick and simple explanation of how it works. He then attempted several more times to take a picture with no luck. “You have to hold the button,” I said for what felt like the 20th time “ah ha” he shouted as the camera snapped the first pic. I thought he managed to get a good pic of us but later going through them I realized that all he photographed was the ground 2 or 3 times. I know own picture of the Boldt castle groundskeepers shoe.
Starving and cold from the wet chilly weather we headed over to a BBQ area they had setup hoping for some decent eats. All they had was hot dogs and hamburgers, seeing as I had a hamburger for dinner the night before and I didn’t feel like an overpriced red hot I passed and decided to let my hunger loom a little longer.
Back in the boat the Asian couples in front of us pulled out their buffet once again and started devouring it, I gave in to my hunger and grabbed 2 soft pretzels for me and my girl. They could only be described as “dry and salty”, purposely crafted this way to sucker you into buying an overpriced beer. I Remember thinking this must be what a horses salt lick tastes like as I choked it down.
Back on Canadian soil, we were greeted by Canadian customs. They checked our passports and waved us through without issues. The only ones they detained were the Asian couples, karma for not sharing I’m sure. We then hit the road to start our journey to our next destination, Ottawa.
Travelling Trev.