Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Trip to Boldt Castle and 2 nation cruise!

Hello everyone! (smiling and waving) :) It took me so long to post these photos because I lost my camera card! I found it in a pocket...don't you just love pockets..well this time I did..usually I hate pockets, because I stand forever at the washer unloading my boys pockets...here's a list of what I found recently doing laundry: football cards, assortment of candy wrappers, 35 cents, multi-purpose tool, yo-yo, sunday school paper folder several times, legos, small booklet, and thankfully nothing crawling or breathing this time!;) Anyways, praise the Lord I found my card! I may have two pics alike on this post, as blogger is doing something a little different with posting pics I think...hard to tell what I'm posting. anway, here we go....

As I posted earlier, we were going on a mini cruise around the Thousand Islands and to Boldt Castle! We had a really good time and we cherished every second we were with dad, right kids? I quote my kids, "This is the best Saturday ever!"

This is our boat and we sat up on top for the first part of the tour, but then went down to the second level to avoid getting sunburned. Our tour guide was very thorough with accounts of history there.





Everybody got a popcorn box from the concession stand!



Some of us even got to drive the boat! Austin got a certificate signed by the captain to drive his boat! :)



This is the Thousand Island bridge crossing over the St. Lawrence River into Canada.





We passed many houses like this one on the water. So many beautiful cottages and gardens around the Great Lakes.





This was the hiding place called Devil's Oven for the famous pirate Bill Johnston during the Patriot War of 1837. He was wanted by the US and Canadian government for Treason and starting war without consent of the government.



I was getting homesick for Washington,passing all the beautiful rocky bluffs and cruising by these beautiful islands.

Well, this was just a tad intimidating to cruise by!




We circled completely around Heart Island...which Boldt Castle sits on. George Boldt started building the Castle in 1900 for his wife...he had the island shaped like a heart and many features on the castle and throughout the gardens were shaped like a heart. When his wife died in 1904, he ceased work on the castle and it was abandoned to ruins until 1977 when restoration began on it. They also hold at least two weddings every weekend on the Castle grounds.


This is the powerhouse to the castle.




Inside the Castle entrance.




Check out this grand fireplace...I believe there were 54 fireplaces throughout the castle!







A beautiful pendant light fixture hanging above the entrance into the castle!



There were tunnels beneath the castle, which we were allowed to tour one. I was imagining knights on their horses galloping down the tunnels! :)




I would like 6 of these please for my dining room!!! Who said shabby chic wasn't in at this period of time???)





I had to giggle at all the heart shapes all over the castle and the gardens. It reminded me of the time I came home from shopping and my husband thought he'd suprise me and cut a HUGE heart out the bushes in our FRONT yard. I was wondering what must the neighbors be thinking...I married edward scissorhands now! ;) Thankfully that sort of bush grew quite fast and we trimmed the sucker down to a normal size looking bush! tee hee...



My girls and I sitting in the garden.


See the heart????





After touring the castle, we hung out in Alex Bay and shopped, ate, and enjoyed all the sights around this quaint little town on the water!



Michael had never had lobster! So we made sure he got his steak and lobster! He tried to get me to take a bite, but I don't eat shellfish....Genevieve wanted to save the lobster shell and send it to her cousin Cameron!;)




The girls bought beenie babies at the toy shop.


Then we treated ourselves to an ice cream cone!


Later...much later...we said good-bye to dad:(



BTW, he's trying acclimatize to the southern heat again...they are living in tents! EEk...not my kind of camping...this girl likes to chill next to a campfire!

Hope you are having a fabulous week...next post I will post photos of my projects I'm working on around the house! XOXO

5 comments:

Carrie said...

Looks like you had a fabulous weekend!! That was a great mini lesson in history. All is well here. School starts Aug. 17. Not really looking forward to that, but so goes life. Talk to you later!

HOPE said...

You missed out not tasting Lobster! and I'm not a big seafood eater!

I bet the kids loved going in a real CASTLE! Great photos..and the cruise looked so inviting...

WOW..for Austin!

Great history lesson for your readers and the kids.

Hugs...
Yes..Cameron would LOVE that Lobster shell!

Unknown said...

Thanks for the message. My husband right now is in Texas doing training and leaves on the 14th. Won't be here for birth of our 2nd child but will be back sometime in March.

Jessica said...

Aubrey, your pictures are great, Alexandria Bay really is a beautiful place. You should have tried the lobster it is so good! All these beautiful pictures have made me want to go back for a visit, so I think next weekend for our anniversary that is what we are going to do. So thank you for inspiring me once again!

Carrie said...

I totally missed your comment you left on 'Happy Day'! It made me literally laugh out loud! I wish I could have gone on that tour with you!! And I would love to have some of your "jet black tresses!"