Thousand Islands

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Geo: 44.3247, -76.1613

Today we drove for 2.5hr to the town of Gananoque, at the eastern end of Lake Ontario. This is where the St Lawrence River starts its journey through Montreal and Quebec to the North Atlantic Ocean. Gananoque is one of the tourist ports for the area's "1000 Islands" - home to many mansions, and to the salad dressing.

Unfortunately the good weather we were enjoying in Toronto at the start of the trip did not last and the overcast conditions did not do justice to the beauty of the islands.

In the evening we caught up with Eddie McLean who is working on Canadian mining projects until the end of the year.

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Photos

1000 Islands
There are actually well over a thousand islands at the mouth of the St Lawrence River. Most of them are on the US side of the border, which is defined close to the Canadian shore.
The St Lawrence Seaway connects Lake Superior through the other Great Lakes to the ocean and is a busy shipping route. The Thousand Islands are a hazard to shipping and there are many wrecks it its waters.

Island home
The islands are privately owned and usually contain their owners' holiday homes. Some islands are tiny, like this little beauty...

Boldt Castle
And some are huge, like this 5 acre island with a single dwelling. In 1864 George Boldt was a penniless, teenage German immigrant who worked as a kitchen hand. He married well and ended up a multi-millionaire who built and owned hotels. He leased the Waldorf and Astoria Hotels from their feuding owners, and merged the two buildings under his management. He apparently "discovered" Thousand Island salad dressing and it became famous through being served in his hotels.

Boldt Castle
The six-storey castle was intended to be one of the largest homes in the USA. Taj Mahal - like, he built this castle for his wife but she sickened and died in 1904 before it was finished. George abandoned the project and it lay dormant for 73 years until bought by the State for $1. It is now a tourist attraction and the entrance fees are pledged to the restoration and completion of the mansion.

CN Tower base
A little like Los Angeles' Staples Centre area, the downtown area around the CN Tower, Rogers Centre and The Air Canada Centre is a thriving entertainment hub. That evening, Adele was performing at the Air Canada Centre and the Blue Jays and Orioles were slugging it out at the Rogers Centre to see who would claim the wild card draw in the MLB finals. We heard a huge roar and it turned out that the Jays hit a three-run homer in the 11th to win the match!

Comments

[Morag]

How delightful! Only concern would be rising waters, but with a boat of some description, I guess no real stress. Unique

[Morag]

Total contrast - would love to look through it.

[Morag]

Just love the architecture, angles and corners and curves and mixture of finishes.

[Lowie]

If not too late ...check out the Ice Wine. Double yum!

[robselclark]

Yes indeed we did. And agreed! We bought some bottles for 'Ron.