SueAnn Porter



Mr. Porter and I are taking a well-deserved vacation up by the New York-Canadian Border, in an area called The Thousand Islands. 

But first, we stopped in the Oswego area to visit some friends and see fireworks.  

Then onto a few state parks to see the setups of cabins for future rentals, and access to Lake Ontario.

There are places on Lake Ontario where it mimicks ocean waves, yet it’s freshwater rather than saltwater.  

PS.   Don’t forget your sunscreen.  For Beauty Counter products, safer products with no dangerous chemicals, visit my friend Dawn’s link here.  

Finally, we arrived at our cottage and were welcomed by this view of the St. Lawrence River:

Not too shabby, eh?

We went out to Tibbets Point to check out the Lighthouse (and the sunset).  

We met a NYC cop who had a drone and took some aerial pictures of the lighthouse. 

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You can see his pic here :

He is blasko25 on instagram. 

The next day, We took a boat tour through the Thousand Islands on the St.  Lawrence river, starting on the American side, then stopped at Boldt castle, then through the Canadian side of the river.  

We started here. 

We got on the boat, and I took a lot of pictures with my finger in the way. Amateur! 

Here’s an example of how the other half lives!

For a body to qualify as an “island” it must have two trees living year-round. Some islands barely qualify.  Other islands are huge and have many houses. 

We finally arrived at Boldt Castle.  

George Boldt began construction in 1900, but stopped in 1904 when his wife suddenly died.  He was heartbroken and could not finish the project. (He was a gazillionaire so he didn’t physically do the  work, but hired people to work.) The castle sat for many years, until it was opened to the public. The first two floors are done, with no expense spared.  The top two floors remain forever unfinished, but there are a few observation decks with spectacular views.  

Here’s just a few pics.   

Just like on Downton Abbey, all rooms have bells for service. 

In the entryway.  Note the big “B” in the stained glass.   

I was obsessed with the library, trying to figure out what kind of books a gazillionaire would read.  

This is wifey’s bedroom, with a bathroom right next door.  

A view from a porch.  

We then had to run to catch the boat back. We didn’t get to check out the out-buildings, so we will have to come back another day!

Then we boated ( is that a word?) through the Canadian waters.  

St. Lawrence himself.  

 

Sights from The Canadian side.  

We then lunched at a local diner which shall remain nameless for some sub-par food.  Ten minutes later, we drove to Alexandria Bay, which had a dozen different restaurants to chose from.  Life is like that sometimes.   

More sites in tomorrow’s post!