That's the way they promote it through Uncle Sam Boat Tours based out of Alexandria Bay, NY. They offer a bunch of different tours - different lengths, meal tours, etc. They move a lot of people through each day. A bit of a "cattle car" atmosphere, but they are very efficient, and the prices are reasonable.
Of course, I made comparisons with our former situation in the San Juan Islands. In fact, this place reminds me a bit of San Juans... if you put WAY more people there... and made it a river (a large river) instead of the Salish Sea... and took away the magnificent wildlife. OK, there are a lot of islands, and that is about the only similarity.
The name "Thousand Islands" is a bit of a misnomer, though: there are 1,864 charted islands in this area. And many of them have homes.
The boat we were on this morning is a 200 passenger vessel...
There were about 150 people on this sailing, so it didn't seem too crowded. Two decks - the upper is open, the lower is enclosed; we chose the lower deck to be out of the sun...
The helm is in the lower passenger deck, not separated...
Much like driving a big school bus. Well, mostly without the screaming kids. ;-) Three crew for the trip: the captain, the first mate (who also handled food/drink concessions), and the narrator. The narrator did his best to make it interesting and humorous, but you could tell he has said these same things hundreds (maybe thousands) of times.
They drive a route, and the narration follows the route. Joan said, "This would be a good job for a young captain to build hours." Yep. But it would be hours that are mostly the same thing over and over. Their "season" here is pretty much June 25th through Labor Day... so, they have to make it while they can. With the high water this season, much of this area is also hurting. In the photos to come, you'll see plenty of places with high water. Businesses that depend on boaters (not tour boat operators) have been hit especially hard because so many boats have not been able to get in the water or to their docks. I've been hearing that is may be well into the fall months before the water level comes down.
On with the tour - starting in US waters, checking out the beautiful homes along the shore, eventually into Canadian waters, then back with a drop off at Boldt Castle. Then, board another US Boat Tours boat for the short ride back to their docks in Alex Bay. I shot a lot of photos today, the following are just a sample...
This home is on an island; not the bigger island behind. The small home is literally tied to that big tree to keep it from being swept away...
The narrator made a big deal about crossing into Canada - I should have given him my schtick about "the dotted line in the water"... he did explain how US boats can operate in Canadian waters and vice versa.
More Canadian flags than US flags flying today. The boat house is sitting low in the water (or: the water is high on the boat house)...
The docks at these homes are under water...
Nice boat house...
Actually, that is the Boldt Castle Yacht House. During normal water levels, it looks like this...
Then, onto the docks at Boldt Castle. This "castle" on Heart Island was built by George Boldt for him and wife Louise - a showcase of excess at the time. Boldt was a self-made millionaire in the hotel business.
The story:
Beginning in 1900, the Boldt family spent summers in the 1000 Islands at the Boldt Families Wellesley House near Mr. Boldt’s Wellesley Island Farms while 300 workers including stonemasons, carpenters, and artists fashioned the six story, 120 room castle, complete with tunnels, a powerhouse, Italian gardens, a drawbridge, alster tower (children’s playhouse) and a dove cote. Not a single detail or expense was spared.
In January 1904, tragedy struck. Boldt telegraphed the island and commanded the workers to immediately “stop all construction.” Louise had died suddenly. A broken hearted Boldt could not imagine his dream castle without his beloved. Boldt never returned to the island, leaving behind the structure as a monument of his love.
For 73 years, the castle and various stone structures were left to the mercy of the wind, rain, ice, snow and vandals. When the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority acquired the property in 1977, it was decided that through the use of all net revenues from the castle operation it would be preserved for the enjoyment of future generations.
Our self-guided tour:
The restoration to this point ends with the second level, and falls off pretty quick after that...
We stepped out onto a balcony for beautiful views of the area...
Back inside, the sitting room...
We walked through the gift shop - nothing either of us needed, but I had to chuckle when I saw this...
Yeah, that's a stuffed Orca. No, there are no Orcas on the St. Lawrence River (another big difference between here and the San Juans).
Walking around the grounds outside...
That building above was the water tank building - the first structure built on the island.
Back to the docks to pick up the next shuttle back to Alexandria Bay.
Instead of a small shuttle like the one below, we got on a 3 deck, 300 passenger boat that had just dropped off some of their passengers for the Boldt Castle tour...
On the way, another house that seems to be missing its island...
And back to the docks at US Boat Tours...
From Alex Bay, we drove to Clayton, another town in the 1000 Islands area. We parked and walked around town a bit. When we asked at the Visitors Center about the two towns (Alex Bay and Clayton), we were told, "Alexandria Bay is about the night life, Clayton is more about real life." There are public docks for those with boats who a day tripping to Clayton...
Plenty of shops in this town, again nothing we needed... but, this caught my eye...
:-)
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