Real Life Love Story... and other weekend fun

I do apologize for being a terrible blogger of late. I don't know what it is... too much summer fun? Too much craziness in my house? Still recouping from my Bachelorette addiction which hasn't completly ended if truth be told, even if the show itself has been gone for weeks. Sigh. I promise I'll get my act (and brain) together in September, but until then, please be patient with my sporadic posts!

This past weekend, one of my sister's (C) and her daughter (S) and I took off on a girls' getaway weekend. My sister has been longing for years to take a tour of The 1000 Islands in the St. Lawrence Seaway (the large river connecting Lake Ontario to the Ocean). are at the very east end of Lake Ontario and only about a 3-4 hour drive from home. (You can also get to them on the U.S. side of the lake as well ~ ).

We packed our overnight bags and took off Saturday morning for our fun weekend. Being the tiny bladdered wonders we are (thanks Mom & Dad) we stopped a few times for "potty breaks" and at the first one came face to face the miracle of God's timing. After standing in a lineup at the woman's washroom which makes me ask... why is there always a line up for us and not guys? I know the answer but it's still mind boggling all the same we started to head back out to the car when all of a sudden C stops and grabs this couple as they walk through the door. That's unusual I'm sure you're thinking but not really. You see, the couple was our aunt and uncle (my Mom's younger brother and his wife) heading in to the rest stop on their way back to their home on a lake north east of Toronto. Small world! We chatted for awhile with them, catching up on family news, and then we were back in the car on our way, singing movie/broadway soundtracks all the way.

C found us an amazing B&B in Gananoque, Ontario called Sleepy Hollow. No. Johnny Depp wasn't there, but it was still a gorgeous old century home owned by a lovely couple, Don and Marion (I think that was their names).

Our B&B ~ Sleepy Hollow

We stayed in the "Eden" room which was pretty spacious considering we had the couch pulled out into a bed. We had our own bathroom, but it was just down the hall one door... a little awkward but not too bad since we were all girls.

3 Amigos on the bed

Before we checked into the B&B we visited the small craft show that was being held in the town square. Don't you just love small towns and their city squares? Reminds me of Gilmore Girls for some reason. We all got some cool items from this one booth before leaving the square in search of a place to eat lunch. While we were out and about, we came across a church just as a bride was arriving for her wedding. We practically stopped traffic on a side street we were so busy being rubber-neckers, waiting for her to emerge from the car. I have to be honest though... her dress was SO not worth the wait in my opinion ~ it had tons of gathers that made it look like she'd rolled it in a ball after having a fitful night's sleep in it. I found a link of one that looked similar here. I apologize in advance if I offended anyone who wore or loves this gown... not my intent ~ just my opinion!

After checking in we took a walk around the city, down to the water front along the edge of the St. Lawrence River and came across the same wedding party as they took pictures on the Gananoque Inn grounds. I really must learn to keep my opinions to myself ~ I spoke out loud of my dislike of the dress ~ only to have a woman standing near us rave about the gown. Oopsie!

Later that afternoon we hopped in the car, taking a drive about 20 minutes east to Rockport where the boat we had booked our tour on is docked. The rest of the evening was quiet and each of us found a book on the area to look at before we turned out the lights on another day.

Sunday morning we were up early and down for breakfast at 7:30. C & S each had Eggs Benedict, while I had this...

Belgian Waffles and fresh fruit
~ could this be why I can't shed those pounds?

The meal was unbelievable and how's this for a little more of that "small world" I was talking about earlier... the couple sitting behind/beside us at breakfast were not only taking the same boat tour as us... we found out on the boat that they live in the same city as our aunt (another of my Mom's siblings). Crazy small world I tell ya!

Our boat left the dock at 10am for a "five hour tour". I couldn't stop singing Gilligan's Island I tell ya, but I'm happy to report that we did not find ourselves shipwrecked although at some of the places we stopped, might not have been too shabby if we had!

Our first stop was Boldt Castle on Heart Island. This castle has one true love story if ever there was one. Mr. George C Boldt, proprieter of the Waldorf Astoria hotel back in the early 1900s, bought "Hart" Island, renamed it by adding an "e" and had the land tweaked into the shape of a heart. He began building this 100+ room castle for his wife as a birthday gift. It is inlaid with hearts everywhere from the mason work detailing on the castle walls to the wrought iron fences embellished with iron hearts. This guy was one huge romantic. While the castle was probably more than half done, a telegram came telling Mr. Boldt that his beloved wife had suddenly died. Heartbroken, Mr. Boldt had work on the castle cease immediately and he never returned to Heart Island. Can you imagine being loved that much? I can't imagine what the mansions God is preparing for us in heaven are like if this is any indication of human love! I joke with hubby that if he had the money I know he'd build me a castle too - hee hee. Gee... my birthday is this weekend... ya think? Naw... not this year at least!

C & S had never been to Boldt Castle before, but I had been years ago when a cousin visited Canada back in my late teens/early 20's. At that time the castle was completely unfinished, as it had since that day the news came to Heart Island of Mrs. Boldt's death. The inside walls were covered in graffiti. You can still see some of those walls in the upper floors of the castle, but little by little, since 1977, the 1000 Islands Bridge Authority have been restoring the castle into what should have been it's 1900's glory days. This island is on the New York side of the 1000 Islands so Canadians need a passport when leaving the boat.

3 Ladies and a Castle

We wandered Heart Island for two hours, searching every nook and cranny of the castle and island, snapping pictures like we were paparazzi before embarking on the next leg of our journey. The boat had a delicious buffet lunch on board and we enjoyed seeing the sights of the islands while chatting with our aunt's "neighbors" at our table. The boat stopped at our last destination, Singer Castle, on Dark Island around 2:30 just as the rain clouds began to hover above. Dum. Dum. Duuuum.

This castle was built by Frederick Gilbert Bourne, one of the former presidents of the Singer sewing machine company. During construction he told his wife he was building a "modest hunting lodge" on the Island. Let me show you what a "modest hunting lodge" looks like to a multi-millionaire:

Singer Castle ~ a modest hunting lodge

Apparently, compared to his massive Long Island estate, this was modest. A-hem. Okay. The design of the castle was inspired by Sir Walter Scott's book about Woodstock Castle in Scotland and even includes a dungeon and secret passage ways. The tourguide told us that staff would "spy" on guests while eating in the dining room (in order to keep abreast of their dining needs ~ refills, etc) and would use the passageways to move about the castle without being seen. Kinda cool yet kinda creepy! Interesting tidbit of trivia... "Singer Castle is the only castle on our river to be completed, fully furnished and resided in during the heyday of the 'great builders' and industrials in New York" (quoted from their website). We weren't thrilled with our tour guide at this castle ~ we much preferred the self-guided tour of Boldt Castle, but we were glad to have experienced Singer Castle.

Our 2-castle tour was over and we boarded the boat to head back to Canada. We docked around 4:30, exhausted and with camera cards FULL of pictures... 1600 between the 3 of us to be exact. We drove home just as a wicked thunderstorm struck the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).

It was a fun weekend of laughter, silliness and great history. Don't you wanna go sail the 1000 Islands now too?