Ganonoque,On

Guess they could call this one bird island, good mixture of cormorants and seagulls

Nancy and Eddie on one of the balonies with turrets behind them

 A few of the windmills on Wolfe island

There are harts carved here and there on the castle

Left Kingston this morning, headed down the American side past Clayton and Alexandria Bay to Heart Island and Boldt Castle. Nice drive down, water was smooth, sun shining, beautiful morning. However, along the way, we were meeting hordes of boats, don't know when we've been in a busier waterway. Wakes all over the place. Did get to Heart Island, docks all full, so we circled for a while until we found a spot at the Customs dock so we could check in. There was a spot at the dock where we could leave the boat while we toured, Eddie stood there and kindly asked a couple of pontoon boats trying to come in to dock elsewhere so we could come in (there were several places where they could fit but we couldn't). Wayne and I had been to Boldt  castle about 40 years ago, it has changed considerably.  They have restored so much more of it, wow! It was started in 1900, cost was $2.5 million. The Island was purchased as Hart Island, George Boldt changed the shape of the island so that it was somewhat heart shaped, so the name became Heart Island.  It would have been a beautiful place if George Boldt had finished it. He was building it as a tribute to show his love for his wife, but after 4 years, she died, and all work stopped. Nothing more was ever done to the castle. The restoration is based on what had been done that was salvaged, and on architect drawings and notes that George Boldt had left. Took the shuttle over to the boathouse to see the antique boats, well worth the visit. Busy day at the castle, we saw several weddings taking place here and there on the grounds just while we were there. Left about 4 and came around Wellesley Island and up to Ganonoque. Had planned to go to Alexandria Bay, but found everything was booked. In any case, the trip through the Islands was beautiful, both American and Canadian sides. Some of the homes along the way are amazing.

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Boldt castle

There was a big poker run out of Ganonoque this weekend, don't know if that was some of the heavy boat traffic we were seeing.

Beautiful flower gardens with many heart shapes evident.

Went out for a very nice dinner.  Plan to go to Brockville tomorrow, hopefully stopping at Singer castle along the way.