Messing About in Boats

We got lost trying to find Clayton's Antique Boat Museum and had to ask a local. "Just turn right and you can't miss it", he said. He was right.

There was an antique boat parked outside.

And many more inside and on the water. There's something wonderful about all that glossy polished wood.

These are Adirondack chairs and everyone in America has to have one. Except us. They look mighty uncomfortable to me.

Remember Mr George Boldt? Well up he popped again. This is his houseboat, La Duchesse.

It had no engine, so had to be towed by a barge. Personally, I couldn't really see the point. La Duchesse went through several owners after Boldt's time,sank at one point and was salvaged. That bath looks familiar (see below). He must have got a job lot,

Here's the fireplace with a natty shell design. That's the sort of thing you find in Florida.

The master bedroom was expanded by some recent owners.

It had  bit more space than the guests rooms, though there were plenty of them.

If you want to wash your hands in the gold-trimmed sink.

You're out of luck.  Too bad.

Don't even think of stealing a towel. Everyone will know.

A useful door stop.

Some of the nice old panelling is still there.

Observe the lighthouse detail on the lamp.

We were shown around by a pleasant young man called Noah. He was still in high school but should go far.  The story goes, he said, that the Presidential cushion was presented by Richard Nixon, who came aboard. I once enjoyed a convivial dinner with the foreman of the Watergate jury. To think Noah wasn't even born then.

A contrast with the Noble Suites (see below)

I think they ran out of the gold leaf on the right.

I liked this cushion.

A view of the "dancing deck"

And another one.

Alexandria Bay Scenes

Alexandria Bay was like your touristy British seaside town, except that it was a lakeside town. Uncle Sam's Boat Tours were getting ready for their next load.

There were a lot of gifts shoppes. One sold T-shirts saying "4 out of 3 People Failed at Math (sic)". It took me a long, long time to get it. Math was never my strong point. Maths wan't much better.

I was disappointed that this was a shop, not a shoppe.

Of course.

They say the Boldts are frequently seen strolling in the castle grounds. "George I'm telling ya, I'm sick of rattling around in that gloomy old pile. Why didn't you get me a nice little manufactured home* like everyone else's?"

*What Americans call a prefab

Heartbreak Castle

Georg Boldt was your typical American Dreamer. He arrived on the boat from Prussia as a teenager in the 1860s, got his first job working in a kitchen and ended up marrying the boss's daughter and running the Waldorf Astoria and other swanky New York City hotels. Meanwhile he changed his name to George.
  Boldt was a real romantic. He seems to have been a one gal guy and resolved to give his wife Louise a fabulous pressie. He would build her a castle.

He already owned Hart Island and being a romantic and fond of adding e's, he changed its name to Heart Island.  Below was the entertainment complex, which contained a bowling alley.

And another mini-castle housed the generator.

Boldt modelled his scheme on Mad King Ludwig's castles in Bavaria.

It was all going swimmingly and he was ready to present the not-quite-finished castle to Louise on Valentine's Day 1904. But you know what happens with the best laid plans. Before he could say "Da-DA!" the unthinkable occurred.  Louise died.

It's said Boldt never set foot in the castle again. He ordered all the work stopped and it languished semi-derelict for 70 years until the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority took it over and started a refurbishment. Now it's a colossal tourist attraction. People also like getting married there. A touch macabre, I'd say.

Personally I wouldn't call it exactly beautiful. I told hubby that, if he was thinking of building me one, he could save his money.

There's something not quite right about that column.

They've put in a grand staircase according to the original plans.

And a glass dome.

Though a lot of it is still bare

They've left some of the graffiti-covered walls to show what it was like before.

A sign demonstrating the triumph of hope over experience.

Looking down from an upstairs floor

There was an interesting photo exhibition - here's what happened to a lot of the wooden properties

And here are Mr Boldt's polo ponies disembarking in designer rugs.

This would have been poor Louise's bedroom - put together from the original plans. We've got a bed just like that one - found it on Craigslist.

Shows that plumbing has come full circle, except for the loo, which is what British estate agents used to call dismissively a "high level WC", when it wasn't a selling point.

An in-style dovecote.

Apparently Boldt brought the dining room furniture from another of his houses. Saved a bob or two.

The Italianate gardens had a nice view but they should chop down some trees to get the full effect. Notice the hearts and Bs.

Why can't I get my gerania to look like this?

To be continued.

More Than A Thousand Islands

I always thought that pinky-orange salad dressing came from somewhere like Hawaii or Polynesia. No, actually, the Thousand Islands are in the St Lawrence River between America and Canada. Now there's a surprise. Nothing against our Canadian friends but we were not sorry to leave Brockville and the hotel from hell. As fast as we could, we headed back over the Thousand Islands Bridge.

And made for a little tourist haven called Alexandria Bay, where hubby fondly remembered something called Uncle Sam's Boat Tours. We discovered they were still very much in business.

Our boat had an impressive-looking paddle on the back which was turning and churning - though, I suspect, not driving.

It was hot as a hundred devils as my dad used to say. But we found ourselves a good vantage point on the top deck. This being America, someone was wearing a philosophical T-shirt.

So off we chugged around some of the islands. 1800 islands, actually, not a thousand but if they put people right on that one they'd have to change the name of the salad dressing. Too many powerful vested interests there. Sorry about all the baseball caps but I had to rush to take a picture of this house, which apparently used to be owned by the Strauses - yes Mr and Mrs Isidor Straus, who refused to be parted and tragically perished together on the Titanic.

The Islands, at the turn of the 20th century were the playground of New York's rich and famous. Some of the old houses have burned down - it's not easy for the fire brigade to get to an island - but many are still there and probably command a hefty sum. Though they still called them "cottages".

This one had an interesting bear weather vane.

 Some of the islands are very small, like this one, with a useful lighthouse to stop you from foundering on the rocks, or crashing your boat into the house.

And this - where I doubt you'd get much privacy what with Uncle Sam's boats paddling past all summer

And they get even smaller.

 And smaller still. This one, having a tree on it, does qualify as a real island.

This house is owned by the Skull and Bones society, apparently some kind of American version of the Bullingdon Club. Any Skull-and-Bonesers can stay there. I was eager to spot one but they were keeping out of shot.

This one was the subject of one of our guide's many stories. According to her, the left-hand side is in Canada and the right-hand side in America. So if the owner wants to get away from it all, he crosses that little bridge you can see between them and he's in another country. (Later research denied the truth of this but I don't think the guide is going to stop sharing the story.)
  She also got everyone rushing like lunatics to the side of the boat to spot a "very important landmark". No one could see it. It was the Canadian-American border, she said, "we get a kick out of getting people to do that!" Well I suppose they have to get their kicks somehow. It must get very boring spinning yarns to tourists all day.

Our ultimate goal was yet another island - which was somewhat more spectacular...

To be Continued.