I SIT, THEY TRAVEL

June 23, 2011

Hi, Rich here.  I got a request from Salt ‘n Sand to post something to her blog while she is in the hospital, as she calls it.

As Salt ‘n Sand told you the last time that she posted, Carol and I rented a car.  We decided that we would go to the 1000 Islands at Alexandria Bay, Clayton and Cape Vincent.  The weather was bad for both Tuesday and Wednesday but it has improved this afternoon.  We are staying at a hotel that is across from Boldt Castle and the view is incredible. 

The Boldt House Barge

Yesterday, we went to the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, NY.  The museum is full of guess what, antique wooden boats.  It also contains a house boat built by George Boldt, but never occupied by him.  It was towed around by a tug and placed wherever the client wanted it to be.  It is large enough to hold not only the family renting it but their servants as well.  The wood work has been restored and it is in grand 1890s style reflecting Mr. Boldt's status at the time.  He did rent the barge for $100.00 per day, that was when a dollar was worth a dollar.  Following Boldt’s death, George Noble purchased the Castle and the barge.   Noble was a candy maker.  A child had swallowed one of his candies, gotten it caught in his windpipe and died.  Noble vowed it would not happen again.  He invented a candy with a hole in the middle of it and called it a Life Saver.  If it went down the wrong pipe the eater would still be able to breath. McNally of Rand McNally purchased the barge and had it restored as it had sunk in 12 feet of water. The McNally family has since given the boat to the Museum for all of us to enjoy.

Below are pictures of some of the boats that we saw at the museum.

Look at the 8 exhaust pipes



Speed Boat Stern



 











We went on to Cape Vincent and did not see much there.  Our original plan had been to bring Salt ‘n Sand to the 1000 Islands to cruise there but that will have to wait for the next time.



George Bodt who was the proprietor of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York and the Bellevue Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia, PA began his castle in about 1900, when his wife died suddenly he ordered all work on the castle to stop that very day.  While he had extensive holdings in the 1000 Islands he never returned to his Heart Island.  The house was left to the elements and vandals for 70 years.  The Noble Family finally gave the Castle and Island to the 1000 Islands Bridge Authority who are currently restoring it.  It can not be restored beyond the point that Boldt left it and has to be open to the public.  Many of the rooms are unfinished and will always be that way, but the grandeur is still there.  The Authority has spent more than $40 million restoring the Castle and its grounds.



Boldt Castle Main Staircase



George Boldt arrived from Germany at the age of 13 with nothing and without government

help built this castle and the boat house across the channel as well as several very successful hotels.  His wife was the daughter of the owner of the Bellevue Stratford in Philadelphia.

Here is the Castle with an ocean going freighter going past it.  This picture was taken outside of our room.