Thousand Islands - Sept. 2-6

Entrance to the Gananoque Municipal Marina.

Cruising east of Kingston Ontario into the St. Lawrence River, one reaches the town of Gananoque with its large, well-equipped municipal marina walking distance from the town's parks, restaurants, shops and museums.The weather, however, was windy, chilly, and rainy much of the time we were there.  We were fortunate to arrive before the winds really kicked up.

The view from our dock.  Compare the flag in this photo and those in the next photo.

Harbinger of Fall in front of St. John's Catholic Church in Gananoque.

1903 Gananoque clock tower, a gift to the town from the founder's great-grandson.

Gananoque has lots of interesting restaurant choices.  We weren't able to try this one, but went high end instead and had an outstanding dinner at Riva Restaurant.

After three nights in Gananoque, the wind subsided so we could move on up the St. Lawrence further into the Thousand Islands.  Heading east we passed under the Thousand Islands Bridge connecting the US and Canada, and saw some impressive St. Lawrence Seaway traffic.

Beyond the Bridge we cruised past "Millionaire's Row," where New York City's elite built lavish retreats, often on private islands, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  We stopped at perhaps the most notable of these, spectacular Boldt Castle on Heart Island, which is open for tours and is also a port of entry to the US.

Sea Bee on the Heart Island US customs dock with Boldt Castle's boathouse across the water:

Boldt Castle:

Glass Rotunda:

Power Plant:

Italian Gardens:

Roof detail with heart motif:

We spent that night in Alexandria Bay New York, just across from Heart Island, and turned back west the next morning.  It was definitely not enough time in the Thousand Islands, but  it was time to head home and we expect to return to the area next year.