Prescott was a nice stopover, but even better was Brockville. This was a town that looked to be alive, and seemed to be thriving. And we were stopped for the night. So another pleasant, quiet night on the riverside pier. Some of the passengers went into town for a bit of a walk, but we stayed on board for the evening. By now, we had eaten enough that moving around was a bit more difficult, and we had even gotten lazier (imagine that!).
On our arrival, we were whisked off for a quick tour of Fort Wellington,a fort built for the War of 1812, but used more for the Rebellion of 1838-42, against those nasty folks who wanted democracy (like William Lyon MacKenzie).
The "soldier" on the left is actually a woman (not historically accurate). The woman on the right is Laurie, our Purser and Tour Guide.
When we got up in the morning, it was a bright, sunny day. I walked into town to get a Globe, and when I got back, I joined the others on a bus to Fulford mansion. Mr. Fulford was a marketing genius in the days of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. He marked those "Pink Pills for Pale People", and made many millions off them—a huge sum for that time. And what do you do when you have that much money? Why, build a house. He bought land on a rise overlooking the St. Lawrence, tore down the mansion that was already there, and built one of stone, which has something like 65 rooms in it.
All for his wife and their two children. Plus, of course, an Italianate garden designed by the same guy who did Central Park in NYC. And a boathouse bigger than most of our houses. He had one other child (the first son, so the first one who could inherit all that wealth), but then was killed in an auto accident in 1905, having lived in this house only three years.
That afternoon, we went through the Millionaire's Row of the Thousand Islands. They were grand homes, of the rich and famous from the early Twentieth Century. And probably the grandest was the Boldt Castle
(http://www.boldtcastle.com/visitorinfo/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/aerial-castle.jpg), built by the Manager of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in NYC for his wife, and never lived in (his wife died during the construction and he was bereft, so cancelled the project as it was nearing completion). It has something like 150 rooms in the main house, plus a children's playhouse which had another fifteen or so rooms, an a few other out-buildings. All on one island, and intended only for a summer home. Ah, the Good Old Days!
We put in that evening at Gananoque (known as "Gan" by the locals) for the night, and had a brief visit to the 1000 Islands Skydeck. Here are a few pictures from the deck (and one from the ground):
That evening, we were to stay in Gan, and we had friends there (Don and Marion Matthews), so we went and had a very pleasant evening catching up with them, and reminiscing over what Dundas was like when they lived here 14 years ago.
We got back to the ship in time for me to have a dance with Laurie at the evening's entertainment. That was fun.
The following morning, we had a tour of the remaining Islands, plus a tour of the historical Museum for Gananoque, and then took a leisurely ride into Kingston. We docked, said our good-byes, and it was all over but the train ride.
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Location:Kingston, Ontario
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