For a bear who has been hibernating for three years, 7am came way too early for me, but I managed it and by 8am we had Rissa in tow and were on our way. Five hours later we pulled into, what I assumed would be the first of many tourist shops. Although to be fair, this one had a slightly better purpose (and was the main reason I got this trip at all, so no complaints here). Tucked away beside this little Canadian Souvenir and Duty Free shop was a Nexus office, where Clare had an interview scheduled to renew her card. Yes, she drove all this way just to renew it, but apparently it was the earliest appointment she could get, AND it gave her and Rissa the excuse to finally return to Bolt Castle, something they've only been discussing every spring for about five years now.
A ten minute interview, and we were back on the road, across the boarder, and into the small town of Alexandria Bay. We checked into the hotel and are thrilled with our view! Could this not have been the same view as the 1979 picture of Clare and Olivia on the dock looking over at the castle? And yes, that's tiny little me sitting on the dock!
With barely a break to unload the car, we were soon at the boat dock buying our tickets to the castle. I eagerly watched as a very large old fashioned looking paddle boat came in, thinking that was to be our ride, only for it to be followed by a slightly, well... Maybe more than "slightly" smaller model, which of course was the boat for us.
Ten minutes later we were on Heart Island and the first thing I saw... A souvenir shop and an ATM! You humans and your trinkets; I've said it over and over, I just don't get it.
Once through the gate, we began our self-imposed scavenger hunt of trying to find the same photo opps from the old pics (you know, those cute ones of Clare I posted yesterday). We walked the entire perimeter of the island (trust me, it didn't take long, or at least it wouldn't take long if you weren't stopping to take pictures every 20 seconds). We managed to find every spot, and took pics of them with me (and sometimes Rissa) instead.
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| I am there... As close as I could get to the same position as the girls. |
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| Hasn't changed much actually |
This one was probably the hardest one to figure out as it has been completely restored, and both Clare and Rissa had to examine the background of the original photo to figure out what angle it was originally taken. They got it though, so pretty cool!
Now, if you've been paying attention, you may have figured out there is one more picture from yesterday's blog that I haven't included. That would be because it was taken from the boat on the way to the island, and, like the gazebo, has been so well restored that none of us realized it. Clare did take photos of it from the boat, but with her "good" camera (i.e. the DSLR) which we have no way to connect to the iPad, so she can't upload it until we get home. And she was trying so hard to make sure she pulled out her phone for all blog-required photos. We'll give her credit for trying (I guess).
With our tour of the outside complete, we worked our way around the outside of the castle once again, to find the front entrance, and low and behold, what's the first sign I see? Yes, I'm serious. We weren't even inside and they were already flogging us souvenirs!
I had been under the impression that most of the restoration inside the castle was complete (you'd think so after 40 years, wouldn't you?). Ya, nope. The main floor is, and boy is it gorgeous! Some of the rooms on the second floor are (and obviously the afore mentioned 2nd floor gift shop), but not all, and once you hit the third floor, it's all crumbled walls covered in graffiti. Since Rissa had no photos of inside the castle from 1979, I was thrilled to find that in many rooms that have been finished, they had photos of what it looked like back then. When I could, I made Clared take pics of those photos as well as the room now. I won't bore you with all of them, but these are my favourites.
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| You can't tell from this angle, but those are marble stairs! |
There are tons more pictures, of course, but most are on Clare's other camera. I think she easily took a few hundred in the two hours we were on the island. You've probably already guessed where this tour ended... In the second floor gift shop! Ya big surprise there. After another half hour exploring trinkets, books, T-shirt and all other manner of "stuff" we got back on the boat and headed back to the mainland, where both my companions were eager to find something to eat.
In the time it took to write and edit photos for the blog, the sun has set and Rissa got excited seeing the lights on the castle across the river. Naturally I wanted a picture as a fitting end to the day. It's not the greatest (as iPhones go) but Clare promises me she's going to use the tripod and her "real" camera to go get some better shots, as soon as I let her finish my blog (I'm not demanding at all, am I?)
Night all my friends, old and new,
Whatever
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