Computer fixed, the catch up begins

 

Dead computer notwithstanding the road trip must go on.  Travelled directly north via the western side of Lake Seneca to Lake Ontario.  I’m guessing you’ve heard of at least one of these lakes.  Followed the lake around to Sackets Harbor where we stopped off for afternoon tea.  True story – all the cafes were closed so we had to go to a brewery.  Can’t say we were disappointed, even less so when we got samples of their brews.  Sue, being the responsible driver that she is, stuck to a nice amber ale while Jean & Dan tried all 8 of their ales on offer.

Afternoon tea at Sackets Harbor

Making our way along the coast we stopped at Tibbets Point Lighthouse where Lake Ontario meets the St Lawrence River and Seaway before making our way to Alexandria Bay.  We boarded a ferry (with minutes to spare) that took us for a cruise through the Thousand Islands before dropping us off at Boldt Castle.  There are some amazing holiday homes (read: mansions) on these islands.  Some of the islands are just large enough for one house.  Some of the islands are all house.  One of the islands barely meets the minimum requirement to be called an island and has no house.  The tour guide did a lot of name dropping of rich and richer people who own properties but I can’t remember (or care that much about) any of them.

One of the many summer home on Millionaires Row

This island is all house

It is permanently above the water line and can support at least
one tree so it is an island - the smallest one in the
Thousand Islands

One I did care about was George Boldt who started building the castle on Heart Island.  George made his millions in the hotel business and wanted to build the castle for his beloved wife, Louise.  He brought Hart Island, changed its name to Heart and had it reformed into a heart shape. 

Castle Interior

Building of the castle began in 1900 and stopped immediately in 1904 when Louise died suddenly.  George was heartbroken and never set foot on the island again and the buildings on the island were left to the mercy of the elements and vandalism.  The Thousand Islands Bridge Authority purchased the island and set about restoring all the buildings.  They have done a magnificent job to date and would love to come back in the future and marvel all over again.

Heart Island with Childrens Playhouse (left), Boldt Castle (centre) and Power House (right)

Sue found a computer shop to repair her computer.  The guy came recommended but with a disclaimer.  Not one to be judgmental she let the chain-smoking, long-haired greying hippy-type dude named Butch take her precious computer where he worked all hours getting it working again.  Thanks Butch, love ya work.  Now the fun part, catching up with diary writing, photo downloading, trip planning and blog updating to name but a few.

Driving through Adirondack Park

Took a scenic route across the Adirondack Mountains passing by Lake

Ausable Chasm

Placid (of the movie and not one, but two, winter Olympics fame – I know which one I would have preferred watching) and stopped at Ausable Chasm to check out … Ausable Chasm.  The chasm was pretty neat but the best bit was meeting Jerry and his wife from Louisiana.  Jerry asked where we were going in Louisiana.  I said “his place … and we’re bringing the RV”.  He said “bring it on” so we just might.

Next day we crossed into Vermont.  We were within coo-ee of the Canadian border and parked up so that Dan could walk across to Canada and get a stamp in her passport.  Of course parking a huge RV that close to an international border didn’t go down too well with the border guards but all was well when they discovered we were just crazy tourists.  Needless to say, drinks were on Dan that night.

Continuing our scenic journey – New England in the fall/autumn is as gorgeous as everyone who has been here says it is – we drove down some of the islands in Lake Champlain with such names as North Hero and South Hero (bit more romantic sounding than North Island and South Island) before connecting up with the mainland just north of Burlington. 

There is a huge collection of
retired and restored carousel
animals and artwork on display

Just south of Burlington is Shelburne, home to the Shelburne Museum.  It was established by Electra Havemeyer Webb in 1947 and houses a number of 18^th and 19^th century buildings from New York and New England.  The buildings themselves hold over 150,000 pieces of, predominantly, American artwork.  We were there just over 2 hours – got a good overview but barely scratched the surface.  Definitely a place to come back to, that list is sure growing.

Dan & Jean ride the vintage carousel

Shelburne Railroad Station

Museum comes with full-sized paddle steamer



These buildings hold, among other things, antique toys - could've
stayed in here for hours

Not Bay View #1 but you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise

On our way to our overnight accommodation in Barre we stopped in at Ben

& Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory.  Previously we had heard of Ben & Jerry’s but never tasted it.  That oversight has now been remedied.  Rush Munro, Kapiti Ice Cream and Junction Ice Creamery – you have some serious competition.  Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is delicious and the flavour range is quite eclectic – check them out at this address: www.benjerry.com/flavors.  Also loved the Ice Cream Flavor Graveyard that has been created for flavours that don’t make the grade. 

Visiting the Flavor Graveyard ... in the dark ... we're not scared

Vermonty Python didn't make the grade

 

Our freezer now contains Chubby Hubby, Phish Food and Chunky Monkey.

 

... but not for long

 

 

While at Barre we visited Hope Cemetery. 

While we don’t usually go touristing through cemeteries we made an exception here due to the craftsmanship of the granite tombstones.  Barre has one of the world’s largest granite quarries and in the late 1800’s was full of artisans from around the world to work the stone.  The town of Barre encourages peope to walk or drive through (there was plenty of room for the RV) and we could see why.  Here’s some examples:

 

 

We required some sustenance after walking through the cemetery so

Not your everyday bigger block
coming down the line - can't remember
exactly but these blocks were
about 50 kilos

stopped in at Cabot to visit their cheese factory.  Their tour wasn’t a patch on Ben & Jerry’s (honestly, how can cheese compete with ice cream) but their samples were equally delicious.  Yeah, our fridge is now full.

Our whistle-stop tour through Vermont was a full-length excursion compared to the 36 miles we were in New Hampshire before crossing into Maine.  Time was getting on and cheese samples aren’t enough to sustain full grown women so we stopped at Roosters Roadhouse in Bethel for one last dinner before Dan headed back to New Zealand.  We had already decided we liked the place on entry – even more so when the owner gave us the okay to park out back for the night.  That meant we could all over-indulgence with impunity.  Good thing we are responsible adults though and just had a couple of brews with dinner.  The cocktails after dinner in the bar upstairs … well, that’s another story.

Enjoying a beer before the meal - note the flash mason jars - they come with handles

After dinner we headed upstairs for cocktails and that's all I'll say about that

The next day it was with great sadness that we drove down to Portland in Maine to put Dan on a plane back to New Zealand.  Hope you enjoyed your holiday sis.  It’s been great travelling with you.