I left Cooperstown yesterday morning right on time and had planned for 4 wineries and a mansion. I ended up skipping 2 of the wineries - the wine was getting worse the further north I went, so I gave up on the last two. But I did go to Boldt Castle. It is in the thousand islands on the saint Lawrence river between the US and Canada. Kind of a sad story with this castle. George Boldt was a hotel magnate (he was responsible for the Waldorf-Astoria in New York) and decided to build this amazing castle for his wife as a token of how much he loved her. Construction started and continued for 4 years, but she suddenly died and he ordered construction to cease. The workers laid down their tools and left the island, leaving the castle unfinished. It passed through ownership of a number of different people, but was vandalized and raided by the public for years. In 1977, a historic society bought the property and decided to restore the house and island to what the original finished plan would have been. So far, they've restored much of the first floor and a series of bedrooms on the second floor, but much of the house still remains either unfinished or covered with graffiti. It is a beautiful house though. One this that I really liked was the abundance of doors and windows. The whole house has this feeling of flow throughout it, air and light. It wouldn't be comfortable in the winter, but it was intended as a summer home, and I'm sure that it would have been wonderful if it were ever completed. There are also a TON of guest rooms, so I'm sure they planned for some great parties that never happened.
After I finished at the castle, I made my way towards Ottawa. Crossing into Ontario, I answered the normal questions about how I'm on a road trip, and what I had with me, and where I was staying, and all of that. And the guy decided that he needed to investigate further, so he made me go inside the building. Two agents searched my car while another agent asked me a ton of questions about where I work and why do I have so many friends in Canada and where's all my stuff while I'm on my trip (including my cats). Apparently, they are worried about people coming into the country and not leaving. I told her how, just that morning, I had made arrangements to move my stuff back into my new apartment and I had set up internet and tv service and that I'm definitely going back. Regardless, it was really anxiety causing. She thought that I must be lying about something because I was so nervous. I'm just naturally nervous around authority figures. Even though I wasn't doing anything wrong!!!!
So they finally decided that I wasn't a risk to national security (unless they flagged my passport without me knowing it - I have no idea what systems they have), and I proceeded the rest of the way into Ottawa. One problem with visiting people in Canada is that I have no cell service up here, so from the time I cross in until I arrive at my destination, I just hope that my gps is right because if its not, I have no way of using my phone or iPad to check google maps or call anyone for clarification. Well, the GPS was right again (it hasn't been wrong yet), so I made it to Emily's house without further issue. We visited for a while before I crashed for the night. Long day.
Today, I started with a trip over to Parliament Hill where I first saw the changing of the guard. That was pretty cool, if a little long in the hot sun. Some of the soldiers' marching made me laugh though. It was this weird over exaggerated arm swinging thing that looked so unnatural. After the changing of the guard was finished, I hung out on the hill for a bit, just milling around. I saw that people had these yellow tickets for tours of the buildings and once I figured out where to get them, I went and asked when the next tour was - 1:30, long past the time I could do it. So instead, I got a walking guide for the hill with information on the statues and buildings and whatnot. I spent about an hour walking around the hill, and then walked over towards the Canadian War Museum. It was a pretty hot day, so I did stop at a Starbucks briefly on the way over for a bit of a break from the heat.
The Canadian War Museum is very well done. I don't have much of an interest in Canadian military history (why would I?), but I was fascinated by the museum. The flow is fantastic. There are 4 galleries that have a defined path woven through each one of them, but you can get to the start of each of them from the central hub, so y could theoretically do one gallery, go have lunch, come back, and do another gallery or two, go to the bathroom, and come back and do another. It's a very smart way to combined a guided flow museum with easy access in and out. The exhibits are well done as well, with a great combination of information, videos, and interactive pieces. It's a challenge to present everything in both English and French, but they did it well.
After I was done with the museum, Emily and her daughter picked me up and we went over to our friend Jenn's house to visit with her and her newborn. Jenn, Emily, April, and I met 5 years ago on a tour of Russia, Finland, and Sweden. I'm so glad we've stayed in touch and are able to reconnect after all these years. We shared a special experience on the tour, and they are the only ones from it that I've stayed in contact with. I hope to continue to stay in contact with them for years to come.
Basically just hung out this evening. Tomorrow I'll check out a couple mansions and maybe a couple other things. Also looking forward to a girls' night out.
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