Columbus Day Weekend

While Mat's parents were in town, we checked out the Burrville Cider Mill because I was sold on the walk to the waterfall people had told me about.  Apparently people don't really walk around here because the waterfall was located behind the gift shop about 20 feet away from the parking lot.  It was such a strenuous walk that we had to refresh ourselves with some apple cider and cider donuts before heading back home where Mat and Ron fished off the dock.

The Powerhouse for the main house.

The next day we went to The Boldt Castle in the Thousand Islands.  We took the Uncle Sam "2 Nation" Boat Tour around the Thousand Islands and then got off and wandered around Heart Island which is where Boldt Castle is located.  The Boat Tour was pretty cool to travel around and see all the islands and the houses that have been built on them.  Apparently there are over 1800 islands in the Thousand Island region and this is where the name for the salad dressing came from. The Boldt Castle estate was quite large.  They had the mansion, the powerhouse, the play house, the boat entry way and then parking for the boats.  It's amazing that even at the turn of the century there were that many people with LOTS of money who could build such estates as their second homes.  It's currently owned by teh state of NY and being restored.  You can find out more about the story behind this castle here.  You can also see pictures of the castle there, because apparently we didn't really take any of the actual castle.  :-)

Look how clear the water is!

If you look close, you can see the salmon flopping in the air.

Ron and Naomi watched Brie while we took a paddle down south Sandy Creek to Lake Ontario.  It was a beautiful fall day.  Hard to believe it wasn't the middle of summer and that winter is approaching.  Mat tried his hand at fishing on our way back from Lake Ontario.  As we approached to the take out location, we saw humongous pacific salmon jumping out of the water like crazy so we sat and watched for about 30 minutes.  It was so awesome, we made Mat's parents come back the next evening to see if they were jumping.  (They weren't as prolific as the previous evening but we saw a few.)

***UPDATE - I found a couple pics of the Boldt Castle/Estate.  They are below: