ECLECTIC EXPERIENCES ON THE WAY TO NEWFOUNDLAND

A babbling brook, a murder at an athletic banquet, a 185 room castle on a heart shaped island that was never occupied, not even for a day, 200 wooden boats, a waterfall 98 ft higher than Niagara Falls, a bottle of famous salad dressing, conversations with a local artist and a trip down memory lane. What do they all have in common? They are all eclectic and they are just a few of the experiences we have enjoyed on our way to Newfoundland. The word eclectic is from the Greek eklektikos, meaning to select out the best from a variety of sometimes unrelated sources and it describes so many of our experiences. It is what makes RVing so appealing to us, never knowing what we will find around the next bend.

The babbling brook was outside the tiny town of Mexico, yes Mexico, New York population 1,548. I am not sure why we ended up there, other than the fact that we were tired and the Yogi Bear RV Park was listed in our guide book with a rating of four stars out of five. Besides our nine month old Schnoodle dog, Charlie, a miniature Schnauzer-miniature Poodle, although based on his size we are not that confident that Charlie’s father was that miniature, wanted to meet Yogi Bear.

We had the entire park to ourselves and were able to place the back of the RV less than ten feet from the banks of the Little Salmon River which flows into Lake Ontario a few miles away. Located northwest of Syracuse, New York, the park can only be described as a hidden jewel. Each morning the sun would shine through the maple tree leaves that overhang the river like a delicate green drape setting them aglow. Shafts of sunlight would pierce the canopy making the water sparkle, only broken occasionally by a red tailed hawk or owl that used the river as a highway through the dense surrounding forest. From the RV each morning, we could see deer carefully pick their way to the water’s edge for a drink, then a quick look, and another drink. A huge blue heron would appear each morning like clockwork to hover and spear into his favorite fishing hole. As day progressed the sunlight would change the scene until night would suddenly appear. The moon glow on the water was breath taking, making every ripple twinkle. It was a paradise and we hated, absolutely hated to leave. Oh and Charlie loved Yogi the Bear. He barked at him, peed on his foot and sat on his hand, with a little help from Sara. What a spot.

North of Mexico, where the St Lawrence River spills into Lake Ontario, sits the little town of Clayton, New York, gateway to the 1000 Islands area and our next stop. Think of 1000 Islands and most would imagine that deliciously creamy, pink salad dressing with bits of pickle, onion, pepper and occasionally hard boiled egg. Clayton is indeed the origin of the popular topping although some claim it was created by the chef on a yacht owned by the famous hotel magnate, George Boldt, but more about him later. And don’t suggest that theory to the owners of the 1000 Islands Inn on the main street of Clayton which proudly displays a bottle of the “Original” in its front window with a sign that reads “On Sale with a Complete Written History of Its Origins”. The landmark hotel is still run by the grand-great and great-great grandchildren of George and Sophia LaLonde Jr.

The story goes that Sophia created the dressing to be served with fish for the famous shore lunches that her husband, Guide George Jr. would serve to the rich and famous after some of the best black bass and pike fishing in the country. On one occasion George was guiding a New York City actress, May Irwin and her husband. Miss Irwin asked George for the recipe and the rest is history. The dressing was also served at a local hotel in Clayton and used not with fish but salad.

Miss Irwin gave the dressing its name, “Thousand Islands” and when she returned to New York shared the recipe with George C. Boldt, owner of the Waldorf Astoria and the Bellevue Stratford in NYC and Philadelphia respectively. Mr. Boldt was rumored to be a very vain man. According to the present day LaLonde clan, Boldt tried to claim his chef on his private yacht, really created the dressing, but when we visited the Thousand Islands Inn, we were told emphatically Thousand Islands Dressing is all LaLonde.

During our stay at Clayton we picked up a local newspaper as we often do at different destinations. Advertised on the front page was Award for Murder, an audience participation dinner theatre play written by a local writer named Betty Gills. We jumped at it. The scene was an end of the year school sports banquet, where seated at the head table were the coach, the clergy, the president of the athletic club and his flirtatious wife, Gayle Goodenough (her real name), and the coach’s wife. During the dinner someone slips steroids into the coach’s Gatorade and he dies in a spasmatic rage. Enter the local EMS team with sirens blaring outside the hotel to collect the limp body. Only in a small town.

Before the play, the author made the rounds of the tables to ask for volunteers to play the different audience parts. Sara reluctantly offered to play the “Sexiest Cheerleader”, a role that was recommended by the author of the play. Sara was elated by the suggestion of being a 60 year old cheerleader and the sexiest at that, a fact that was somewhat tempered by the obvious observation that the audience looked like it has unloaded from an ARRP tour bus and this play was not exactly the high point for the local youth of Clayton, New York. Not to be outdone, Don took the role of the player that missed the most games of the season. In fact he missed ALL of them. We were instructed to come to the head table when our names were announced to accept our awards for sexiness and absenteeism. And from there just ad lib.

Well Sara knocked them dead with, “Do you want to see my Dolly Parton imitation?” Then looking down at her chest and saying, “Boys, I must have left them at home!” Then she led the room in a cheer with “Give me a T, then an H, then an A, then an N, and finally an X and asked, what does it spell- THANXS much to the delight of a howling crowd.

Don, when receiving his award, was asked by the coach why he had missed all those games. He replied that if the coach had been observant, he would have noticed how the lawn at his house was always mowed, the shrubs were always pruned and the pools always clean. He declared, “During the games, I was over at your house with your wife, cleaning the pool, if you know what I mean.” The audience erupted in laughter and I became known as the “pool boy” for the rest of the evening.

Inspector Gotchew enters the scene and interviews all of the awardees, and after ruling out suicide, the audience votes on whom they think done it. Well, you guessed it. The Pool Boy with steroids in collaboration with coach’s wife and mother of five ill behaved children. During Inspector Gotchew’s interrogation of Sara about where she lived, she blurted out, “In an RV” much to the amusement of the crowd.

The next morning, as we were packing up to leave, we got a call from the author of the play, thanking us for our participation and making the evening fun for all. She wanted to know if we really lived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and we said “No, we really do live in an RV”.

Another true eclectic treasure in Clayton is the famous Antique Boat Museum. We happened to be in Clayton on the weekend of its yearly celebration and the $14 entrance fee was waived plus free hot dogs, salad, drinks and boat rides were offered. What a deal. When one lives in the 1000 Islands area and one is rich, and many were and still are, you own a boat. And not just any boat. Over 250 of some of the most beautiful and expensive wooden power boats are displayed at the Antique Boat Museum The name Chris Craft is everywhere and boats range from a 7’6” lap strake canoes to iceboats to runabouts to race boats to launches to 65 ft motor yachts to a 106’ house boat owned by McNally of Rand-McNally fame. Most of the boats are wooden, of mahogany, teak, and other exotic woods, built for speed and painstakingly restored. The engines are massive and often take up two thirds of the length of the boat. Picture one, Miss Canada III G8, which was clocked at over 78 MPH during the annual race on the St Lawrence. Oh, and that was in 1968. One boat got 37 gallons to the mile. No wonder it is in a museum. The museum was currently displaying a series of antique toy boats which were also fun to see.

But truly no visit to the 1000 Islands area would be complete without an island trip to Boldt Castle. Talk about a monument to money spent for love lost. The story and the castle are truly hard to describe. Millionaires Row in the area was the playground of the rich during the late 1800's. The Astor, Pullman and Singer families all had summer homes but it was the Boldt Castle we wanted to see.

To get to the castle one has to travel to Alexander Bay and then take a short water shuttle to Hart’s Island. The island was once known as Hemlock Island and purchased by George C. Boldt in July of 1895. Boldt arrived in the United States in his early teens from Prussia, poor and relatively uneducated. George worked his way up in the hotel business and after marrying Louise Augusta Keher of Philadephia, he at 26 and Louise at 15, bought land in the city and built the Bellevue Hotel. Later he purchased land across the street and with Louise’s help the Belleuve-Straford Hotel was born. It was such a success that George went on to manage the Waldorf Hotel in New York. In the 1890’s John Jacob Astor added his wealth to create the Waldorf Astoria complex that Boldt managed until his death in 1916. Boldt became a very rich man and Louise was the love of his life. He adored her and in September of 1899 after several summer vacations in the Alexander Bay area, purchased Hart Island for a mere $20,000, John decided to build a castle there to surprise the love of his life on Valentine’s Day, her birthday. At a cost of over $2.5 million and that was a lot of dough in 1899, construction was started by some of the best artists, master craftsmen and landscape gardeners money could buy. George even purchased another island to have a ready source of granite stone to complete the castle.

In fact the architects were told money was no object. With over 185 rooms, and rising over 5 stories, the complex had among other things: a stained glass dome over the grand staircase, library, billiard’s room, dining room and grand ballroom and suite after suite of guest rooms, a private playhouse on the water, a power house with clock and chimes tower, duck pond and boat house on the nearby island that could house a fleet of pleasure boat including a 100 ft masted luxury yacht. The castle was to have the finest sculptures, mosaics and tapestries from Europe. The island name was changed from Hart to Heart and even its shape was changed to outline a heart from above. All this was an extraordinary gift of love from George to his beloved Louise. Hearts were incorporated into every aspect of the castle.

Then after four years of work, in 1904 with less than a year’s work to go, a telegram arrived. All work was to be stopped. Louise Augusta Kehrer Boldt had died of a heart attack at the age of 42. Three hundred workmen left the island never to return. The castle was left unfinished and George Boldt is said to have never set foot on the island again. He could not look in its direction, and while he lived in the area for several summers after, he is said to have died of a broken heart in December of 1916 in a lonely room in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York.

The castle was left to the ravages of the elements and vandals until the early 1960s when local efforts to restore the castle began. Fueled by income from the local Bridge Authority and its tolls, private contributions, and tourist dollars, the castle is painstakingly being restored. It is a must see to any visitor of the 1000 Islands areas and a true testimony to the extravagances of the wealthy and the futility of some dreams
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The author Thomas V Speno summed it up best with the following poem.


BOLDT CASTLE

It was a dream of glory that never came true
A dream of a castle for all to view
It sits on an island, a symbol of love
Unfinished and beaten by storms from above
We look at it with romantic eyes
We see it turrets reach for skies
Boldt Castle is the name of a place
These Thousand Islands will forever grave.

One final stop while traversing the Providences of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and boarding the ferry for our final destination of Newfoundland was a return visit to the City of Quebec. It is a jewel that simply never seems to lose its sparkle or shine. Perched on the hills above the St Lawrence Seaway, Quebec is divided into the Old and New Cities but is all French. The Old City is further divided in to upper and lower sections with a tram to move older folks like us. Let the school children climb the steep stairs, just pay the toll and use the tram.

The Hotel Frontenac dominates the skyline of the upper section with views of the St Lawrence River that are breath taking and a cannonade’s dream, if one were charged with the task of defending the city. But even the views and the massive walls of the city and Citadel could not stop the British from taking Quebec on the Plains of Abraham. These grassy knolls are to the French Canadians what Gettysburg or the Alamo is to the people of the USA. Beneath the sod is the blood of thousands of patriots and it is regarded by all loyal Canadians as hallowed ground.

In the shadow of Hotel Frontenac, Sara chanced on a local artist painting the landmark in a shade covered park. His name was Jean Guy Desrosiers. He may have wanted to practice his English and Sara seemed to fascinate him. She looked lovely with shining hair, a frilly white blouse and jean skirt. I think he may have chanced to paint her. The conversation covered politics, art, the folly of too many material possessions, and the conflicts so common to family relationships. It was delightful. “Where do you live?” He asked. “We live in an RV on the road.” Sara replied. “And where do you go?” he asked. “Where ever we want, but now we are on our way to Newfoundland.” “Ah, what a life; it is like me. I am an artist; I have my paints, a lunch packed by my wife and this view. What more could I want?” Finally, we had to leave, reluctantly. We exchanged e-mail addresses and Jean Guy gave us a link to his art on the Internet. http://www.pacificgallery.ca/dynamic/artist.asp?artistid=8 He is a popular artist in Canada and his works are best sellers. What an eclectic experience. Such serendipity!!!!

Sara and I browsed the shops of the upper and lower Old City, found the restaurant where we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We remembered the very table and it brought back such wonderful memories. We also found the street Café where a native Quebecer, over 15 years ago, looked into my breakfast plate and asked in French what I had ordered, I think. I responded, “No parlay vu Francis.” To which she responded in the clearest English ever uttered, “Oh, what a pity!!!” As we prepare to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary this fall, we could not help wonder why anyone would not want to visit Quebec.

Before we left Quebec City, we visited Montmorency Falls and Montgomery Falls on the north east and south western edge of the city. The water actually drops from a height 85 ft higher than the famous Niagara Falls at Montmorecy Falls. What a wonderful way to end our visit.

Eclectic: to select out the best from a variety of sometimes unrelated sources and it describes so may of our experiences. It is what makes RVing so appealing for us.