September 2-5, 2013 Thousand Islands...St. Lawrence River

Easy drive down the road to Ivy Lea, Ontario, Canada, to the Ivy Lea KOA.  Plan a couple of days here mainly to cruise around the 1000 Islands in the St. Lawrence River.

Met a nice gentleman in site next to ours.  He is from Ottawa and camps here all season (a few weeks in the middle of the summer and every weekend May-October).  He reminded me of my Uncle Arvin.  We had a nice chat about the area and he made some recommendations for us.

First day was for exploration and discovery.  We drove the Thousand Islands Parkway to Brockville which is at the east end of the islands area.  Walked around the town and had lunch with the locals at a deli downtown.  Delicious chicken salad on fresh made light rye.  YUM!! 

Found the First Presbyterian Church on the square.  Tried to get in the door but locked.  Went around to the office and was given the keys to the Sanctuary by the secretary.  Beautiful church built in 1879…lots of wood and stained glass. There are two other churches on the same square and three other churches in the town.  Walked down to the marina and had some ice cream while walking back to the car.  Cute little town.

Drove all the way back west to Gananoque (pronounced:  gan-a-knock-way).  Booked a boat tour of the islands for tomorrow morning.  This is a bigger town with a Dairy Queen!  We made a note to visit there after the boat tour.  The weather has been cool with clouds, rain, sun and more clouds and rain. 

Next morning got up to cold temps…in the high 50’s.  Weather says it will warm up later with the sun out.  We can only hope we have good weather out on the river.  Our tour is 2 ½ hours.  We layer the clothes and head off to Gananoque.  Sun is coming out but very windy and still cool.

The tour was great.  It’s off season so the boat was not very full.  We had lots of room to move around and see everything.  The commentary was in English and French.  Amazing that people have built homes on tiny little islands.  There are larger islands too but many, many small ones.  Some are in Canadian water and some is USA waters.  We toured all around Heart Island…home of Boldt Castle.  During the season you can do a tour and get off to see the island.  They only offer that now on weekends and we will be in Ottawa then.  We still enjoyed our tour and made a note to come back if possible.

Had dinner that night at a restaurant recommended by the gentlemen I met on the first day.  Rapid Valley Family Restaurant is a local place with a service station outside.  Huge portions of family cuisine.  I had a plate full of baked haddock, steamed carrots, mashed potatoes and coleslaw served after a delicious salad with 1000 Islands Dressing, of course.  We finished our dinner with pie…Jim had coconut cream and I had cherry.  Please excuse me while I burp!  We were stuffed.  Back to the rig to enjoy the night for tomorrow we hit the road again.  Ottawa here we come!