You've Got To Have Heart!

   They say "You've got to have heart."
   George Boldt had heart. He had so much
love for his wife Louise he decided to
build her a castle!
     He bought an island in the Saint
Lawrence Seaway. He renamed it Heart
Island. He had it shaped like a heart and
commissioned workers to build a castle
surrounded by gardens filled with flowers
set out in heart shaped patterns.
     My wife and our friends set out to see
the castle yesterday....and that took heart!
     For some strange reason "Mother Nature"
got its calendar goofed up and turned
August 15th into a Fall-like day, covered
with dark cloudy, and threatening skies!
She added some brisk and cold winds.
      And that's what we faced as we made
the 17 mile journey from Clayton, New
York to Alexandria Bay.
      You see we made it by boat!
      Think of the Saint Lawrence Seaway as
an Interstate highway on water! Waves
caused by the stiff wind and wakes from
other vessels reminded us of home and
Pennsylvania's pot hole filled roadways.
      Of course there are no Tractor Trailers
on the Seaway. What you do see, often
coming your way, are Ocean going
Freighters that usually range between 6
and 800 feet long and carry 10 and 40,000
tons of cargo.....and they don't have brakes!
We managed to avoid any collisions and
made our way to Heart Island.
     It was worth the voyage!
     Work on the castle was halted before
it could be completed when George's
beloved Louise died unexpectedly. It had
fallen into disrepair, becoming a victim of
weather and vandals when The Thousand
Island Bridge Authority assumed ownership
and began a restoration project.
      Thanks to those efforts the castle is
gradually being returned to the state it was
in when the construction was stopped.
      Many of those heart shaped flower beds
now greet visitors from the U.S. and Canada
who come to see the tribute a loving man
was building for his wife.
      We found our visit worth braving wind,
waves,and even a freighter here or there!
Now if we only find where he left our "Land
legs!"
      Hope you've just half the heart George
did and that all your NEWS is good!