Halfway Point of 2025

Today marks the halfway point for the year. I spent a few minutes reviewing my goals for the year and mentally thinking through my progress. 

With the exception of writing a book and redoing photo albums, I am on track with most of my goals. My "new to me" country turned out to be Norway, a complete surprise as it was really just an overnight layover between Belgium and the United States. 

I decided to postpone the 10-mile race for another year, mostly because they sold out before I could make up my mind. I did run the 7 km race in Liege, and the 5 miler (8k) in Perth.

We have gotten together with a few couple friends, not as many as once a month, but there is still time to catch up.

Goals I did not anticipate, but are happening include:

1) Attending protests at least once a month.

2) Seriously exploring co-housing

I am shedding my volunteer activities. I still write the monthly newsletter for Alliance Française and dig at Newlin Grist Mill, but stopped volunteering with the Ewing Historical Preservation Society and have not volunteered much with Dress for Success this year. No decisions were intentional, but only what I see happening.

Let's see where the second half of 2025 takes us.

FU Cancer

This is about as close to swearing as I get both on my blog and in real life, but F U CANCER! Though I have found my language becoming a bit salty after I come home from Australia where swearing is more common.

This weekend cancer (leukemia, again) took the life of a 59-year old curmudgeon Don and I used to work with. 

Steve's posts about his treatments made my skin crawl. I couldn't believe they would put someone through all of that -- bring them to the brink of death with the plan to bring them back to life. His post a week earlier said he was feeling better thanks to the immunotherapy treatments he had been receiving to strengthen him before starting the next round of chemo. He was excited because his New Jersey family would be visiting him in Michigan for a big family party to celebrate the Fourth of July.

The irony is the family will likely be gathering to celebrate, but will celebrate him instead of the nation. Or maybe they will do both.

Steve meshed his IT skills with his passion for theater as he cobbled a career that took him from New York to Alabama to Michigan. We last saw him fourteen years ago (thank you, blog!) in Michigan when we left Ashley at a friend's house and went out to dinner with him. Prior to that it was at our 1993 wedding, and his second wedding in December, 2000.

Since then our relationship has been small messages. Though he grew up in North Jersey a town away from me, he once shared his family said "Have a Wawa" to say have a good day (Don explained because near his Jersey home there was a convenience store named Good Day that wrote "Have a Good Day" on the bars you push to exit their store). Upon hearing that, I think of him as I pass Wawas, which are a lot more common in Central Jersey than where we were raised. I sent him Wawa pictures, and he would reply.

Through FB I learned my new cousin (long story) went to high school with Steve and kept in touch. We both mourn his quick wit and cynical look on life. The tributes pouring in on Facebook show the community of friends he made in Michigan. That warms my heart.

F U Cancer! Stop stealing my friends. I especially detest leukemia.

Perth, ON

Six years ago I wrote that I fell in love with Perth, ON. It is a bright, shiny town full of local shops and plenty of parking. On our return visit, though, I fell more in love with Smiths Falls, a much less shiny town, but it felt homier to me.

When making plans for the trip, I left our last day wide open. I wasn't sure if we would find something else to do, or if the forecasted storms would keep us from doing something already planned. I wasn't quite ready for the nine hour (with stops) drive back to New Jersey.

We started the day at the Railroad Museum of Eastern Ontario, a place that deserves its own blogpost. Based on what I could see as we drove past RMEO, I estimated we would spend a half an hour there, but at $10CAD it was calling my name. Across the street is the Real Deal Store and Environmental Center, a community recycling center and more. How much more? Since it was Tuesday and they are only open Wednesday through Saturday, we will have to wait until a future trip to figure that out. It did make a quick Google search of "Things to do in Smiths Falls," so it, along with finishing the historic walking tour and Heritage House are luring us back.

We returned to Perth. Don wanted a loaf of artisan bread from Basic Kneads Bakery. He also wanted to look for the book "The Bakery Dragon" from their library. The baker is planning to read the book to children in a few weeks and couldn't stop raving about it to us.

For lunch we returned to Gather, a local lunch place that opened during the pandemic. Gather uses local fresh ingredients in all of their options. Their unsweetened ice tea, a rare find in Canada, uses ice cubes made from the tea so as they melt, they do not dilute the tea. 

I fell in love with their eclectic assortment of furniture, dishes, and cutlery, the beaten up white copper wall paper, the photos of outhouses in the bathrooms, and the French music gently playing. If they were in Lawrenceville I would meet friends there all the time. Their owner, Kerri, said she and her husband, James, wanted to create a place that made people think of eating at their grandparents' house. While it did not resemble either Tata's or Grandee's homes, it matched how I would picture Gigi (my great-grandmother) decorating her home. They strive to make their customers feel like old friends, even if they have just met. I certainly left feeling that way.

Perth is also home to antique shops. Their biggest one, Gore Street Antique Market, has room upon room upon room of antiques. It was blazing hot in there as Ontario was under a heat advisory, but one of the owners was still dutifully dusting plates. I went in with a goal of finding Desert Rose bowls to add to my collection, but failed. Funny how dishes I kept seeing everywhere before I bought them are now nowhere to be found!

I googled "ice cream near me" and surprisingly I failed to find any in Perth. Stella Luna Gelato in Merrickville caught my interest. The website said the owner traveled to Italy to learn the right way to make gelato. The store is located inside a Victorian house with indoor seating -- which was welcome since after our drive, the rains finally came. Turns out they have two locations in Ottawa. I guess they were not in the same part of town we were in when we were looking for ice cream. The Merrickville location is closing at the end of the summer, but the Ottawa locations will stay open.

Boldt Castle

While researching things to do near Perth, Ontario, Boldt Castle popped up on my list. Other places closer to Perth also appeared on the list, including the Perth Museum and the Mammoth Cheese (a replica of the 22,000 pound cheese forefathers made in 1893 to send in to the Chicago World's Fair), but I was looking for a destination for a day.

When I mentioned Boldt Castle to Don his first reaction was "didn't we go there already?" I turned to this blog to settle the fight. In 2014 (eleven years ago) "we missed the ferry by five minutes and the next one would only allow us an hour on the island." With that settled, we planned to spend Monday on Heart Island.

Even if we had visited in 2014 so many changes have taken place to Boldt Castle and its grounds it would have been worthy of a second visit. The Butlers' Pantry and Maids' Dining Room opened in 2014. The kitchen renovations were completed in 2015, as were the servant's dining room, and Italian Gardens. Craftsmen continue to work on the castle.

The castle is only open in the nicer weather months, which makes sense because the only way to access Heart Island is via boat.

I researched how to get to Boldt Castle. It sits in the 1000 Islands region between New York State and Canada, on the US side. We were already in Canada, so it made sense to enter from the Canadian side. The boats from Canada are sightseeing boats that only allow for an hour or two at Boldt Castle. I had no idea how long we would be there, but I suspected it would be longer (we were there about 4 hours exploring the castle and its newly restored outbuildings). 

The other option was to cross the border and for $10 take the Uncle Sam, a boat that ferries people over every thirty minutes. 

I did not see the option we ended up doing -- taking a free 2-minute ferry ride from the Boldt Castle Yacht House to Heart Island. Our $16.50 ticket to both the Yacht House and the Castle included the shuttle. We fell into this because I entered Boldt Castle into the GPS figuring once we crossed the border we would see signs for the Uncle Sam. It worked out well, though parking is extremely limited.

The day was hot -- pushing 100 in Central Jersey, and low-90s near Perth, but on the island it was in the mid-80s. It was the right decision for the day.

Every staff member we met was well trained. They all knew the basic history and could answer questions professionally and kindly. Though we were all melting, no one took it out on the visitors. 

Our tour started at the Yacht house. The woman working at the ticket booth assured us she would let us know when it was time to take the boat to the island. We could come back and finish touring the yacht house afterwards.

George Boldt was a self-made millionaire who never quite fit in with the other millionaires so he decided to build his wife a castle that would be the envy of the other wealthy people of his day.

He made his money as the head of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan. The one he ran was sold after his 1916 death to make space for the Empire State Building and rebuilt near Central Park. He is credited with inventing the theory that the customer is always right. He memorized the names and faces of all of his guests to give them the best service. He was also the first to use flowers on a large scale, and other features we now think of as standard.

The Yacht House was built on Wellesley Island in 1903 to store his 60 boats. It is also contains an apartment where George Boldt lived after his wife's death in1904. He lived so close to Boldt Castle but refused to step foot on the island. As you can see in the pictures, it was a spacious place to live.

View of Boldt Castle from the Yacht House

George Boldt (born April 1851 in Germany) was considered to be the "caretaker to the wealthy." He came to the United States as a kitchen boy, and worked his way up until he was running the Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia. John Jacob Astor invited him to move to New York to run the Waldorf Astoria. 

He met Louise Kehrer in 1877, and married her three years later. They had two children, a son (George Jr.) and a daughter (Louise Clover). 

While on vacation he took a train ride to the 1000 Islands and fell in love with the area. He bought Hart Island, and renamed it Heart Island and reshaped the island to be heart-shaped, and filling it with many heart-shaped decorations.

Construction for 90-foot tall Alster Tower, officially nicknamed the "children's playhouse," or as a tour boat driver passing the island called it "his man cave," took place from 1897 to 1899. The tower includes a two-lane bowling alley, library, full kitchen, dancing hall, stage, and several upstairs apartments. I later overheard the building just reopened to the public a month earlier on Mother's Day Weekend. Workers were busy renovating the bowling alley and stage. It was used until Louise's death on January 7, 1904.

Walked around the grounds. Most of the other guests were retirement age people also enjoying the sea breezes. There were a couple of families. I suspect that is their typical demographic. Years ago I remember when Carin used to visit her family's cabin in Ontario she would put a visit to Boldt Castle on her wish list of places to go, but it was hard to convince others to go with her. The island is just awkwardly located making it a destination instead of an add-on.

We wandered into the basement of the castle. The ceilings are high, but the air still has a dank feel. Looking at the smooth brick floor it is easy to forget a ton of work must have happened in order for that floor to be so flat. Upon Louise's death in January 1904 George called the 300 workmen and halted construction on the castle. In 1922, after his 1916 death, the island was sold to EJ Noble (the inventor of Lifesaver candies) who opened the island for tours, but did nothing the protect the work. It not only fell into disrepair, it became a teenage hangout and was overtaken by graffiti and other vandalism.

In 1977 (nearly 50 years ago), the 1000 Islands Bridge Authority took over the island. They set an ambitious goal of restoring it to its 1904 condition. When that was met, they reached out to George Boldt's heirs and asked for permission to finish what their grandfather had started.

Alster Tower opened to the public in 1991. The Yacht House was opened in 1996. In 1998 construction began on the interior of the Castle.

Listening to visitors returning to the castle after many years, it sounds like it was quite the construction site. Today the first floor is fully restored, as well as much of the second floor. The third floor is a work in progress with graffiti still visible, but everything is stable. The fourth floor has a cut out in a wall giving a glimpse into a clean version of what the entire house looked like.

Their first project was the Great Hall Staircase, which was completed in 1999. Two years later, the glass dome capped the three-story room. Melinda, one of the docents, told us while they did find the architectural plans for the the castle, they did not locate specific plans for how George Boldt wanted the dome to look. Using Syracuse glass, the curators chose to design the dome after the one on the Titanic, the ship that took his good friend JJ Astor's life. She speculated the dome would have included stags, which, along with hearts, was a common theme in Boldt's decorating. She pointed to a stained glass window he created as the basis for her opinion.

She also shared her pictures of the swans on Wellesley Island. Clearly hot and sweaty, she made sure we knew where to find air-conditioning, even making a loud announcement just before the next showing of the movie in the air-conditioned room on the second flloor.

 

I noticed markers in each room identifying the place on the app to learn more about each room. I resisted, mostly because I just do not want another app on my phone and I feel the concept a bit elitist. I resisted getting a iPhone for years, and resisted even longer getting a data plan that would allow me to download this type of stuff that I still resist it on principal. Finally I gave in.

I learned the dining room furniture was donated by George's granddaughter, Clover. It was never in this house because (remember) this house was not finished, therefore it was furnished. At my age, I think how lucky she was to be able to pass on family "treasures" to someone who would not only appreciate them (she also donated the family china), but would take care of it.

First floor rooms include a library with fairy tales in the original mahogany wainscoting, and fireplace, a ballroom with space for a harp or small orchestra at one end, a formal dining room, maids' dining room, butler's pantry, working kitchen (which is commercially certified), and servants' dining room. I do not know why the maids had a separate dining room, though as I write this I wish I had asked.

The second floor has a bedroom each for George and Louise, as was fitting for the upper class in those days, a bathroom (each guest room had a bathroom), a suite for Clover, an air-conditioned room dedicated to  showing a movie called "Housing a collection," and a gift shop.

 

Though his daughter was already in her 20s as the house was being built, he built a suite for her so she could entertain suitors, or perhaps to encourage her to bring her future family for visits. His son did not have a similar setup, but the curators suspect his would have been on the third floor. The castle has 127 rooms with enough space for 100 guests. The scale is lost since only a portion has been fully restored.

Here are some pictures from the first floor of the castle. 

Ballroom

Library

Sitting area

Before photos to help you appreciate
how it looks now

Dining room

Maid's Dining Room

Kitchen

Kitchen

Servant's Dining Room

Library, again

Second floor:

George's room

Louise's room

Yes, they had indoor plumbing
at the turn of the 20th century

Clover's bedroom

Clover's suite

Third floor:

View of the stained glass dome

Love the view from windows,

We spoke with a couple of gardeners. The first one I suspect was using this as his retirement job. He said he learned a lot about flowers for free, then corrected himself and said "even better, I'm paid for it!" with a huge grin. He seems to have struck the lottery with this job.

The second gardener was much younger. It was clearly the end of his eight-hour day. He said they start at 7 am doing much of the heavy work using power tools before the island opens at 10:30 am. We saw him a few minutes later heading to his car for the day.

The grounds were stunning. Meticulously cared for. We could see where the next season's flowers were being cultivate.

Back on the other shore, I took a quick spin through the Yacht House with new appreciation that George spent the last decade of his life in that space, as well as in his suite at the Waldorf Astoria, where he died. His dream of sharing the castle with the love of his life, his "princess" ending when Louise died at the age of 42.

As we walked to the car we paused to look at the swan family. Thanks, Melinda, for telling us about them. 

Ottawa Closing Post

Our day in Ottawa was also the first day of a heatwave.  Not exactly something one would expect in Canada. While temps were forecast to reach over 100 degrees in New Jersey, they would only reach the mid-90s in Ottawa. 

That's still hot for a day mostly spent outdoors.

After our tour we googled ice cream near me. I'm a bit of an ice cream snob, so I rejected the first place for looking too touristy and headed to the next place on the list. Piccolo Grande: Artisanal Gelateria. A point in their favor was plenty of indoor airconditioned seating and a restroom. 

The gelato was very good, too.  

We went with an enormous three scoop dish because we could not make up our minds: chocolate picante, chocolate orange, and maple something. We should have gone with the raspberry sorbet, but since we were in Canada, we went with maple.

Had we done a deeper dive into the gelato scene in Ottawa we might have found Stella Luna, which is related to the Stella Luna gelato we had two days later.

As we started our walk back to the car we paused to take a picture of Notre Dame Cathedral. Unlike the larger one by the same name in Montreal, this one is free to visit when there are no services taking place. Someone in front of the cathedral invited us inside, saying encouragingly that services were just starting and that they were in English. I'll give him partial credit. Services started at least ten minutes earlier and they were bilingual.

Already inside, we stayed. My French is okay, not nearly as strong as people think it is. Unlike the bilingual worship service I attended in Liege where every line was translated, this one did sections in one language before switching to the other. The scripture (which was the famous story of the loaves and fishes) was in French, but I caught enough words to follow along. The sermon started in English before switching to French (when I struggled to follow completely). Don does not speak French. The priest is African and spoke with a thick accent, making even his English hard to understand. He clearly preferred speaking French.

What I did get out of the service was that the lesson of the loaves and fishes is about sharing. The French portion was about missionary Francis Xavier who while imprisoned shared the communion elements with his captors. The bread during communion is to give us the energy we need to share God's love. The wine is because we become thirsty. Not sure how we lost the fish from the original story, or if they tied into the message. For me it was fascinating to hear both languages in the gothic cathedral. When I struggled to understand, I stared at the arched cobalt-blue ceiling. Don said he mostly used the time to study the cathedral. We did not take any pictures since tourism was not allowed at that time. We also snuck out before communion.

Our walking tour guide raved about Park Gatineau, so we drove there rather than heading back to Smiths Falls. Sunset isn't until nearly 9 pm near the equinox, so we were lulled into thinking we had plenty of time to find dinner. The park was mostly closed. We paused at Pink Lake, named not because the green lake is pink under certain lighting, but because it was found by someone with the last name Pink. If I thought I could get that concept explained to the Andre Pinck, my second host father, I would, but the thought would get lost too easily.

The park is enormous. After looking at the grounds for the McKenzie King estate we asked Google Maps for directions back to Smiths Falls. Nearly 25 years ago Don and I had an experience that still sticks with us. We rented a car and were driving in France's Loire Valley when we arrived at the only restaurant in a small town. Though there were still patrons enjoying dinner, the kitchen had closed for the night. I used my French (which was stronger in those days) to beg for a bowl of soup. To this day that was the best bowl of soup I ever had. To the best of our recollection, it was asparagus soup. My mouth still waters thinking about it.

Looking at our phones, we realized we would not make it back to Smiths Falls until 9 pm, and that most (if not all) restaurants would be closed. Our mission was to find a place to eat.

Leaving Park Gatineau we ended up in Old Chelsea. Despite the English sounding
name, the town was heavily French. The parking sign was completely in French. Menus were in French first, English second. We looked at three places before deciding on a tiny place that looked closed. It turned out everyone was seated in the back in what more closely resembled a treehouse than a restaurant. Next to us was a group of twelve people -- seemed like two "real" adults, and ten young adults. No one was in a rush. Though it was after 8, everyone relaxed into the evening. I never did figure out where the group was from or what language they were speaking, though Don and I were  both very curious. An international trip? Mission? Fun? They were all fit, but very clean as if they showered after the days' activities (unlike us) and their only plan for the night was that meal with each other.

The drive back did take us through Ottawa again, so we would have found something, but sitting in that small town with a waiter excited to practice his English on us, made us feel as if we were on a grand adventure instead of a long weekend road trip.

My sweet potato poutine will likely come up in future conversations, but unlike our 2001 asparagus soup, the rest of the meal will not.