Day Five

So we started out the day with breakfast in Alexandria Bay at the North Star Restaurant. Deb had a kind of Eggs Benedict with cheese sauce instead of Hollandaise juice and extra bacon and I had 2 eggs with hash. The prices were reasonable and the portions a good size. All in all it was a great start to our day. Up next we boarded a ferry ($7.50 pp) to Hart Island to tour Boldt Castle.

Below is a picture of Deb and Me in front of our transportation to the Island.

These pictures were taken on the ferry:

Once we arrived on the island we paid $7 pp to see the castle. Apparently the man that built the castle never lived there. His wife died unexpectedly and he never stepped foot on the island again. Construction started in 1900 and it cost 2.5 million to build. Can you imagine what the equivalent of that today is? Staggering.

There are a lot of rooms that are unfinished, but there are many rooms that are furnished and finished and they are spectacular. Here is a picture of me on the grand stairwell. It leads from the 1st floor to the 2nd. Deb misunderstood when I said I wanted to take a picture of the stairs before taking the elevator. She thought that I said I wanted to take the stairs and so she left without me. The elevator is really cool too. It has a glass window in it so when you are taking it you can see through to the gardens and surrounding islands.

They are working on restoring the castle and the admission fees are funneled into that. If you are ever in the 1,000 Islands area of New York or Canada it is definitely not to be missed. After leaving Hart island we had lunch at Brass Tacks before leaving the US for Canada.

Can I just say this time driving in Canada was a whole new world. Ontario was nice all the signs were in both English and French, but when we crossed into Quebec the English translations went away and the signs are completely in French. We got lucky though we made it to the temple with plenty of time for our session which luckily was in English. Below are some pictures of the temple.

Once we left the temple, around 10pm we then had the task of finding a hotel. We drove around a bit and everyone seemed to be full. I don't know how, but there was no vacancy. So we decided to head towards Quebec City, tomorrow's destination. About 10 miles down the road we found a hotel and settled in for the night.

Check back tomorrow for more of the adventure.

Day Three

Well my worst fears were confirmed this morning. It snowed. I guess I should have taken some pictures of the snow. Luckily it was only flurries and by the time we got out of church they had stopped. I guess on the bright side I can now say that I have driven while it is snowing. We had breakfast at the hotel and then off to church.

Once this block of meetings were over we came back to the hotel and had lunch and then headed over to the sacred grove. It was beautiful. We read from Joseph Smith History and just kind of wandered around a lot. We were in the grove for about an hour and a half to two hours.

For more information about the events that transpired to restore the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth once more check out http://www.josephsmith.net/josephsmith/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=497679179acbff00VgnVCM1000001f5e340aRCRD&locale=0

After the grove we had a tour of the Smith Farm and the surrounding buildings. It was super windy and freezing, but we had a blast.

Top: Me at the Log Cabin

Bottom: The Log Cabin and the homestead 85 % of which is original.

Too bad they don't know exactly which parts.


Then we drove into town and tried to play a visit to the place that the Book Of Mormon was first published, but they were closed for filming a documentary of some sort.

So we drove to the Hill Cumorah Visitors center and a trip to the top of the hill completed our Palmyra experience.

Then we drove back to the hotel, had dinner and settled in for the night.

Check back tomorrow for more of the adventure.