SINGER CASTLE AND OTTAWA

Sunday, after we toured Boldt Castle, we went to Singer Castle to take the tour. It takes an hour by boat to get to Singer Castle. The tours are guided and last about an hour. Our guide was great.  He was very knowledgeable and personable.

Singer Castle remained in the possession of the Bourne family from its construction in 1905 until the mid 1960s.  Frederick Bourne was a self-made millionaire. He had originally gone to work for Clark Thread company.  Mr. Clark had just invented a thread that could be used in sewing machines.  Mr. Clark heard Frederick singing at work one day and invited him to his church and to his home to sing for his friends. Mr. Clark's friends were the well known, affluent people in the industry.  Frederick became friends with these people and was able to move up in their companies.  He eventually ended up as the 5th President of Singer Sewing Machines.

The castle has 28 rooms and many secret passageways and tunnels.  It was built to be a hunting lodge for the Bourne family.  It was originally called The Towers but eventually was renamed Singer Castle since Mr. Bourne was the President of Singer Sewing Machines.  There are 18 Singer sewing machines through the castle. 

It is said that Mr. Bourne saved the workers who were laid off when Mr. Boldt stopped work on Boldt Castle.   Both castles were being built at the same time. Marjorie Bourne, Frederick's youngest child, inherited the castle when Frederick died.  Marjorie never had children and eventually the castle was sold.

One interesting fact is that you can spend the night in the castle. As a matter of fact, you and up to 7 of your favorite friends can spend the night in the castle.  On Sunday-Friday evenings the rate is $775 plus 11% tax for the first 2 people and $75 plus tax for each additional guest.  It includes a cold plate dinner served in the evening and a continental breakfast provided the next morning.  You may bring beer, wine, and snacks and there is a gas grill available for your use. You also receive a guided tour of the castle, the island and out buildings including the secret passageways and tunnels.  Transportation to the island is not included, so you have to arrange to be ferried there or you can bring your own boat. Sound fun? I think so.

Secret door to secret passageway

Wine closet

Another secret stair case

On Monday, we went to Ottawa.  We had a friend that went there not too long ago and his pictures showed a cute town. We decided we might as well make a visit.  It was about a 2 hour drive there, but it was worth it.  Mr. W had read about a market there.  The By-Ward Market Square looked like a good place to get a taste of both cultures in Canada.  Ottawa is the Capitol of Canada, just like our Washington D.C.  The government buildings there were pretty spectacular.  At the market, they have several farmers selling their veggies.  They looked amazing and they were very reasonably priced.  Sadly, we could not buy anything because we couldn't bring it back across the border.  We did a little shopping and had lunch, then took some pics of some of the buildings and headed back.  Mr. W and I had lunch in a French cafe that sold soups, sandwiches, veggies, and one hot entree.  They also had display cases set up with bakery items and dessert items.  It looked very much like the bakery and the patisserie we had shopped at everyday when we visited Paris.  Mr. W got a pastry and I took one bite. Scrumptious!

I had taken my battery out of my camera and put it in the charger the night before.  So, before we left, I grabbed the camera and when I got ready to take the first picture, I remembered the battery was still in the RV in the charger.  I took a couple of pics with my phone, but nothing worth posting.  Ugh.  I hate it when I do that.

Tuesday started out rainy, but then cleared up and warmed up.  We spent the day getting ready to leave. We are moving to Lake George. We have been at Swan Bay RV Resort.  It was a nice park with a MILLION rules.  I don't mind rules.  I actually prefer a park with rules.  But, how many they had was crazy.  They have plenty of sites for large rigs.  They are also adding more sites.  They had 2 laundry rooms with 3 washers and 2 dryers in each laundry.  Mr. W said the bathhouse was clean, but cold.  We ended up getting a discounted weekly rate with Passport America.  If you stay a week or longer, you pay for metered electricity at 27 cents per KW.  We ended up paying $21.50 for our electricity.  We paid a little over $200 for the week plus electricity.