We got up and headed out to the boat tours again - but this time it was about a 10 minute trip to Boldt Castle. So because of the short trip, we didn't get any additional history on the boat. But there was a lot of history in this castle.
They have renovated a lot of it as it fell into some really bad disrepair and they still have a lot more to go. This will definitely be neat to come back to in about 5 years and see what else they have fixed up. They did about 2-3 rooms the past two years or so.
What's really interesting is that the castle was never finished as George Boldt was having it built for his wife and his wife ended up dying before it was finished (and I believe she died on Valentine's day). When Louise Boldt died, George told all workers to cease working on it and they literally dropped their tools and walked away. He was rumored to never have gone back there - although he may have had another place in the Bay but he never went back to the island or the castle. So it sat for 73 years and a lot of vandalism and vagrancy happened on it.
The only way they know what it was supposed to look like was that the architectural plans were still in existence, including what the rooms were supposed to look like when decorated. It definitely was NOT supposed to look like a graffiti artists haven - which some of the rooms still have and show. Although to see some from way back in the early 1900's (supposedly if you don't think someone in 1980 wrote their name with a 1910 or something like that after it) - was kind of a neat history.
I'm enamored with castles and the history - I sometimes wish I had gone into history and was able to have a wealth of knowledge about English history and castles and life back then - for now I just read books somewhat based on it and dream of what it would've been like to live back then...and then thank God that I didn't and can just read about it instead!
Although being a child in this castle wouldn't have been so bad in my opinion! Here's a couple of links again you can click on if you're interested In more history about Boldt Castle:
and here are some pictures of this day (click on them for a better view):
The Yacht house - we didn't go see this - would love to sometime though!
Panoramic view
Reception Room
Billiard Room
Dining Room (picture in forefront shows it prior to repairs)
Butler's Pantry
Ballroom
Library
Glass dome at the top of the staircase that's receiving beautiful light from the day
George Boldt's Suite
Louise Boldt's Suite
Clover Boldt's suite
Clover Boldt's Reception Room
After we were done taking our time at the castle, we headed back to Syracuse where we caught the movie "Gravity" in the Imax 3-D theater (awesome to see it that way!) and then went to Dinosaur BBQ and then headed home.
It may not have been Aruba but I still loved our anniversary trip....and I'm still waiting for my $2.5 million house/cottage to be purchased or at least a castle built to honor me.
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